Tag: Mobile Marketing

Want to Improve Your Local Search Ranking? Focus on Mobile.

Posted on by Andrew

Mobile SearchWhen consumers search for local options on mobile, they usually have an immediate need and want quick answers, close to where they are. Optimizing for local search is important, but if you aren’t optimizing for mobile, you may miss out on your best source of local traffic. Many of those local searches come with a high purchase intent, making local mobile searches an incredibly important opportunity for your business. How can you structure your paid search campaigns to make sure your ads are appearing for local shoppers who want what you’re selling?

Use shorter phrases and keywords

Mobile users use short phrases and fewer keywords than desktop users. Go after short, concise phrases and keywords that your audience will be typing into their phones. For paid search ads, you can find mobile-specific keyword information by checking the Search Terms report in Google AdWords. This list will give you the searches people entered that triggered your ads.

Keep it local

Local searchers will be more likely to respond to ads from businesses that appear to be close to them. Clearly, state your city in your title and content to confirm that you are a local business. Break out your paid search campaigns according to the location to ensure that the location a potential customer is searching for shows up in your content. When searchers know you’re just down the street, your ad will be much more relevant to their query.

Use mobile ad extensions

Ad extensions can boost your ads by providing additional information to searchers. Experiment with different extensions and see which ones are the most effective. For mobile search, consider the following extensions:

  • Location extensions: Location extensions shows your address and lets searchers know just how local you are.
  • Call Extensions: If people often contact your business before they come in, you can eliminate a step for them by making the click on your ad lead to a call or text.
  • Sitelinks: Sitelink extensions let you focus on some of your site specifics that make your business stand out, like driving directions, special promotions, or a “contact us” page.

Test Local Search Ads on Google Maps

Local Search Ads or Promoted Pins increase the accessibility and visibility of your business for local searches by putting your ad right on Google’s Map. You can use this ad to feature promotions, incentives, and allow potential customers to search your real-time inventory before they head to your store.

Implement the right mix

Successful mobile advertising needs to be the right combination of keywords to fit Google’s algorithm paired with a great user experience to engage customers. When you create the right mix of keywords and relevant content, your message will reach your ready-to-buy audience. If you’re interested in learning more about mobile advertising contact us today. 

Three Ways to Prepare for Google’s Mobile-First Index

Posted on by Andrew

google's mobile first indexGoogle recently announced that it is revamping its indexing criteria to better align with smartphone users. Google’s new mobile-first index delivers more relevant search results and accurate content to searchers.

Google’s indexing process makes up a large part of the algorithm that determines what a user will or will not see. Historically, Google’s index was based solely on desktop websites. Google crawls your desktop site, creating ranking signals and categorizing content. When a user searches Google, the retrieval part of the algorithm looks at the desktop index. It finds relevant results based on this index, then ranks them.

The mobile-first index will look at the mobile version of your website for its ranking signals and fall back on the desktop version when there is no mobile version. This means Google will create and rank its search listings based on the mobile version of content, even for listings that are shown to desktop users. Google wants its search results to reflect the majority of its audience: mobile users. If you want to remain visible and competitive, you need to include relevant, informative content on your mobile site.

How can you respond to make sure you take full advantage of the new mobile-first index?

Create a responsive website: A responsive website serves the same HTML code on the same URL regardless of the users’ device, but will adjust the display based on screen size. When you have a responsive site, the indexing doesn’t change because Google sees the same content.

Create relevant, informative mobile content: When the mobile-first index rolls out in its entirety, Google will search your mobile site and index your site based on mobile content. Creating high-quality content will help Google understand the relevance of your site when searches look for what offer.

Launch a paid search campaign: To ensure that your ads land at the top of search engine results pages despite indexing, launch a paid search campaign. Compel prospective customers to click by exploring all possible keyword angles. Consider connecting ads to specific landing pages on your site to produce the most relevant results and best experience for your potential customers.

Did you find this blog post interesting? Comment below with your thoughts or questions? 

Snapchat Will Serve Targeted Ads Based on What People Buy

Posted on by Andrew

Snapchat AdvertisingThe more personalized an ad is to its audience, the greater chance it will drive a consumer to act. Snapchat will soon deliver more personalized and relevant ads to its users, improving the user experience and connecting buyers with brands.

Partnering with Oracle Data Cloud, owner of data collection firm Datalogix, Snapchat will start targeting and measuring ads on its platform based on what people buy outside of Snapchat. The list of approximately 100 categories takes Oracle’s data tracking people’s online and offline purchases and organizes them into un-branded segments including in-market shoppers in the automotive, retail, and service industries.

The focused targeting options apply to all ads bought directly from Snapchat or through a third-party API partner. Facebook and Google have successfully executed similar agreements with Oracle to use data to improve targeting. Using offline data to specifically target users will help you achieve even more effective campaigns. View Snapchat advertising success stories here.

