This year, for the first time, the majority of people in the US own a smartphone.
1 This means that more people than ever are constantly connected, using their phones throughout the day to search for information, shop, or stay entertained. As a result, we are seeing growth in mobile searches across many verticals. For example, year on year, we have seen mobile searches grow by 117% for entertainment, 91% for auto and 90% for finance. And for seasonal terms like “back to school,” we saw a 96% year on year increase.
As mobile continues to grow, it's more important than ever for every business to understand how to engage their customers on mobile. For advertisers who are just getting started, make sure you are showing up when potential customers are searching for keywords related to your business. Opt into mobile and set a
mobile bid adjustment that meets your business goals. By using mobile bid adjustments, you can influence your ad position, clicks and cost on mobile devices. For a bit of perspective, here are a few of examples of how advertisers have set their mobile bids as a percentage of desktop within the last several months (
actual CPCs may vary):
- On average, advertisers in the Japan finance sector set mobile bids to 117% of desktop.
- On average, advertisers in the US dining and entertainment sector set mobile bids to 90% of desktop.
- On average, advertisers in the Canadian auto sector set mobile bids to 87% of desktop.
An example of a marketer who has recognized the importance of mobile and created a clear strategy is My M&M’s. In this
video, the My M&M’s team notes that mobile is often the entry point for their customers. Even though the final conversion may happen in the store or on another device, it’s been important for My M&Ms to make sure they are on mobile to capture these leads. After optimizing their search and display campaigns, MyM&M’s reported a 15% increase in overall ROI.
For best practices on how to set your mobile bid adjustment, we encourage you to review our
bidding best practices whitepaper which includes a chapter dedicated to mobile bids. You can also use the
full value of mobile calculator to estimate the overall value that mobile drives for your business. People are using mobile for many kinds of activities across all business types. Mobile is where your customers are, whether you are a restaurant owner, retailer or financial institution. Therefore, it’s more important than ever before to make sure that your message is where people are looking.
Posted by Andy Miller, Head of Global Mobile Search Solutions
1 PEW Research Center, May 2013. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Smartphone-Ownership-2013/Findings.aspx
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