Picture this: you’re stuck in Spain with thousands of other passengers. You need to get home but there are no flights. What are the alternatives? You pull out your mobile phone and start searching for buses, Eurostar trains, and cross channel ferries. If all else fails and you have to stay put, there are always local hotels.
But how many bus companies, ferry operators or hotel chains have mobile search campaigns running? Not many!
Of course, mobile search marketing isn’t just reserved for natural disasters and strikes. For years, marketers have been saying that “this is the year for mobile,” but it hasn’t quite come true until now.
Why you need to take mobile search seriously:
· Over the next four years, it is expected that searches made on Google from mobile devices will overtake searches from desktop computers.
· easyJet and BA, to name but two, run highly successful mobile campaigns that are driving real sales.
· All new Google product developments are now built with mobile use in
mind. The focus is on high-end devices like the iPhone, Android and Palm Pre, which have full HTML browsers, rather than Blackberries, which use the lower-functioned WAP.
Developing your mobile search strategy
Building your mobile search campaign is easier than you think, and can be done from within your existing Google AdWords account. These are the key things to do if you want your campaign to be a success:
1. Be found: Just like your existing search campaigns, mobile search uses keywords to answer the user’s query, driving them to a landing page.
With mobile search, you also have the option of including a phone number in your ad so that, with a single click, users can call your business from their mobiles. Tests of the “Click to Call” numbers in ads have shown increases of between 5 and 30% in Click Through Rates (CTR).
2. Be targeted and precise: When setting up your mobile campaign, you can target users based on the device or mobile operator. For example, if you have a mobile site and want to target business travel users, you could choose to target Blackberries on Vodafone, which supplies many corporate mobile devices.
Google mobile search also allows you to target specific locations that can be pinpointed with frightening accuracy: to within 2 metres if the device has GPS! This means that you can target or tailor your message, showing your customer relevant information based on their location. You can then give them your address and phone number, so they can take immediate action.
3. Be relevant: Just like you would with any search campaign, give the user the most relevant information, and, if you’re driving them to a landing page, make sure it’s what they are looking for.
If the user is looking for ‘flights to Amsterdam’, give them a mobile-friendly page with flight information, special offers and related travel information like hotels or local events.
4. Be easy-to-use: Having a mobile campaign doesn’t necessarily mean building a whole new mobile site, particularly if you are targeting high-end devices like the iPhone that use full HTML browsers. However, you might need to make some changes: check what your site looks like on range of mobile devices, or use a tool such as http://validator.w3.org/mobile/ to check how mobile-friendly your site is.
Remember to include a Click-to-Call phone number in your ads, and test it, to ensure that the user can connect with you directly from your ad.
5. Be ready: Next time there’s a volcanic ash cloud or industrial action, you should be ready to offer people an alternative way to get to their destination, a place to stay, or just some help and advice, all through their mobile phones. Be ready to seize opportunities by building campaigns now and having them ready to go when you need them.
As the mobile internet grows, it will continue to offer new, exciting and innovative search opportunities, as well as being a cost effective way to target users in a time when marketing budgets are under scrutiny.
Want to know more about Google AdWords? – check out Ian’s AdWords Ebook over at Wordtracker.