Snapchat AdvertisingThese ads:

  • Targeting: You can target consumers based on their interests, shopping behavior, and past purchases. The ad-targeting options go beyond demographic information and help you accurately pinpoint your audience. People are more likely to respond to an ad based on a product they are interested in that a generic ad served to them because of their age, gender, or location.
  • Increase Relevance: Delivering ads of interest to consumers increases relevance because now they will view ads for things they already buy or might be in the market for. Deliver a more impactful ad that a user wants to see.
  • Maintain User Privacy: Snapchat will use anonymized email addresses and mobile IDs to match data with Snapchat users. The data remains encrypted so that Snapchat can’t see how individual users tie to Oracle’s purchase data and Oracle can’t see how its purchase data ties to Snapchat’s individual users.

Snapchat, which filed its IPO in November 2016, plans to go public this year. By offering enhanced targeting options, the social platform hopes to generate more customers for its advertisers in the same way that Google and Facebook have.

Do you advertise on Snapchat? Contact us today and we’ll help you develop a comprehensive social media marketing campaign that reaches your target audience.

Why Mobile Ads Are The Future of Digital Advertising

Posted on by Andrew

Mobile Marketing and AdvertisingFive recent statistics confirm what we already know: mobile is growing and it’s necessary to reach your audience on this platform. After each key statistic, we’ve highlighted an action point suggesting what you should include in your marketing strategy to capitalize off of mobile consumer behavior.

 

 

1.Mobile web expanding exponentially

The IDC estimates that there will be more than 2 billion mobile users this year. Nearly all new internet usage, and subsequent growth, is expected to come from mobile. Although mobile is booming, keep in mind there are still billions of desktop and laptop users. Varying devices mean different sizes, speeds, and memory that all affect the user experience.

Take action: In order to reach all consumers, no matter the channel, have a responsive website that adjusts to the size of screen it is viewed on.

 

2.Media consumption is moving to mobile and users crave visual content.

Digital and mobile usage are increasing and television are diminishing. People are watching less content on TV, instead moving to mobile platforms to watch video content. According to ComScore, 61% percent of mobile users have the YouTube app on their phones and almost 40 percent use Instagram.

Take action: Use video ads and content to connect with your audience in an engaging, memorable way.

 

3.Facebook is the most popular app on mobile

ComScore’s recent ranking of top US smartphone apps named Facebook and Facebook Messenger the top two used apps by a wide margin. 77.3% percent of smartphone users use the Facebook app and 60% percent use Facebook Messenger.

Take action: Use Facebook ads to share your message with engaged users. Connect with your audience using a variety of ad formats to fit your needs.

 

4.The majority of email opens are on mobile

More than 50% of emails are opened and read on a mobile device, according to email service provider Litmus.

Take action: Optimize your dealership emails for mobile so they are easily accessible on mobile. Hard to read emails with too much text and large graphics will most likely be deleted before they are even read.

 

5.Mobile is the fastest-growing ad format

Mobile advertising is the fastest-growing ad segment taking 24% percent of the $27.5 billion global digital advertising share in 2015 according to MobyAffiliates. Marketers are spending their advertising dollars on mobile platforms because that is where their audience is spending more and more of their time.

Take action: Reach your audience when they are searching on the go with mobile-specific ads. This platform is ever-changing and becoming a more effective avenue to reach interested consumers.

 

Did you find this blog post interesting? Comment below and let us know your thoughts or questions!

Win $500 in Free Mobile Marketing

Posted on by Andrew

Are you trying to find a cheap, easy way to get a mobile marketing campaign started for your business? Well look no further, because there’s a contest going on over at Fit Small Business where you can win $500 in free mobile advertising from NearWoo.

Head on over to Fit Small Business to enter the contest. Businesses must sign up by August 15, so go sign up!

5 Tips For Building a Better Mobile Site

Posted on by Andrew

One of the most basic things you can do to grow your business is get a solid mobile plan. Thankfully, this doesn’t require any major investments like developing a mobile app – it can be as simple as getting a basic mobile website.

In one of Google’s studies, they found 57% of mobile users won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site. Additionally, 40% of mobile users turn to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience.

So what should you do? It’s time to get a mobile site. A mobile site is the easiest way to bring more customers into your business. For example: 95% of smartphone users have searched for local info, 61% called a business after searching, 59% visited in person, and 90% of these users acted within 24 hours.

Here are our top five tips for you to get started with your mobile website:

1. Make it Fast

Mobile users are usually searching for your website while on the go, trying to get things done while they go about their day. In order to serve them, remove clutter and give them the basics they need to contact you such as your phone number, address and hours of operation.

2. Make Conversion Easy

Mobile users have higher purchase intent than desktop users, but they still need additional prodding to make a purchase. Focus on information that will help the mobile user convert: product details, photo galleries and simplified data entry.

3. Make it Touch-Friendly

Clear navigation is key with mobile users, as they don’t have as much screen real estate as their desktop counterparts. Minimize scrolling and make buttons large enough to press with a thumb. If a user “fat-fingers” a link one too many times, they might leave and never come back.

