Content Marketing for Mobile – No Apologies

Content Marketing for Mobile – No Apologies:

Content creators: you’ve heard the rumors. The world’s going mobile.

According to the CTIA, the wireless industry’s premier trade association, there are over 320 million U.S. users of mobile phone services. Of those wireless customers, Fitch Ratings suggests that smartphone penetration should approach the mid-60% range by the end of 2012. And within that group, Apple’s iPhone sales for its first fiscal quarter of 2012 will hit the 28 million mark, according to J.P. Morgan.

So, why are you creating content that we can’t watch on our iPhones?

Consider the brilliant Apology video by J&J’s o.b. tampons.

Wanna know how many times someone sent me an email or DM, directing me to check out this video? — 3X in 3 days. Each time, I received those messages on my iPhone or iPad. Sometimes the sender did not think to tell me what I should be clicking on; they were friends or colleagues asking, “Did you see this yet? Click here!” So I clicked… and fumed.

On 3 separate occasions I wound up pissed at o.b. tampons’ marketers for not thinking to create their video in HTML5 (vs. Flash). So much for their terribly clever apology campaign (not that I was part of their target audience)!

Moving forward, if you’re a content creator who is genuinely respectful of your audience and hopeful for the broadest possible impact, you need to not only keep mobile in mind — you need to keep all potential mobile platforms in mind.

That said … if you are reading this from your computer, click on the o.b. tampons apology link above. It’s great. And if you’re reading this post on your iDevice? Don’t even bother. Instead, try to simply remember to “check it out later.” After all, by virtue of their development choices, that’s the chance the o.b. folks were willing to take, eh?