Five Trends to Watch In Mobile

According to the Pew Research CenterExit Disclaimer:

• The vast majority of Americans – 95% – now own a cellphone of some kind.
• Today just over one-in-ten American adults are "smartphone-only" internet users – meaning they own a smartphone, but do not have traditional home broadband service.

As a result, organizations who provide HIV services and educate the public on HIV need to know how best to communicate with both new and existing clients. If you're one of those organizations, here are some trends to watch as you prepare your content for mobile:

1. More users will be mobile dependent and experience mobile addiction

• The number of "mobile phone users worldwide will reach 2.73 billion this year" eMarketerExit Disclaimer
• 87.4% of those users will have access to a smartphone for internet access eMarketerExit Disclaimer
• This is likely to lead to an increase in mobile addiction (â…“ of consumers worldwide check phone every 5 min., and 20% check it 50+ times/day) DeloitteExit Disclaimer

2. Video will be produced for mobile devices first

• Live streaming video content can increase engagement; "mobile users are prone to viewing live content even longer than static videos" Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer

3. Collaboration between content and technical teams will become essential

• "Research by DoubleClick says that if a page takes more than three seconds to load, the bounce rate rises to 53% percent." BiznessAppsExit Disclaimer
• Google is shifting to a "mobile-first approach" by end of 2018; this encourages small businesses to prep their mobile site to "enhance SEO and functionality" Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer
• Mobile speed - it's important to make sure that pages load fast (make sure to resize images, collapse huge blocks of text, adopt responsive design, etc.) Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer

4. Artificial intelligence and mobile technologies will combine forces

• "80 percent of all marketing executives predict artificial intelligence will revolutionize marketing by 2020." BiznessAppsExit Disclaimer
• AI Personal Assistants on the rise - Siri, Cortana, Alexa, etc. Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer
• Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) - rather than downloading a native app, users can just go to a website through a URL link Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer

5. Organizations will plan for "Mobilification" to prepare for the increase in mobile visitors

• An increase in businesses strengthening their mobile strategy to meet the growing number of mobile consumers (ex. sending texts to customers) ForbesExit Disclaimer
• "More than half of all consumers will be using mobile devices first for anything they do online, according to Gartner." BiznessAppsExit Disclaimer
• "According to official Google statements, more than 50% of search queries globally come from mobile devices." BiznessAppsExit Disclaimer
• Increase in mobile payments Fourth SourceExit Disclaimer

What does this mean for HIV service organizations?

• Start developing new content with the supposition that most users will be accessing it via smartphones, but ALWAYS check with your users.
• Prepare your website content for mobile users by using a responsive design, chunking your text content and sizing your images for mobile screens.
• Send out regular updates to keep people engaged.
• Consider creating short videos with text captioning to communicate or educate the general public about HIV.
• Consider developing content for smart speakers by using language in the text on your website that mimics questions and answers your audience may use.

For more on how mobile is changing the landscape of digital media, check back in in the next few weeks for other Digital Tools blogs on this phenomenon.

To talk with an HIV.gov digital expert now to help build your organization's social media strategy and answer questions about digital media, make a Virtual Office Hours appointment today.

Watch our Facebook Live with Lee Rainie, director of the internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center, and Stacey Palosky, Acting Deputy Director, Digital, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to discuss Pew's recent report on social media use in America.