This document is a presentation about optimizing mobile paid search campaigns. It begins by emphasizing that mobile usage now surpasses desktop usage, but mobile optimization is often neglected. It then provides four steps to improve mobile campaigns: 1) Stop ignoring mobile and properly assess its importance for the target industry and audience. 2) Stop devaluing mobile by understanding mobile-specific search behaviors and intents. 3) Stop doing mobile poorly by optimizing bidding, ad messaging, and landing pages for mobile. 4) Start expanding the concept of mobile PPC to include call extensions, call-only campaigns, mobile apps, remarketing, and shopping campaigns.

1. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
YOUR
MOBILE
PPC
SUCKS
(But It Doesn’t
Have To!)

2. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
 Director of Paid Search at Point It Digital Marketing
 Based here in Seattle, WA!
 Oversee $35M+ in Yearly Media
 Global SEM Program Lead
 20 Person Team
 30 Languages
 60 Markets
 2015 US Search Award “Young Search Professional”

3. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Oh, and I searched
far & wide
for some great
“angry at phone”
stock photos…

4. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
LET’S TALK
ABOUT
MOBILE

5. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Feb
2015
Apr
2015
Feb
2016
Mar
2016
May
2016
June
2016
Enhanced
campaigns
announced
Enhanced
campaigns
forced migration
Call-Only
Campaigns
launched (2/20)
“Mobilegeddon”
Algo Update
(4/22)
Feb
2013
July
2013
Sidebar Ads
Removed
(2/19)
Gboard for iOS
launched
(5/12)
Google Summit (5/24)
• ExtendedText Ads
• Responsive Display Ads
• Bid Adjustments by Device!
• Local Search Ads
Mobile Friendly 2
Algo Update
(5/12)
New AdWords
UI announced
3/28
Google
Mobile-Friendly
Website Tool (6/2)

6. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Number of Mobile
devices has surpassed
Desktop
Mobile search volume
has also surpassed
Desktop

7. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
People spend 50%
of their time on
smartphones
using search engines

8. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
I could throw stats at you all day.
We all know that
mobile is important
AND YET…

9. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
We back-burner
optimizing our
sites for mobile…

10. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
We aren’t doing a
great job of
tracking
the influence of
mobile devices…

11. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
We approach
desktop & mobile
as if their audiences don’t overlap

12. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
We get lazy and don’t alter
our strategy for
mobile-specific intent

13. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Should I test targeting mobile in PPC?
“We aren’t optimized for mobile”
“Our customers don’t use mobile”
“We can’t prioritize mobile right now”
“We don’t need mobile to drive growth”
OH MY GOD
TURN IT OFF!
WE’RE NEVER
TARGETING
MOBILE AGAIN
“We don’t have mobile-specific products”
Mobile performance
not exactly equal to
Desktop
SURE! NOPE

14. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
WHEN I SEE MY
MOBILE CPA
YOUR MOBILE PPC
DOES SUCK
But your
conclusions &
assumptions
are wrong!

15. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
STEP #1:
STOP
IGNORING
MOBILE

16. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
HEY, WHAT’S GOING ON?

17. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
What’s going with mobile in your industry?
TRAVEL ELECTRONIC
S
E-COMMERCE B2B
In 2015,
conv rates
grew
+88%
on mobile
travel
sites
(Google MicroMoments)
Mobile’s
influence is
4.6x
its role as a
sales channel
for
electronics
(Google AdWords mLab Study)
Mobile
e-Commerce
is growing
300x
faster
than
e-Commerce
(Coupofy Study)
34%
of executives
didn’t
purchase
because of a
non-mobile
friendly
interface
(Google & Forbes Insights)

18. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
How about outside of our US bubble?
Countries like
Spain, Singapore,
Japan, South Korea,
& China
expect to find you
on a mobile device
Because most
ONLY use a
mobile device!

19. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Keep tabs on mobile search trends!

20. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
DON’T RULE IT OUT

21. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Have you automatically opted out?
+20%
revenue growthFor one of our
beauty brand clients,
mobile PPC
set up took
only 1 hour…

22. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Think you’re “too big” to worry about mobile?
Enterprise client
decided to test mobile
Sure, mobile only
added +5% lift
But who wants to
tell their boss
they missed out on
$4M in revenue??
95%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Desktop/Tablet Mobile
$3.7M
in
additional
revenue

23. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Or maybe “too small” to do mobile right?
Small insurance client, competing with big fish!
Decided to test opening up
mobile bid modifiers beyond -90%
7.9%
25.5%
Before After
3.6%
4.7%
Before After
11
99
Before After
CTR up
+223%
CVR up
+31%
Conv up
+800%!

24. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
SOMETHING IS
PROBABLY BROKEN

25. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
You aren’t giving mobile enough credit

26. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Peak into Google Analytics…

27. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Peak into Google Analytics…
Mobile assisted in 40% of total conversions, but
only got credit for 29%
It also assisted in $13K in revenue that
it didn’t get last-click credit for

28. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
STEP #2:
STOP
DEVALUING
MOBILE

29. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

30. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
The people aren’t different, but the need is!
THE BROWSER
THE RESEARCHER
THE ON-THE-GOER
THE FRANTIC
THE LOYALIST

31. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
WHAT ARE THEY
LOOKING FOR?

32. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Look to search intent & trending queries
42%
of searchers
have started using
voice search
in the last
6 months

33. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Don’t underestimate the power of local search
Searches containing “near
me” have
DOUBLED
in just the
last year

34. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Oh, and don’t rule out those purchase-intent searches!
52%
of shoppers plan to use
a smart phone for
holiday shopping
before visiting a store
82%
will consult their phone
while in a store

35. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
ACCEPT THAT
THERE WILL BE UNKNOWNS

36. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
We can’t track everything
Cross-device conversions
are still only estimates…
Online to offline is still a black hole…
Signed-in users only gets us a certain percentag
of the audience…
Beacons are being used,
but aren’t widely adopted…
Mobile makes marketers’ lives HARDER! UGH!
But we can’t igore it. It makes searchers lives’ EASIER

37. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
STEP #3:
STOP
DOING
MOBILE PPC
BADLY!

38. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
GET A HANDLE ON
MOBILE BIDDING

39. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Calculate your multi-device conversion rate

40. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Use (directional) mobile bid modifier calculation

41. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Leverage third-party bidding tools!
Is your bidding tool adjusting
mobile bid modifiers?
At what frequency?
Can budget & performance
projections be done for mobile
specifically?
What is your tool’s timeline for
supporting the return of
device-specific bids?

42. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
TAILOR YOUR
AD MESSAGING

43. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
The mobile-preferred ad must-haves
LINK ‘EM
SEPARATE ‘EM
LOAD ‘EM
REMIND ‘EM
Use them
mobile sitelinks!
Key details in
Headline & DL1
End DL1 with
punctuation
Use m. or /mobile in
Display URLs

44. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Hello, Extended Text Ads!

45. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Hello, Extended Text Ads!

46. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
The mobile-preferred ad must-haves
LINK ‘EM
SEPARATE ‘EM
LOAD ‘EM
REMIND ‘EM
Use them
mobile sitelinks!
Key details in
Headline & DL1
End DL1 with
punctuation
Use m. or /mobile in
Display URLs

47. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
FIX THAT CRAPPY
LANDING EXPERIENCE

48. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
I AM STUPID, MAKE IT EASY FOR ME
“A drunk person should
be able to convert on
your mobile site”
- Erin Sagin, Wordstream

49. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
The mobile landing page must-haves
SHORT PATHS
EASY ENTRY
SHORT FORMS
SPEEDY LOAD
The fewer steps to
convert, the better!
Only the absolutely
necessary
Adjust <input type=
in form code
Slow page load?
I’M BOUNCIN’

50. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
STEP #4:
START
EXPANDING
YOUR IDEA OF
MOBILE PPC

51. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
WHO THEY GONNA CALL?

52. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
You know what people want to do? CALL YOU!
Call Extensions

53. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Maybe you only want them to call you?
Call-Only
Campaigns

54. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Want to track call conversions for free?
Google Forwarding Numbers!

55. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
PEOPLE ♥ APPS

56. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Up to
90%
of consumers’ monthly
mobile time is spent in
apps
(Flurry Analytics Study)
No, but really, people love mobile apps…

57. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Another ad extension!
Mobile App
Extensions

58. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Or how about a whole campaign!
Mobile App
Campaigns
(Search & GDN)

59. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Or how about a whole campaign!
Mobile App
Engagement
Campaigns
(Android Search)

60. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
REDUCE, REUSE, REMARKET

61. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
All those remarketing tactics? Porque no mobile?

62. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Don’t limit yourself to just Google
RLSA UET

63. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
LET’S GO SHOPPING

64. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Target mobile in Shopping campaigns
Shopping
Shopping +
RLSA

65. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
“FIGURE OUT”
MOBILE
NOW!
Don’t be this guy

66. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
Come talk to us at the
Point It booth!

67. #SMX #XXA @MaddieMarketer
bit.ly/smx-adv-mobile
@MaddieMarketer
Plus check out my
session recap post
on the Point It blog!