In Depth: Mobile advertising is still in its infancy but some general rules are emerging. To some extent Google is driving these but other company’s like Hotels.com are experimenting and learning fast too. Ritesh Gupta finds out what they have learnt so far

Mobile marketing is still a new domain for marketers but there is no doubt that this channel, be it for screen size or its ubiquitous availability, needs special attention.    

Initiatives being taken to understand mobile’s prowess in engaging consumers are intriguing.. And the industry is starting to become more comfortable with details - how search results-related pages are being visualised on mobile, how organic listings appear, identifying the optimal number of keywords per search on mobile versus desktop devices and so on. Today we have technology that develops mobile web pages optimised to fit various mobile devices including iPhone, Android and other smart phones.

“The size of the screen largely affects how many organic and paid ads appear in the search results page and how users view the website. Since a mobile screen is much smaller than a desktop, placing within the first two ad positions is crucial,” Monique Jaspers-Wijn, vice president of business development for EMEA at Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “As a general rule, ads that appear below position three struggle to gain visibility and traffic.”

For advertisers, keeping pace with emerging options isn’t easy either.

Only a few months ago, Google mentioned that it is bringing search and apps together with mobile advertising. Considering that mobile apps offer users the ability to search for information, Google introduced custom search ads for them. And now Google is also letting businesses use AdWords mobile search ads as a holistic solution to promote, monetise and track app downloads.

Building local context into mobile ads makes them more useful and it is another interesting area. Today there are search ads that contain useful local information like phone numbers, driving directions, a number to click and let users call a business directly, and also show people how far they are from specific locations.

Tailor your approach

The travel industry has tasted success in this arena. The mobile paid search campaigns have delivered. Only a couple of months ago Starwood and Google indicated that the combination of click-to-call and location ad extensions resulted in an increase in mobile paid search ROI. The campaign resulted in 200% increase in mobile traffic and mobile booking growth of 20% month on month.

But the learning process is ongoing. “This is still very new ground. The current desktop search campaigns are not necessarily optimised for mobile,” says Christelle Chan, marketing director, Hotels.com.

For a mobile-specific search campaign, Chan says with respect to advertisingcopy, think about how different the behaviour is on various devices and adapt your message accordingly.

“When adding keywords to your campaigns, remember that your consumers might be searching slightly differently, example, hotels near them,” she says.

According to Jaspers-Wijn says due to the smaller resolution, a mobile specific website and ‘mobile mentality’ is critical. “In a recent mobile campaign, we created two separate page-per-click (PPC) landing pages; last minute deals and a percentage off promotion. We specifically used fewer words and buttons/links that would be easily accessible on a touch screen.  Offers and descriptions were succinct to reduce the amount of scrolling needed and it was essential that the mobile website was easy to view, accessible and simple to navigate,” she explains, adding that mobile PPC should be treated for short-term, on the move users.

Take consideration of the fact that destination terms are more likely to be searched than brand terms when advertising for locals.  When advertising for travellers and during non-working hour users, a mobile campaign can reflect similarly to a desktop campaign but will most likely receive greater call volume. At this stage, many users will access a mobile booking engine to check availability and rates although booking is largely conducted by a phone call. However, Jaspers-Wijn expects this behaviour to change very quickly as payment technology improves and users become more comfortable with mobile retailing.

Evoking a response

The focus is on working on a mobile campaign strategy that utilises mobile AdWords and mobile search ad extensions driven by top keywords and also on mobile-optimised sites. Advertisers also evaluate options pertaining to mobile ad extensions that allow users to call companies directly from the search results page on their phone.

“In our mobile campaign experience to-date, we found that more people called after viewing an ad text or website on their phone. We subsequently implemented a click to call option- another type of ad extension similar to sitelinks (sitelinks lets customers quickly see and click to popular or key sections of your website).

Users are directly connected to the property by clicking on the link in the search results page and we are currently testing the use of promo code in the ad copy, which will allow users to make a reservation without navigating to the brand’s primary website. Overall, this ad copy variation has generated more qualified calls,” says Jaspers-Wijn.

Pay attention to the last minute

Mobile search accounted for 12.3% of total search advertising spend in Q1 in the US, according to digital marketing solutions specialist IgnitionOne. Mobile clicks were up 246.1% year-on-year, showing acceleration over the last quarter.

One should remember that the mobile advertising strategy depends on the mobile products each brand has developed.

“At Hotels.com, we have a mobile site and mobile apps which we view as acquisition and retention platforms respectively. At a very high level, we then adopt a virtuous circle where we try to push all our newly acquired customers into our apps,” says Chan, explaining that mobile PPC is a key part of the integrated marketing plan.

Given the last minute behaviour the company sees on mobile, consumers are likely to go to a search engine if they don’t have an app of a trusted brand which pops into their mind in that specific instance, says Chan.

All of this becomes more vital considering that last-minute bookings are partly incremental bookings which suppliers and intermediaries would not necessarily have captured before the mobile era.