Marin Software and Fuor Digital Talk Mobile Search Trends

By Samantha Lee April 30th, 2012

Last week Marin hosted a webcast to review our recent study of mobile paid search. Speakers for this event included Gagan Kanwar of Marin Software and Josh Dreller of Fuor Digital, an online advertising agency. To shed light on the current state of mobile search, Gagan presented on several key findings from our study, including:

• Mobile clicks increased 132% in 2011
• Smartphones carry higher CTRs and lower CPCs when compared to tablets and desktops
• Mobile will comprise 25% of all paid search clicks by the end of 2012

To put these mobile trends in perspective, Josh presented two case studies on recent mobile performance across Fuor Digital’s customer base. He also examined several compelling statistics on mobile user behavior, including:

• Where smartphone users are browsing
• How shoppers leverage smartphones
• How smartphone users respond to ads

To view the recording of this webcast and hear more on the state of mobile search, click here.

Industry Leaders Talk Mobile Search at Marin Masters NYC

By Samantha Lee April 18th, 2012

This past Thursday marked our 3rd annual Marin Masters event at The Standard Hotel in New York City. A hundred customers in the tri-state area were invited to hear their peers, as well as Marin’s Global Services team, share success stories, best practices and industry insights.

In keeping to current trends and hot-button topics, the themes this year were mobile and attribution. Content included a presentation on our recent mobile whitepaper and a case study presented by MediaWhiz, in which they describe how they leverage Marin to track offline conversions for their client, AMF Bowling.

Agencies Beeby Clark+Meyler, MediaCom and Optimedia lead a discussion panel on mobile trends and their 2012 mobile search strategies. Each agreed that mobile and desktop metrics should be analyzed separately when optimizing performance, citing the need to customize the mobile experience. Using click-to-call and testing creative language to match mobile behavior were among the key recommendations. All three agencies expect their mobile search budgets to grow by at least 15% in 2012.

Marin Client Services wrapped things up with a presentation on Marin Enterprise best practices and strategies. Topics for the discussion, chosen via customer survey, were geared towards the specific business goals and objectives of our customers.

We would like to extend a big thank you to all of our speakers; and to Yahoo! for sponsoring this event!

People Love to Search on their Smartphones and Tablets

By Matt Lawson March 30th, 2012

We love our mobile devices, and according to our recent study of mobile paid search, we love searching on them. In looking across our client base the trend was unanimous, mobile search is up, way up.

In the U.S., we saw ad clicks from mobile devices increase 132% during 2011, and by the end of this year mobile will comprise 25% of all paid search clicks. Similarly, in the UK mobile ended the year with 15% of all clicks in the UK. And, even though it’s not as significant a percentage, mobile clicks in the Eurozone more than doubled in 2011.

Things get even more interesting for marketers when looking at the differences between smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Generally (UK was the sole exception), smartphones carry higher CTRs and lower CPCs, but the lowest conversion rates. Tablets beat desktops in CTR and CPC, come close to trumping desktops in conversion rate, and edge all devices out in cost per conversion.

So, what’s this all mean?

Mobile devices are not only changing the way consumers search and shop, but how marketers advertise. The immediate response by advertisers is to devote more budget to mobile search (we project ad budgets will fall just a bit short of click volume in 2012). However, down the road as savvy marketers adapt to mobile search scenarios, click to call, location-based promos, and integration with social will all become common place. Furthermore, attribution becomes a much larger issue, particularly in a scenario where a mobile search directly leads to an in-store sale. Who gets the credit?

How do you foresee search marketing changing with the increased adoption and use of smartphones and tablets?

Bolster Your Mobile Advertising

By Matt Lawson September 9th, 2011

Google recently projected 44% of searches for last minute gifts this holiday season will be from mobile devices. We do realize summer just ended and it may be a tad early for some to be thinking about the holidays; however, the stat did get us thinking about best practices when running successful mobile advertising campaigns. Here are three things we’ve noticed that you may want to consider:

1)      Position More Important – A smaller screen equates to less ad real-estate on mobile devices. Typically only 1 or 2 paid search ads appear at the top of a mobile search. Consequently, it’s important to closely monitor the position of your mobile ads and adjust accordingly.

2)      Tailor Mobile Ad Content – Although tempting, copying existing creative over to mobile campaigns tends not to work as well. We’ve seen short and sweet works the best with mobile ads creative. Certainly leverage all the characters you can, but be conscious about clarity so mobile users on the go accurately know what they’re in for.

3)      Focus on Local Results – Often when searching on mobile devices users are trying to find an answer to an immediate concern whether it’s directions, nearest restaurant, or nearest store that sells a particular item. Advertisers that focus on taking advantage of locality tend to see better results. Local offers and coupons, particularly in-store coupons, within mobile ads improve click-through rates and conversions.

What have you found to work when running mobile ads?