In a recent Pew Internet study, it was revealed that “Nearly half of all American adults (47%) report that they get at least some local news and information on their cellphone or tablet computer.”  I have written multiple blogs over the last few months regarding mobile technology’s impact on search marketing, and this recent examination by the Pew Internet and American Life Project illustrates my strong belief in mobile marketing.

The simple fact that 47% of all American adults disclose they use their smartphone or tablet to get local news and information does not bode well for the traditional print media companies.  Newspapers, for example, can not be happy to see their subscriptions dwindle, and many of them have been late to the party in establishing a prominent online presence.  Even the New York Times, one of the most respected news organizations in the world has struggled with declining paper subscriptions and recently implemented a “pay wall” to help recoup their losses.

While nearly half of all Americans access their mobile phones and tablet computers to get news and local information, it is how they use these digital devices that marketers need to better understand.  Conventional wisdom would lead many to believe that the explosion in the app markets for Android and Apple are driving forces of this migration to mobile devices and news consumption.  However, according to the Pew findings, “Just 13% of all mobile device owners report having an app that helps them get local information or news, which represents 11% of the total American adult population. Thus, while almost half of adults get local news on mobile devices, just 1 in 10 use apps to do so.”  This is an extremely important statistic for anyone looking to take advantage of mobile marketing.  While I believe serving ads within apps will continue to grow, if you want to reach the vast majority of mobile device users, mobile search marketing is the area of focus.

If someone is using their phone to access news and local information, and they are not using installed apps on their phone to do so, it is safe to assume a large majority of those people are conducting searches on their phone’s browser.  Here is where business owners and paid search marketers can take full advantage of a largely untapped market.  Mobile search marketing is still in its infancy stage compared to the maturity of the standard paid search via stand alone computers.  As people migrate to mobile devices, they are carrying over their traditional online habits, such as using Google to find everything from pizza parlors to general contractors.  Now is the time to execute a marketing strategy to position the product or service you promote, to a growing mobile community still relying on search queries to find what they need on the go.

One of the biggest hurdles business owners and marketers face in creating marketing campaigns is bias.  It is human nature, I suppose, that we believe our ideas and viewpoints are held by the majority of the public.  However, it is important to remove your bias from the discussion when developing an ad campaign.  Not all web surfers think alike or use the internet the same way to find information.  More importantly to consider and understand…not all people think like you when it comes to finding information online.

For small and medium size business owners, this seems like one of the hardest marketing lessons to accept.  It is understandable to expect a business owner, who built his or her business from the ground up, to have their pulse on what makes the business grow.  When it comes to internet marketing and paid search campaigns, many business owners simply apply the same logic that helped build their business to the web.  This is often a failing strategy, because of the bias inherent in the business owner’s thought process on what drives people to their website.  It is this bias and inexperience from most business owners that lead to poorly created and managed paid search campaigns.  Many of the fixes needed to restructure these campaigns are technical in design.  For example, the business owner wasn’t aware of the proper way to build out and structure the campaign, which is to be expected.  They have enough on their plates running their business, and probably never took the time to earn their Google AdWords Certification.  Getting a business owner to agree to technical and structural change is relatively easy when providing paid search consultation, it is exactly the type of help they need and want to hear.

Where it gets challenging for the marketing consultant, is educating the business owner on how to drive higher quality traffic, when the recommendations are in stark contrast to the preconceptions of the business owner.  I do not think many business owners like to hear their ideas on traffic generation are flawed.  As a marketing consultant, educating the business owner on how to look past their own bias by showing real-time statistics to support your recommendations is imperative.  Using Google Analytics (GA) is the most effective way to demonstrate the concept that not all searchers think alike and not all keywords are equal.  Website visitors and their engagement with the site determine success for any campaign.  As a business owner, learn to leverage that data to educate yourself and break down the walls of bias when creating and optimizing an online marketing campaign.  Don’t assume you can just build out keywords based on how you search the internet.  This will only limit your campaign’s effectiveness, because not all searchers think like you.

The growth of mobile computing is off the charts and consumer confidence in using mobile devices continues to strengthen.  Perfect evidence of this consumer confidence is represented by how many users rely on their mobile devices for researching important, sensitive data and personal information.

comScore released their latest findings on the number of people who use their mobile devices to access their financial data and the numbers are eye-opening.  You can read the full press release here. One of the main findings in the report illustrates consumer confidence in mobile computing, and reads “in Q4 2010, 29.8 million Americans accessed financial services accounts (bank, credit card, or brokerage) via their mobile device, an increase of 54 percent from Q4 2009.”  This is an excellent barometer of how mobile computing will grow to dominate the way individuals connect with and use the internet to access information.  I am not predicting the end of home computing, but local bank branches need to pay attention to these numbers.  For example, when the respondents were asked, “What is your primary method of accessing financial accounts? (Among Mobile Banking and Mobile Credit Card Customers) 44% said they go online from a fixed device (think personal home computer or work PC).  36% of the respondents said they use their mobile device or cell phone, while only 8% said they visit the branch or agent in person.

These are strong indicators of future consumer behavior and further demonstrate the need for all businesses to embrace a mobile strategy.  Individuals are relying on mobile devices in growing numbers for even the most sensitive of personal data.  If people are comfortable accessing financial information from their phone, they surely will feel confident using their phone to find a company to buy from when they want to make their next purchase.  Align your business marketing strategy to account for these users with a mobile version of your website and a solid mobile marketing strategy.