The time has come – we as advertisers can no longer “talk about” mobile, instead we must “do mobile.” With mobile internet users expected to exceed desktop users in 2013, advertisers must broaden their horizon and be where their customers are online – no matter what the screen. This is especially true for paid search.
A mobile paid search campaign can be a great complement to an established paid search program running only on desktop search. Studies have shown that mobile search volume increases during the evenings and weekends – when desktop searches decline.
Google has recently expanded its mobile targeting capabilities. This has allowed advertisers to create highly targeted campaigns with ad copy tailored to specific devices.
Some of the targeting capabilities offered by Google are:
- Device Type (Smartphone or Tablet)
- Operating System (iOS, Droid, WebOS)
- Connection (Carrier, WiFi)
- Operating System Version (iOS 4.3, Droid 4.0)
As advertisers grow their mobile paid search presence, it is important to test several variables and optimize based on results. One possible test is identifying if having the device name or type (iPhone, iPad, Smartphone, Tablet) in the ad copy or display URL boosts click-through-rate (CTR) since the searcher knows the site they are about to visit is mobile friendly.
Much like desktop search, several ad extensions are available for mobile search campaigns. These can be used in a variety of ways to increase your brand’s real estate on the results page, as well as give your customers control over how they would like to interact with your brand.
Below is a list of current ad extensions offered for mobile search campaigns on Google:
- Sitelinks (displaying links to multiple pages)
- Call Extensions (provides a click to call number)
- Product Extensions (includes product information)
- Social Extensions (share +1’s between AdWords and Google+ Page)
To put it simply, your customers are on multiple devices, and you should be too….and Google is making it easy for you to do it!
