Articles in The 'mobile device marketing' Tag

Tips for Optimizing Your Mobile-Only AdWords Campaigns

by April Nelson

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.

Enhance Your AdWords Performance with Mobile-Only Search Campaigns

by April Nelson

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.

Saving Lives? There’s an App for that…if you are an iPhone user

by April Nelson

At $3.99 to download, I would be hard pressed to pay for an application that provides me with (enhanced) CPR instruction.  While I can certainly see the value in having access to potential life-saving information there is 1 key factor (outside of limited discretionary income) stopping me from making the purchase….I use a Blackberry.  Where is the love for Blackberry users?  After all, we Blackberry users still account for over 40% of the Smartphone platform market share, according to comScore. 

The iphone application (Pocket First Aid & CPR) that proclaimed to have saved Dan Wolley’s life and helped pull him through the earthquake in Haiti got a lot of play in the weeks following.  There have been tons of articles – retweets, blog posts, etc all creating enormous buzz for the iTunes app store and American Red Cross.  This online conversation helped move the application to its own all-time high #49 on apple’s Top 50 Paid Applications List.  This is clear evidence that word of mouth / viral / social media marketing works well and can show quick results.  However, it is not the end-all answer for getting more visibility for your iphone application.  According to a recent article, “that bump may be short-lasted; as of Jan. 27, it has fallen back to No. 76, and sales seem to be on their way back down.”  Unless there are plans to capitalize on the buzz created around this app, we can expect to see its popularity decline, along with the overall drop in web search query volume relative to the earthquake in Haiti.  Google Insights for search illustrates this point below in charting the Worldwide search query popularity for the phrase “Haiti iphone”.

While the iphone and Android Smartphone provide allow developers to use more bells and whistles, the adoption of these devices is still taking hold.   If you have application development on your radar for 2010, be sure your plans include existing customers and visitors to your website.  Many of your existing / potential customers may be limited by service providers in their area, added expense of upgrading a device, ongoing monthly expense, etc.  To see which devices your customers and prospects have been using to access your website, tap into Google Analytics Mobile Reports.  Refer to Emily McNair’s post, titled Mobile App Considerations, for other key items to think about in developing mobile applications.