Mobile Twitter usage continues to grow

We all know mobile is big – and still growing. Any business serious about leveraging the internet in its marketing efforts – whether that be through social media or otherwise – needs to be putting serious effort into the mobile compatibility of its campaigns. But new data released by Twitter emphasises the point further, and highlights the importance of using video in your mobile marketing too. Here’s what you need to know about this growing area of online customer engagement.

The Twitter report shows that globally, 90 percent of videos watched on Twitter are now being seen through a mobile device – whether that’s a smartphone or tablet – rather than on a desktop or laptop. Of all Twitter users, 82 percent use the social network – which until relatively recently has been primarily text-based – to watch video content.

Also evidenced in the report is the different use that is served by video on Twitter as opposed to that on other platforms, like YouTube. The report drives home the fact that Twitter represents a means for users to discover new video content, even if they weren’t necessarily looking for it. 70 percent of those surveyed said they primarily watch videos that they have discovered on the platform, whereas the majority – 63 percent – of those actively looking for particular videos use YouTube, rather than Twitter, to do so. In Twitter’s own words, consumers go to Twitter to discover content they don’t already know about rather than searching for something specific.

This is good news for advertisers – showing the value that can be driven for brands using videos that Twitter users discover while interacting on the platform in other ways. So too is the fact that video content directly embedded into tweets, rather than hosted on third-party players like Youtube, generates higher engagement – 2.5 times as many replies, 2.8 times as many retweets, and 1.9 times as many favorites. This is likely because of the lesser effort required to watch and interact with native video, as opposed to third-party content which typically involves additional clicks before being able to view it.

The report says two main things to advertisers. Firstly, sharing video content needs to be an increasingly essential part of your social media strategy – and will bring particular value in helping you to connect with the growing proportion of users who access sites like Twitter through mobile devices. Additionally, the research highlights the success stories that businesses are seeing using Twitter advertising methods like Promoted Video – so now could be the time to consider whether sponsored tweets are a good fit for your organization.

To learn more about harnessing mobile devices and social media to boost your business, give us a call – or drop us a tweet!