Why is Mobile So Important this Holiday Season?

Mobile marketing and paid search can make your holiday numbers. The season has arrived, and it is important to convert views to sales. This is where mobile marketing comes in. Research by comScore found that 72 percent of cell phone users now have a smart phone. With mobile search on the rise, Bing has found that 70 percent of mobile users convert within the first five hours versus weeks when conducting a desktop search. Your business can benefit from changes in user behavior by running a paid search campaign that is optimized for mobile users.

There are several reasons that users conduct a smartphone search and use that information to make a buying decision. Understanding these reasons will help you to write better ad copy and run paid search campaigns that convert.

What You Should Know About Smartphone Searches

• Convenience. Smartphone users search for product information while at home, on the go and in the store. The ability to find information whenever they want, wherever they are is beneficial and can lead to additional sales. User engagement peaks around 8pm every night so make sure that you allocate your advertising budget to take advantage of after work shoppers. When planning your mobile marketing campaign, focus on providing key information quickly and making it easy to access. For example, if you are open extended hours, make sure to provide that information right away. Speak with your web development team about any promotions or specials that you are running and have them change your banners or website information accordingly. You also need to make sure that your website is mobile friendly prior to investing in a mobile marketing campaign.

• Control. Since a smartphone and tablet search can be done virtually anywhere, it provides users with the ability to shop on their own time and whenever it is convenient. This level of control is leading to an increase in spending. In fact, twenty-six percent of smartphone users and thirty-five percent of tablet users spend more money shopping because of their device. Speak with your web development team to have your website and social media campaigns optimized with attention-grabbing graphic images so that you can capture the eye of users that are browsing to kill time, along with hardcore shoppers.

• Easy viewing. Users want to visit a site that is optimized for mobile and easy to view. Bing found that websites that were mobile optimized had a conversion rate that was 160 percent higher than sites that weren’t. Have your web development team analyze your website to see if any changes need to be made to make it mobile friendly.

You can save money on a paid search mobile marketing campaign because the cost-per-click is actually lower than advertisements ran on a desktop. This is partially due to advertisers being confused about how mobile conversions happen. Most don’t happen online. They happen in the store as people conducting a local search then head to their destination in order to buy, eat, etc. With that in mind, you can benefit financially by saving money on your ads while simultaneously increasing your sales.