Targeting Mobile Users Through Google AdWords

Targeting Mobile Users Through Google AdWords

• By Tim Jensen


• August 14th, 2014


• AdvertisingBusinessDevices


• 0 Comments

“Know your audience” has stood as a elemental selling element given prolonged before a web. When promotion online, we need to take into comment one of a many elementary factors of a assembly we are reaching: what inclination they are using.

The many renouned online promotion platform, in use by marketers of all sizes, is Google AdWords. Up until early 2013, AdWords authorised advertisers to set adult apart campaigns to aim mobile devices. Best use generally entailed targeting mobile, desktop and infrequently inscription users in singular campaigns.

Then, in a confidant pierce to pull a significance of mobile usability (some would contend to expostulate adult a possess revenue), Google announced it would no longer concede campaigns to aim by device, as partial of what it called “enhanced” campaigns. Pay-per-click (PPC) managers done outcries about Google’s forced decision¹ to mislay control from advertisers, even cautioning people opposite upgrading immediately² as a choice became accessible to do so.

A year later, a dirt has staid rather as advertisers have blending to a new debate format. With a ability emanate device-specific campaigns gone, they’ve mutated plan with their debate structure and behest plan to best strech people opposite mixed devices.

Why should we caring about who’s regulating a mobile device and who’s not? First of all, people mostly act differently when browsing on a phone contra a desktop. In reviewing information from a site that perceived usually over 3 million sessions over a past year, users spent an normal of 2:42 when entrance from desktop and 1:16 from mobile. That shows mobile sessions dropping off after about half as prolonged as desktop sessions. A smartphone user competence not caring to spend time sifting by an endless product inventory, instead usually wanting a series to call or evident directions to a location.

Secondly, costs can change widely by device. A investigate by Marin Software³ shows that a normal cost per click on mobile was 26% reduce than a desktop normal in 2013. Also, a normal cost per lead or sale competence be some-more or reduction on mobile. Advertisers who take this information into comment will see a need to control bids by device in sequence to say their aim costs for leads.

Thirdly, visits from mobile competence yield some-more or reduction value to a sold advertiser. For example, a owners of an e-commerce website competence find that desktop users put some-more equipment in their carts and spend some-more on average.

Fourthly, we competence wish to drive mobile users to opposite pages than desktop users. Especially if your website is not responsive, we competence have apart URLs for mobile. While a manageable website is ideal, your group competence be forced to work with a client’s existent website when regulating an ad campaign.

So, how do we build a debate that targets usually mobile inclination around AdWords? The brief answer is we can’t. However, a series of workarounds are available.

First, let’s demeanour during a integrate of AdWords facilities that concentration spending on mobile: bid modifiers and mobile-preferred ads.

AdWords Features To Target Mobile

Use Bid Modifiers

Enhanced campaigns introduced a underline called bid modifiers, that concede we to boost or diminution bids by a commission for ads appearing on mobile devices. A series of PPC professionals have suggested regulating bid modifiers to concentration a campaign’s spend on mobile placement. You could set a low ubiquitous bid and boost a mobile bid modifier to 300%, a limit commission allowed.

To set a bid modifier, go to a “Settings” add-on in your preferred debate and name “Devices.” You’ll afterwards see statistics damaged down by device and a choice to change a commission for mobile.

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Setting a mobile bid modifier. (View vast version⁵)

However, this technique will not totally bar desktop searches. In a exam opposite mixed accounts, Brad Geddes found⁶ that about 19% of searches still finish adult occurring on desktop.

Create Mobile-Preferred Ads

Another choice is to emanate mobile-preferred ads. When we build an ad in AdWords’ interface, selecting a check box enables we to symbol a ad as mobile-preferred. Such ads are an event to customize messaging privately to people on mobile devices. We’ve softened both clickthrough rates and acclimatisation rates by regulating phrases like “Call now” in mobile-specific ads, since searchers can click-to-call from a phone.

To emanate a mobile-preferred ad, usually click a check box for “Mobile” underneath “Device preference” when creation an ad around a web interface.

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Creating a mobile-preferred ad. (View vast version⁸)

However, even these ads are not guaranteed to seem usually on mobile or to forestall customary ads in a same ad groups from arrangement adult on mobile. PPC Hero put this to a test⁹ and found that a series of desktop impressions still occurred with mobile-preferred ads.

Use Smartphone-Specific Ad Sizes

When regulating arrangement campaigns, a 320 × 50-pixel mobile leaderboard ad distance will seem privately in a smartphone browser or app. You can even emanate charcterised ads in this format to get some-more attention. If we wish to run them on mobile inclination that don’t support Flash, AdWords offers an choice to modify a Flash files to HTML5 when uploading them.

This ad distance is good for pushing branding, since it takes adult an intensely manifest apportionment of a mobile screen, mostly on top. Clickthrough rate tends to be high. In one campaign, we saw an normal of a 0.5% aloft clickthrough rate on these mobile ads than a customary desktop sizes (a flattering poignant disproportion for arrangement ads). Be aware, however, that people mostly unintentionally daub these ads on a hold device, generally while personification games. If we are encountering a high rebound rate from these ads, afterwards cruise incompatible mobile apps. Bryant Garvin has created about a discerning and easy approach to do this¹⁰.

We’ve looked during some options accessible in AdWords to concentration on mobile. Next, let’s cruise another height that allows for some-more granular targeting during a device turn than AdWords.

Direct People To Proper Pages

While a manageable website is a ideal option, if we do have a apart mobile website, make certain that users who are entrance from mobile inclination will see a correct page. One of a misfortune mistakes we could make is to brazen all mobile visitors to a general home page. I’ve audited campaigns whose ads were set adult to really delicately couple to really specific register items, usually to totally remove all of that value since no homogeneous pages existed on mobile. Make certain that sold product and use pages brazen to their sold mobile versions.

