Enhanced Campaigns Client Spotlight: Jessica Berg of Covario

In our recent report, Enhanced Campaigns: One Year Later, we reached out to Skai Search clients and asked them to address questions pertaining to the impact of enhanced campaigns, the nature of their desktop and mobile strategies, and the opportunity they see in mobile. Today, we’re featuring a response from Jessica Berg, Associate Director of Paid Media, Covario. In this full excerpt of her response, Jessica discusses the similarities and differences between mobile and desktop paid search strategies.

What once was looked at as a blanketed approach to digital, we are now seeing a massive need to view and strategically approach mobile as a separate layer in the overall search strategy. Mobile is here, mobile is growing and if advertisers don’t tailor PPC campaigns or a website to mobile users, they will be missing out on a ton of potential conversions down the road. Whether a mobile user is looking to take action or they are simply in a browsing state-of-mind, it’s important to understand his or her intent and use that as the foundation in developing a mobile-specific strategy. Here are three key elements all advertisers should include in their approach to mobile search:

1. Mobile Specific Ads: Use them. Regardless of where users are in the search funnel, ads need to have mobile-specific messaging that is more direct and to the point than the ever-familiar desktop ads. Unlike desktop, where any given advertiser is trying to stand out among 10 different links above the fold, there isn’t a lot of shiny, distracting objects on mobile SERPs. The mobile landscape is smaller, less crowded and for that reason, combined with the knowledge that mobile users are on the go, mobile ads need to be short and to the point. If advertisers can enable click-to-call, that’s even better. Giving mobile users an easy way to get ahold of a business with just a click is the kind of experience that will get users through the sales funnel to purchase.

2. Be Local: A huge component of mobile is local search. It’s no longer a “good idea” to have location information in your ads, it’s a must. Whether it’s click-to-call or an address, mobile users are looking for that ever-important marketing component…relevancy and proximity.

3. Mobile-Friendly Website: According to Google, 72% of users want mobile-friendly sites and with more and more online searches moving to mobile devices, that demand is only going to grow. Make it easy for consumers to get the information they need and, most importantly, make it easy to purchase on their mobile devices. comScore released a study in February of 2014, stating that “the majority of consumers are ‘multiscreening’”, making it more important than ever for users to have a consistent experience across all devices.

Although it is smart to approach a mobile strategy differently than one would with desktop, it’s also important to understand the various ways in which the two devices are intertwined. Many users will move from one screen to the next throughout their purchase cycle, gathering information, browsing and then purchasing between mobile, tablet and desktop. Advertisers should always be looking at these trends to ensure they are making data driven decisions to grow the business in a cost-effective way.

Some keywords may work phenomenally on desktop, but under-perform on mobile. It’s important to know where a program’s strengths and weaknesses are to ensure the product has the strongest presence where it matters the most. Just like SEO and SEM can leverage one another for cost-efficiency and strategy, as can mobile and desktop. The performance, per device, varies from client to client depending on the vertical and the product. In most cases, clients are seeing lower CPCs, but higher Cost-Per-Acquisitions on mobile compared to desktop campaigns. This is due to users moving across devices through the sales cycle and being more likely to make a purchase on a desktop as opposed to mobile devices.

With the release of Google’s enhanced campaigns last year, advertiser approaches to looking at a user’s context has changed the game of digital advertising, putting more emphasis on mobile than ever before. Advertisers need to have a mobile-specific strategy that involves messaging, website development and targeting while at the same time, looking at the cross-over potential to tablets and desktop as a user moves through the sales funnel. Over time, the cross-device targeting, reporting and attribution will continue to evolve, forcing advertisers to think outside the box, adding various layers of strategy to the digital chameleon we call search.

Download the full Enhanced Campaigns: One Year Later report to view all marketer responses  and insights from the accompanying global marketer enhanced campaigns survey.