Click to call for mobile search....
....will now be automatically enabled for all phone numbers that appear within Google Adwords copy, closing the 'free call' loophole that has existed over the past year for advertisers that have included their number within ad copy, rather than using the Call Extension feature. Just be aware, that if customers have been trained to call your company, from their mobiles, this will now result in a regular click cost from Google, for any calls generated, and your MI and daily caps, may be altered going forwards.
Mobile conversion rates?
Mobile advertising CTR% are said to be more than twice what you might expect to see for the same campaign viewed from a desktop - great - but mobile conversion rates are significantly down. Net, net, campaigns viewed from a desktop device will demonstrate a better ROI through conventional tracking and attribution, than the mobile distribution. This can be changed by addressing a few basics - the mobile customer journey, through to checkout, needs to be tailored to the device in question, or, recognise the current limitations on your site's mobile capability and set more realistic objectives for customer engagement, for the time being.
Mobile Shopping?
Don't be fooled by the proliferation of mobile apps and facebook pages for major retailers. A survey by One Iota has demonstrated that only one in five have sites optimised for mobile. So, the user experience is not being optimised on the device of choice for a growing number of UK consumers. I think we all have some work to do.........
What (else) are you doing when you watch TV?
92% of 13 - 24's in a Yahoo/Nielsen US survey are using their mobiles whilst watching TV - shopping, texting, social networking, searching, that is. Now I know what I think of the average US TV offer, but even so, this is pretty remarkable, and vital to understand when planning TV advertising or creating mobile search campaigns don't you think?
Affiliates - what next?
Trust affiliates to pioneer technology advances for you, and there is always room for this channel in the marketing mix. Here is a great summary from Matt Swan of Affiliate Window, documenting the evolution affiliates have undertaken in their approach to generating traffic, and making this commercially viable. Have you briefed your network to explore device neutral audience reach and real time bidding yet?