AdWords also lets we use ValueTrack parameters¹¹ in ad-destination URLs to mention mobile and desktop versions. People who click on ads will be destined to a correct page formed on a device being used.

Try Bing Ads

While Google competence have private a capability to aim apart campaigns during mobile inclination or tablets, Bing still allows we to shred by device; we can still emanate a mobile-only debate to strech searchers on Bing and Yahoo. While Bing-powered hunt accounts for a most smaller volume than Google, I’ve found that dispersal a apportionment of spend to Bing Ads to be profitable for many clients, with reduction competition, as good as a generally reduce cost for leads. For one sold customer with a singular budget, we found that a cost per lead averaged about $20 reduction in Bing Ads than AdWords; so, we shifted income over, ensuing in a stronger lapse on investment from their ad spend.

To set a Bing Ads debate to offer usually on mobile, go to a “Campaign Settings” tab. Under “Advanced Targeting Options,” name “Device” to select a inclination on that to run your campaign. You can also set bid modifiers here, as in AdWords.

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Creating a mobile-only debate in Bing Ads. (View vast version¹³)

Don’t Forget The Experience After The Ad!

Getting a right people to click on your ad is usually a initial step. Their believe on your website after a click is essential to either they indeed hit we or make a purchase. Also, comprehend that landing-page peculiarity contributes to AdWords’ peculiarity score, a cause that affects how high we have to bid for clicks and where your ads uncover adult in hunt results.

¹⁴

Example of a manageable website scaling to mixed device sizes. (View vast version¹⁵)

A manageable pattern will adjust your website’s distance to mobile inclination and is, in fact, Google’s settled preference. Make certain that your website’s pattern takes into comment that inclination users are on, how they arrived on a sold page and what paths they need to take to convert.

Start Reaching Your Audience On Mobile

By regulating a techniques mentioned, I’ve succeeded in gripping costs per lead down, as good as focusing spend on areas where a debate is saying a best results. While we do live in a cross-device world, profitable courtesy to a formula from opposite inclination leads to smarter PPC debate management. For example, in a same AdWords account, I’ve seen campaigns in that mobile costs per lead normal aloft than on desktop, along with other campaigns in that mobile costs per lead normal lower. Taking this information into account, we can customize a bid modifiers for mobile by campaign, instead of gripping them during a general series opposite a board, to assistance control spend.

Working with businesses that yield internal services, I’ve also seen measureless success both in including a click-to-call prolongation as good as regulating mobile-preferred ads to concentration messaging on calls. Some clients I’ve worked with see usually as many leads come from phone calls directly from ads as by website form submissions. Again, a fact that a user on a phone is expected to take advantage of a elementary click-to-call choice gives us a choice to customize an ad debate targeted during mobile searchers.

Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all resolution to targeting your assembly by device. But either you’re usually starting to publicize online or are a maestro AdWords user, we can expected do some-more to strech a ever-growing pool of mobile users. Take a time to shred messaging, and aim with a believe that people act differently on opposite devices. Keep lane of a value of leads perceived formed on device to establish how most spend to distribute to mobile and how most to desktop. Of course, exam these plan to see what works best for we and your brand, and tailor promotion to your users when they revisit from mobile devices.

Additional Resources

• “Google’s Mobile Movement: Enhanced Campaigns and a Rising Cost of Mobile¹⁶,” Marin Software


• “5 Google AdWords Enhanced Campaign Tips for Efficiency and Better Performance¹⁷,” Crystal Santos, Search Engine Watch


• “How to Determine Your Mobile and Geo Bid Multipliers for Enhanced Campaigns¹⁸,” Benjamin Vigneron, Search Engine Land


• “Optimizing Bid Adjustments for Mobile Ads¹⁹,” Scott Yacko, Levers blog


• “Why You Can’t Manage AdWords Without a Multi-Device Strategy in 2013²⁰,” Andrew Lolk, PPC Hero

(al, ml)

Footnotes

1. 1 http://www.ppchero.com/google-to-force-you-to-go-mobile-with-enhanced-campaigns/


2. 2 http://searchengineland.com/should-you-upgrade-to-adwords-enhanced-campaigns-148240


3. 3 http://www.marinsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/impact


4. 4 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/314a1_mobilemodifier800.jpg


5. 5 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/314a1_mobilemodifier800.jpg


6. 6 http://searchengineland.com/highlights-of-the-smx-advanced-session-on-ppc-enhanced-campaigns-best-practices-163472


7. 7 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/12395_mobilead800.jpg


8. 8 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/12395_mobilead800.jpg


9. 9 http://www.ppchero.com/do-mobile-preferred-ads-actually-prefer-mobile/


10. 10 http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/how-to-exclude-mobile-apps-google-display-network-gdn/


11. 11 http://adwords.blogspot.com/2013/03/new-valuetrack-parameters-for-enhanced.html


12. 12 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/6ebb9_bingads800.jpg


13. 13 http://gridtips.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/6ebb9_bingads800.jpg


14. 14 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/responsive800px.jpg


15. 15 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/responsive800px.jpg


16. 16 http://www.marinsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/impact


17. 17 http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2302961/5-Google-AdWords-Enhanced-Campaign-Tips-for-Efficiency-Better-Performance


18. 18 http://searchengineland.com/how-to-determine-your-mobile-geo-bid-multipliers-for-enhanced-campaigns-152291


19. 19 http://leve.rs/blog/optimizing-bid-adjustments-for-mobile-ads/


20. 20 http://www.ppchero.com/why-you-cant-manage-adwords-without-a-multi-device-strategy-in-2013/

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Targeting Mobile Users Through Google AdWords