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Global smartphone penetration is rapidly rising and demand for information on the go is at an all-time high. A 2010 Gartner report suggests that by 2013 more people will use mobile phones than PC’s to get online and a study by Marin Software shows a 49% increase in mobile click share on search engines in 2011. This year then is perfect time to start investing in mobile advertising and make the most of all these handheld consumers, but what steps should a business take to create a strategy?

1. Is your website mobile friendly?

For a site which isn’t optimised, the difference in conversion rates between desktop and mobile users can be huge. Some of our clients have seen a 50% drop when targeting mobile users with an ordinary website. To check out what your site looks like and if any changes are needed go to How To Go Mo, a Google website which will show you how it looks on a portable device and suggest whether changes need to be made.

2. Create a bespoke mobile PPC account

Copying an existing desktop account just won’t cut it. Users search differently on handheld devices, so mobile specific search terms must be researched to capture traffic which is more likely to convert. Ad-copy must be created which phone users will better respond to, with phrases such as “shop on your mobile” used to increase CTR. Also, carefully consider account settings such as the devices you are targeting and the time of day the ads will show. These will both be different for a mobile search campaign.

3. Track and optimise independently

Ensure that you are able distinguish between PC and mobile traffic within your tracking and reporting. Performance differences between devices mean that optimisation should be bespoke. For example an ad-copy change due to performance on desktops may not work across a tablet device and vice-versa. The key to getting good performance is to review the devices as individual accounts whilst still recognising the role each one plays in the conversion funnel.

All of the above steps are the key to getting good ROI and converting customers through m-commerce. If you need advice or strategy, Minute Steak offers bespoke mobile campaign management so please get in touch.

Adwords has this week introduced the new bid-per-call functionality, allowing advertisers to bid for phone calls as well clicks when targeting PPC traffic on computers, tablets and phones. This is a significant move for many advertisers, particularly for those who rely on a stream of incoming leads via the phone, but even more critical for brands who focus on local business.

It’s no secret now that analysis of your customers’ online journey will ensure your search campaigns are an appropriate fit for the users. Moneysupermarket is already seeing 10% of overall traffic from mobile and tablets. So mobile paid search ads for local businesses, with bid-to-call campaigns could have a significant impact on advertisers,where arguably a call is more value than a PPC click.

As J Thomson argues, the trend in Digital Marketing has been for Mobile to overtake laptop and desktop computers for “the last million years”. I’d suggest this move by Google will be an important catalyst for this trend and heighten the need for campaigns targeted at appropriate devices.

So while locally focused businesses can benefit from potential new leads via the phone, does this pose a threat where small businesses can’t justify costs associated with a call centre? This is where the conversion rate and basket value would have to be considered.

It’s also worth considering the limitations of the new feature, while Adwords will report on call volumes and charges against the call function, at this time it’s not able to report on conversion or revenue data, making cost justifications difficult. Using a phone number specifically for PPC traffic only will allow some insight into conversion rates, but again requires some manual support at the call centre or business which could add complications.

Although, at this stage, there are are no functionalities for keyword level reporting, meaning optimisations on the activity are not possible. This development is still going to be a big contender to existing phone tracking solutions, and only more so are the feature advances.