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Research from Insivia shows that 87% of marketers use video as a primary marketing tool. Yet many content creators are not optimising their videos for mobile.
User experience is often significantly diminished for mobile compared to desktop and a study this year from Ericsson has found that a slow or lagging video created the same levels of stress in its viewers as watching a horror movie! This difference in experience is hurting conversions with a 270% gap between mobile and desktop.
Here are five quick tips on how to optimise your videos for mobile!
1. Is it Playable?
Time and again we see videos that appear on a website or post that have a video embedded that is not playable on mobile. Whether it is technical limitations like using flash videos or not enabling mobile playback on video hosts like YouTube.
2 . Are You Relying on Sound?
Mobile users are more inclined to watch your videos without sound, especially on sites with auto-play like Facebook and Instagram, so keep this in mind when creating your video.
3. Text & Graphics
Something that is readable and understandable on a 27” 5K iMac screen may not be readable on a 5” phone screen covered in finger smudges! Make sure not to have anything so small that it cannot be identified on mobile; this counts for subtitles/text especially!
4. Adjusting for Bandwidth
Desktops are usually quite reliable regarding internet speed; they are connected to either wifi or by ethernet cable but this is not the case for mobile.
The large variability in mobile data speed means that you will need to ensure your video player adjusts for bandwidth availability and download speed. This should be a consideration when deciding how to host your videos as different sites do this better than others.
5. Calls to Action (CTAs)
You cannot use the same CTAs for mobile as you do on desktop. CTA buttons and prompts have to be much smaller and more subtle that their desktop counterparts due to the smaller screen. Even the pros like YouTube can be guilty of this with intrusive CTAs like their ‘Learn More’ button which appears at the top of videos and cannot be dismissed.
With the proportion of videos watched on mobile only set to increase, ensuring your videos are optimised for mobile is an essential element that you should incorporate into your video marketing strategy!
Doing so will help increase the chances of your video being understood, enjoyed and shared by all audiences on all devices.