Mobile Commerce, also referred to as mCommerce, is the most portable and accessible marketing channel today. Perhaps this is because mCommerce literally places brands in the palms of customers’ hands. Never before have consumer goods been so readily available. Therefore, it becomes particularly important to provide a stellar user experience from start to finish.
For the third installment of our mobile-focused series this month, we will take a look at 6 mCommerce optimization tips that can help increase sales and improve the performance of your mobile PPC campaigns.
6 mCommerce Optimization Tips
Create granular campaigns and ad groups.
Although granularity is important for any PPC campaign, it becomes even more important for eCommerce retailers. As a result, you’ll want to ensure that your mCommerce campaigns and ad groups follow in the like. But keep in mind, these mobile campaigns should be segmented from your other devices. This is because mobile-specific campaigns have seen a 12% increase in average CTR and a 29% increase in clicks over hybrid campaigns. Start by taking a look at the product categories and design your campaign structure accordingly. This way, your product-specific ad groups will fall into place nicely based on your campaign segmentation and you will then be able to send users to the most specific landing page possible. You might also consider creating additional campaigns based on seasonal products or your most popular items to ensure they have sufficient budget.
Start with short and concise keywords.
When you consider that mobile users are often on the move, it is important to ensure that your keywords are concise and focused starting out. Essentially, this improves the overall searchability of your brand and products while you gain a foothold in the mobile advertising space. However, roughly 40% of mobile search queries are 4 words or more, so it is vital to expand your keyword list as your mCommerce campaigns mature. Reviewing search query data can be a great way to expand your keyword lists if you aren’t sure where to start.
Utilize the relevant ad extensions.
Ad extensions are a great way of presenting a call-to-action in your ad. If you aren’t using ad extensions, you’re missing out! There are various extensions available specifically for mobile ads, such as location and click-to-call. Location extensions are a must when you consider the fact that roughly 61% of smartphone users make local searches from a device looking for shopping venues, restaurants, etc. There are also click-to-call features that enable users to easily contact your store, which can also benefit mCommerce campaigns.
Highlight price points and promotions in your ad copy.
Price points and promotions are a great way to encourage more potential customers to visit your site and increase the overall quality of your clicks. We’ve found that including price points can help set consumers’ expectations before they even visit your site because they remove the transparency and reveal the price range of your products. In this way, the quality of your clicks increases since users know what to expect beforehand. Promotions also make for great compliments to your ad copy because they provide consumers with an even better reason to visit your site.
Aim for ad position 1 and 2.
Mobile ads are displayed above and below organic search results, typically two above and three below. Since the SERPs do not show ads along the right-hand side on mobile devices, it is crucial that your ad appears in the top two positions, as click through rate on ads below the organic results is dramatically less. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your bids to ensure that you achieve those premium positions.
Ensure your landing pages are relevant and mobile-friendly.
It is strongly encouraged to optimize your PPC landing pages for mobile devices, particularly after AdWords began penalizing advertisers’ Quality Scores. If your landing page doesn’t display clearly on a mobile device, there seems little point in sending mobile users to your website anyway. If you make it too difficult for users to browse and buy, they’re likely to click off the page and look elsewhere. Users often use their thumbs to browse and click, so ensure that your calls-to-action are clear and the buttons are large/easy to use. It is also important to include a way for users to transition back to the regular site if they prefer. According to a recent comScore survey, 47.6% of the total mobile audience in the U.S. used apps and 47.5% used mobile browsers. Therefore, you might also want to consider offering customized apps that can help make browsing even easier.
As always, feel free to leave any commentary below. It would be interesting to hear about how others are optimizing their mCommerce campaigns this year. Thanks for reading!
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Sam’s post as he walks us through Mobile Analytics.
