The Attention Shift.
Rethinking Strategy in the Age of Mobile First
There’s a quiet revolution happening in plain sight, one that reshapes how start-ups reach, engage and convert their audiences. For the first time in modern history, British adults now spend more time on their mobile phones than in front of a television. This single shift marks a watershed moment for anyone building a brand, a message or a movement.
The average adult in the UK spends 3 hours and 21 minutes per day on their mobile device. That’s more than double the screen time recorded in 2015. The younger the demographic, the greater the shift.
Those aged 15–24 spend nearly five hours daily on mobile and under two hours watching traditional TV. In contrast, older generations still hold to the television as a primary media source. Research shows adults aged 65 to 74 spend four hours and 40 minutes watching TV and just one hour and 47 minutes on their mobile phones.This widening divide is not just about age, it’s about access, speed, habits and the economy of attention.
So, what does this mean for your start-up’s marketing, digital and social media strategy going forward?
It means that your audience is moving and if you’re not adjusting your strategy to meet them where they are, you’re not just behind, you’re invisible.
Here are five things you must now consider as a start-up founder navigating this digital evolution:
Mobile-First Isn't Optional, It's Fundamental: Your website, content and email campaigns must be optimised for mobile. Load time, readability and visual flow now affect both user trust and conversion.
Content Length and Format Must Evolve: Long-form brand videos designed for desktop or TV viewing are no longer effective. Think short-form, subtitled, vertical video content for Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Sound-off consumption is on the rise.
Platform Targeting Requires Precision: The generational divide in screen usage highlights why a "spray and pray" approach won’t work. A 23-year-old and a 63-year-old occupy completely different digital worlds. Identify your ideal customer’s behaviour and meet them on the right channel, at the right time.
Organic vs. Paid Strategy Must Be Balanced: While organic reach has declined on many platforms, paid mobile advertising is highly trackable and scalable when done well. Learn how to test and allocate small budgets strategically.
Data Privacy and Trust Are Now Differentiators: Consumers are more digitally literate and privacy-conscious than ever. Ensure your marketing communicates transparency, value and human relevance, not just automation and algorithm-chasing.
Set Your Strategy in Motion
The shift toward mobile media isn't just a marketing challenge, it’s a business imperative.
To stay competitive, founders need both a responsive mindset and a concrete plan. This includes:
Conducting a full digital audit of your brand touchpoints (website, social media, email funnels).
Revisiting your customer journey maps with mobile screen time in mind.
Allocating time each quarter for digital trend monitoring and platform shifts, because what works this month may not work next quarter.
And yes, contingencies matter. Build flexible timelines and keep reserves in your budget and bandwidth for testing new formats or channels. What if TikTok is banned? What if Meta changes its algorithm again? Leaders don't just react, they prepare.
Three Exercises for Your Business Plan
To align with this new reality, embed these exercises into your next business strategy session:
Attention Mapping: Using customer personas, outline where your target audience spends time online by age, platform and time of day. Then align your content strategy accordingly.
30-Second Value Test: Take your core offer and test if it can be clearly explained and understood, within a 30-second vertical video. If it can’t, refine it.
Digital Storytelling Sprint: Task yourself (or your team) with creating three pieces of mobile-first content per week for one month, each designed to test engagement, tone and messaging resonance. Use the data to recalibrate your long-term content strategy.
Where Does This Leave Us?
The story of media is the story of where people place their attention and attention is the currency of modern business. As the lines blur between consumer and creator, entertainment and commerce, the most successful start-ups will be those that don’t just push content but understand behaviour. This is because in today’s world, people don’t go online, they live online.
Therefore, the question becomes “are you showing up where they are or only where you've always been?”
This is your Turning Point. Revisit your strategy. Realign your tools. Redefine how you connect. Then tell us in the comments, what part of your digital game are you ready to evolve?
Like and share if this shifted your thinking. Let’s build better, together.
