Screen size may constrain mobile search

By Giselle Abramovich

January 14, 2008

Advertisers need to expand the types of activities being advertised on mobile

With the mobile marketing channel still in its infancy, there are several challenges in conducting mobile search programs, especially given the issue of screen size.

Search marketers who are dealing with small screens need to serve relevant ads and, at the same time, worry if the results will be clear and easy to read by the consumer.

“In the long run it decreases the value of mobile search because it degrades the end-user experience,” said Dan Flanegan, JHG-Townsend Mobile Strategy lead and CEO of Brand Anywhere.

In the process of creating a mobile search ad, marketers need to put themselves into the shoes of the consumer, he said. A key point to keep in mind is what consumers will think of the brand when they experience it on the phone and within search results.

Search research
Marketers should also understand their search partner and the products and services offered.

“Inventory levels – the number of searchers – on mobile are limited right now and are very specific to particular types of searches, essentially those that involve searches that are location-specific,” said Craig Macdonald, vice president of marketing, alliances and product management at SEMDirector, San Diego.

“Therefore, leveraging mobile search requires advertisers to match their resources to the opportunity which is determined by vertical,” Mr. Macdonald said.

Bandwidth is also a problem, requiring experimentation.

“Advertisers should have an 800 number to call and follow up to whether the interaction being advertised supports an inbound call model,” Mr. Flanegan said.

“Otherwise, advertisers need to test the landing page experience from mobile search that drives consumers to pages that can come up in 5 to 10 seconds,” he said. “This usually means page sizes of less than 20KB.”

To make the cost-per-acquisition from search more valuable, advertisers need to expand the types of activities being advertised on mobile.

For example, one of SEMDirector’s customers is a manufacturer of PDAs. Since most people do not buy their mobile phone via a handset, the landing page that is used online should not be the same as the one running on mobile.

SEMDirector found that advertising mobile phone accessories on mobile was more successful for its client.

“By building out appropriate potential sales categories and providing mobile users with helpful ways to find what they need – appropriate to the medium – SEMDirector has driven CPAs down through mobile by 83 percent over a six-month period,” Mr. Macdonald said.

“The key has been flexibility in getting different content on the mobile platform so different offers could be tested,” he said.

To search or not to search: Tips for mobile

• Test, test and test
• Work with your selected partner to test placement and refine your campaign as you would online
• Determine what works and what doesn't
• Dip your toes in, check the waters and then decide if you want to dive in
• If you do build creative for your campaign, especially mobile banners, make sure that the banners leverage your brand imagery
• Bold logos and images that create a strong association with your product or service will be easiest to read on a mobile phone
• Reserve your call to action for the text link that usually accompanies the banner creative
• Mobile consumers are more likely to click on the text than they are on the banner
• Make the call to action compelling
• When consumers click make sure they have a viable destination to land on. This could be a WAP page with either simple text or more options for them to further explore your product or service.  If you build such a destination, do so with a partner that can track your unique visitors and page views
• If the appropriate location-based industries – travel, food and retail, for example – are not doing this, it is a missed opportunity
• If a company is upstream in value chain, the organization should at least be experimenting. It is not difficult and takes about a half day to set up campaigns on Google for mobile, with a company paying only for what is used. The biggest expense is getting the landing page experience right. This requires experimentation and advertisers should expect this to be a three- to six-month process