The world of mobile marketing continues to grow. There was a time when only computers and laptops could be targeted with advertising, but that has changed. Now, advertisers have the capability to engage in targeted advertising to reach mobile users on their mobile devices. By making simple adjustments, a company can have their ads show on mobile devices. 

One of the first steps in targeting mobile devices is to create a separate campaign.  Having a separate campaign allows more flexibility with targeting and also allows you to see pure mobile results and how they are performing. Google allows companies to target mobile users by the device they use and by their carrier. A company could get very granular in how they target mobile users. However, we suggest  that you start with a basic mobile

marketing campaign before getting into advanced options.

It’s good to target every available mobile user unless there is a legitimate reason not too.
Keep in mind that the mobile settings in the campaign tab are for phones that support full internet browsers. It’s safe to say that most people who view the internet on their phone are using a smartphone. However, there are cases where your company may only want to target certain types of phones.  For example: If your site uses Flash it would be wise to not target iPhones/iPod Touches and iPads, because they don’t support Flash. It could actually frustrate a user to click on one of your ads and be taken to a website that won’t work on their phone. 

Targeting mobile devices in Google can be a breeze. Some might be hesitant, but why not test mobile marketing?  Mobile marketing is continuing to grow and more people are upgrading to smartphones. There’s no reason not to embark on a mobile marketing test.

The mobile advertising market is growing at an enormous rate.  According to BIA/Kelsey’s US Mobile Advertising Report, search alone went from $59 million in 2009 to $163 million in 2010; and forecast to practically double in 2011! 

Advertisers who leveraged mobile-targeted campaigns in 2009 benefited by seeing higher click through rates on their ads at a lower cost per click (CPC) than campaigns targeting desktop / laptop users using the same keywords.  While this is still possible to achieve in today’s mobile advertising market, it is more challenging.  The influx of advertisers entering the space and high adoption rates of new mobile devices (i.e. Netbooks and ipads) can be leveraged to fine tune your campaign targeting and help generate more revenue.

Here are 3 tips for maximizing your mobile-targeted AdWords campaigns.

1. Be aggressive.

You will be competing to have your ad serve on 5 ad spots versus 10 ad spots with traditional search results on a laptop or desktop. As a guideline, try starting out with 2x your search bids for similar keywords. 
 
2. Use short keyword phrases versus long tail keyword phrases.

Use general keywords to help increase impression volume.  Mobile searchers tend to use shorter queries, so your longer tail keywords will not generate the same amount of impressions in mobile search.

3. Add negatives. 

Think about how the intent of a mobile searcher may be different than a searcher using a desktop / laptop computer.  For example, help weed out users who are looking for driving directions by adding negatives like “map”, “directions”, “locator”, etc.  Don’t forget to use the same negative keywords you have in place for other campaigns you are running.

Mobile-only search campaigns can drive stronger performance and generally see higher click through rates than traditional laptop and desktop campaigns.  Having mobile-only campaigns also allows you to have greater control over budgets, bids, keywords, and ad creative.

Setting up a “mobile only” campaign is easy; here are 3 simple steps.

1. Duplicate / copy an existing search targeted campaign.
2. Within the Campaign settings for Networks and devices, select only “iPhones and other mobile devices with full internet browsers”.
3. Update this setting on your other search campaign to “Desktop and laptop computers”

You can even choose to target specific mobile devices (i.e. iPad only or Android only) as well as specific mobile carriers.  These preferences are found by expanding the ‘Advanced device and carrier options’.

Why keep mobile campaigns separate from desktop / laptop campaigns?  Many options are set at the Campaign level in Google AdWords (i.e. daily budget, day parting, geo-location targeting).  By breaking out your current search campaigns into mobile targeted and desktop / laptop targeted campaigns you will also make it easier to analyze performance as well as enjoy more granular reporting options.