4. Make it Seamless

Users might check your website out at home, and then be reminded to check it while they are on the go. If they navigate to your mobile website and it is a vastly different experience from your desktop version, they might be unnerved. Keep logos and colors uniform across both sites, so it’s obvious that they are visiting your mobile site, not one of their competitors.

5. Make it Accessible

Your mobile site needs to work on more than one platform. Android and iOS make up the lion’s share of smartphone users, but you still need to cater to the millions of people that use other operating systems. Also, use HTML as flash doesn’t show up on mobile devices.

It’s time to get started with a mobile advertising campaign. Your business should be reaching as many people as possible, and mobile is the best course of action.

If you follow these tips in creating your mobile website then you should have no problem in converting and cashing in on the growing crop of mobile users.

Tablet users are engaged during primetime – are you marketing to them?

Posted on by Andrew

Tablets are becoming more and more commonplace both in work and at home, and they are now the ultimate companion device for consumers as they watch TV.

In a new report from Flurry Analytics, tablet users are shown to use their tablets throughout the day, but during the primetime hours the usage spikes.

What does this mean? It means tablet users are using their devices as they watch TV. They’re searching, networking and playing games. Their high engagement during the primetime TV hours means that you have an additional way to get their attention instead of just TV commercials.

Imagine you run a primetime TV spot at 7:30 p.m. on a local news channel. An interested customer sees your ad, grabs their tablet and looks you up online. You have two opportunities to grab them while they are searching for your business.

The first is with a search targeting campaign. Also known as paid search, search targeting puts your ad at the top of search engines. This gives you the chance to reach people as they look up your business.

The second is with Retargeting. Retargeting displays ads to people after they visit your website, allowing you to remarket your business to them. So if the interested tablet user searches and finds your website, but leaves without taking action, you can still reach out to them through a Retargeting campaign.

Tablet users have high primetime engagement, and tend to be older and more affluent than other demographics. It’s time to target tablet users with search and display ads.

The Final Part of the Boeing Classic Campaign: A Mobile Website

Posted on by Andrew

The third portion of the campaign was the mobile website. Since the rate of mobile Internet adoption is expected to pass desktop Internet useage in two years, it was almost essential to offer a mobile interface for Boeing Classic. The mobile page featured links to the Boeing Classic Facebook page, directions to the golf course, a schedule of events, and an embedded Twitter widget programmed to grab tweets about the Boeing Classic. The mobile site also featured a tee times page that we updated daily so tournament-goers could see when their favorite players were teeing off.

Overall, the campaign was a huge success. We brought more than 1,000 people to the Boeing Classic website, and delivered more than half a million ad impressions to Boeing Classic’s target demographic. Our ads were displayed on thousands of websites, spanning more than 50 ad networks. These results echo what we see with our clients every day. Boeing Classic wanted a far-reaching display campaign, and we delivered.

This is just one example of how our clients use our products to attract more people to their site. Go to our website to learn more about starting your own digital marketing program.

Boeing Classic Campaign Part Two: Pixel Targeting

Posted on by Andrew

The second part of the campaign was a Pixel Targeting campaign. Pixel Targeting is a unique product that we developed to find appropriate customers based on their purchase history, search intent, search history and more. For Boeing Classic, the Pixel Targeting campaign was aimed at Washington State golf enthusiasts. This allowed Boeing Classic to reach out to people who might not have heard about their website, but would be interested in attending the tournament.

The Pixel Targeting campaign used the same creative as the Site Retargeting campaign, and the eye-popping design grabbed the attention of golf enthusiasts as they browsed their favorite websites. This part of the campaign was focused on high-volume ad inventory and succeeded in reaching thousands of people in Boeing Classic’s target demographic.

Overall campaign stats were just as impressive as Retargeting: 301,051 impressions, 527 clicks and a CTR of .18%

Are You Doing SEO? Try Some SEM Instead

Posted on by Andrew

Don’t think of search engine optimization as the end of your online strategy. SEO should play an important role, but don’t get caught up in the hype of so-called “free traffic.” In fact, you are paying your SEO company to get you that “free traffic” every month.

A great alternative to spending money on SEO is SEM. Don’t listen to companies who say their SEO is foolproof. Purchasing ads in Google AdWords is the only surefire way to appear at the top of the search results.

The fact of the matter is that SEO is still a guessing game, and that’s the way Google likes it. Google doesn’t make any money off of SEO. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for them to help websites optimize for higher search listings.

A simple search engine marketing campaign can help bring your website more traffic than you would get normally. Plus, in a report from Google, 89% of traffic gained from a search campaign was lost when the ads were paused. That means that an SEM campaign lets you reach an entirely different audience than you would get from organic results.

If you’ve never done SEM, give it a shot. Go to Google AdWords and create a test campaign and bring some new traffic to your website.