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Is Your Google Mobile Search Advertising All It Can Be?

As digital marketers we all know the importance of mobile devices and it’s been a hot topic for a number of years now. Mobile usage continues to grow at a rapid rate, as we’ve evolved into a nation of mobile addicts.

It has become imperative for advertisers to be present on mobile and tablet search in order to reach consumers in this ever growing multi-channel device world.

Some recent stats from Google and Ofcom drive home how important it is for advertisers to be present on mobile devices:

  • People check their phones 150 times per day
  • 2% of e-commerce traffic is now coming from mobile devices
  • 40% of online sales take place on a smartphone or tablet.

Source: Google

google-mobile-advertising1

Source: Ofcom

Below we’ve summarised our top tips and tactics for mobile advertisers to ensure you have a flawless mobile search marketing strategy.

1. Mobile Bid Adjustments

Google allows us to be flexible with mobile device bids. You can apply mobile bid adjustments from -100% to +300% within your campaigns using the relative conversion rate (rCVR) mBid calculation from Google shown below. This will ensure you are bidding competitively based on your likelihood to convert to sale on mobile..

google-mobile-search-advertising2

Aiming for ad positions 1 and 2 will enable best standout. Anywhere below this and you are limiting your chances of traffic and click through rate (CTR) on ads.

2. Mobile Ad Copy and Extensions

Use mobile preferred ad types with shorter, snappier text. Tailor them to the device with relevant calls to action such as ‘shop from your mobile!’ or ‘call today’

Call only ads and App Install ads are also available on Search along with a variety of formats on display.

Mobile optimised ad extensions such as sitelinks, location extensions, and app downloads will help to enhance your ad and take up more inventory on the page.

3. Mobile optimised website

The last point is the most important of all to run a successful mobile campaign. Mobile devices are much smaller than your average screen so websites need to adapt to this for the usability of their sites. Some key optimisations include:

  • Simplified navigations
  • Fast page load time
  • Hold key information above the fold
  • Increase the size of buttons and form fields for key actions on site.

Summary

Mobile campaigns now cover a vast array of properties for advertising from standard search campaigns, Google Shopping, Remarketing, App promotion, YouTube and Google Display.

To get it right, creating a mobile optimised website is the place to start, otherwise the usability will frustrate end users. After this a strategy can be created around your key goals such as sales, lead generation or app promotion.

Mobile reporting is now more measurable than ever with many sophisticated reporting and tracking capabilities. This enables cross device usage and attribution to support your mobile strategy.

Start reaching the 66% of UK smartphone owners in the UK and make sure mobile is at the heart of your online advertising strategy.