It is undeniable that we live in a multi-screen world. The mobile phone is no longer a device to strictly make calls or text messaging. Smartphones and tablets arrived to this world to change not only the way we communicate, but also the way we act and behave as consumers.

Mobile means to be constantly connected and, for businesses, it also means opportunity. Far from ignoring the mobile trend, companies need to dive in and take advantage of the benefits of mobile advertising.

Think about how many hours in average per week you spend in your mobile phone. Think about the number of people commuting everyday from home to work, from work to home. Where are they looking at, while on the train, bus or tube? To the magical smartphone screen, using mobile apps, searching on which gift to buy for their mother in her birthday, looking for vacation destinations, or comparing prices for a nice winter coat. Figures do not lie.

What is more, think about the consumers who use mobile to find products, services or experiences nearby.

Keep in mind that 65% of searches start in mobile. And, of course, you want to be there when they look for you as purchase immediacy is key for mobile consumers.

First, having a website optimised for mobile is now seen as compulsory. User experience is essential when it comes to mobile devices. Statistics show that 40% of consumers look to the competitor website if they don’t find yours responsive. Also, Google ranks mobile optimised websites higher in mobile search results.

What does the shift to mobile means for you?

• More chances to engage constantly connected consumers on all screens.• Use context to boost relevance• Track all of the conversions

How can you use mobile?

1. Promote an app

Apps can aid the offline experience, driving e-commerce and loyalty. However, keep in mind that 95% of the apps are abandoned within 1 month and 20% are used only once. If you don’t want to be among this percentage, make sure your app is relevant, user-friendly, providing the best user experience in mobile devices.

Use strategies to promote your app, benefiting from the different platforms Google offers you – from search, search partners, to Youtube, Gmail.

You’ll need to drive engagement and to bring users back. Google Analytics can help you segmenting your audience, targeting the customers that actually are valuable for you. Other tips are:

- Build remarketing lists- Do proactive outreach, considering all available channels- Offer something unique, a unique experience- Deep-link, developing your app so it directs people into deeper, more targeted sections- Track, measuring beyond installs

1.1. Advertising Mobile Apps

App Install Promotion Ads- Smart Targeting: automatically excludes people who have already installed your app

App Engagement Ads- Show customised ads to people who have already your app and use deep linking to re-engage them

2. Drive calls

70% of mobile searches have called a business directly from search results and 61% of customers think it is important for businesses to give them a phone number to call.

These data clearly show how important it is for your business to actually provide a phone number. For this, you can use:

- Call extensions- Call only ads

Google provides a forwarding number that is unique for each campaign, allowing us to understand which campaigns, keywords and ads drive the biggest number of phone calls. This information will be essential to help us to maximise results, through campaign optimisation.

3. Drive online sales

Be relevant and be aware of the importance to provide the best user experience. Moreover, it is important to account for all mobile conversions – call conversions, cross-device conversions, online conversions, store visits (number of clicks in “Get Directions” link), app downloads (engagement and retained users in GA).

The cross-device report is particularly interesting, since often people click in an ad in a mobile device and convert in a different one, such as desktop. It allows you to understand how your consumer behaves, providing you with data to improve your advertisement according to what the consumer wants.

4. Drive store sales

With the insertion of mobile devices in our lives, consumer behaviour changed and, as we mentioned previously, most consumers start to search online before making a decision. The journey begins online and people are now visiting the stores ready to buy.

Some keys to drive store sales:

- Target consumers in the right locations- Drive them to your business with the right ad- Measure the offline impact of your online spend- Optimise for omnichannel performance

Finally keep in mind some best practices to be able to reach all your potential consumers through Mobile ads.

The mobile screen is smaller, so it is essential for your ad to appear in the first 2 positions. Position 1 in mobile is three times more valuable than ranking in position 2. Therefore, a good Quality Score is a must.

Get the best out of mobile advertising by also considering the tips below:

- Use ad extensions (such as call extensions, location extension, app extensions and sitelinks), to improve Quality Score.- Keep description lines short & sweet.- Use mobile preferred ads- Make your website mobile optimised- Include mobile specific call-to-actions (i.e. “shop from our mobile store”, “visit our site”, “call now”, etc.)

The truth is that a large amount of people uses every day their mobile phone as a source of information to help them to make a buying decision. Consequently, the potential of Mobile as an advertising source should not be ignored. Benefit from Mobile ads by reaching potential consumers while they are on the phone.

Are you willing to be part of this new advertising landscape? Stellar Search can help you with your digital strategy for Mobile, please contact us at Hello@StellarSearch.co.uk.

Words: Stellar Search team members, Nicole and Silvia.