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Google recently updated AdWords with functionality that allows its users to segment PPC ads serving tablets and mobile phones. Although this may not seem very thrilling on the surface, this new functionality could have a serious impact on how the world views marketing on mobile devices, especially since it’s no secret that tablet adoption is booming.
How to Set Up PPC Campaigns to Target Mobile Devices
In AdWords, you can select which devices you want to show your PPC ads by accessing 'Campaigns Settings' and scrolling down to 'Network and Devices.' Then, you can opt to show your ads on all devices and carriers, or you can manually select which devices and carriers you want to display your ads. The availability of such a deep level of device and carrier segmentation is quite beneficial, because you can set up campaigns for each carrier and device and test the combinations that provide the best results for your business. Not to mention, you can quickly see which devices or carriers are not worth your time.
What does mobile PPC advertising mean for marketers?
1. You can target techies where they're playing. Although smartphones are quickly becoming the norm, tablets are still only in techies' hands for the most part. If you have products or services that appeal to the technically advanced, using PPC ads targeted to iPads, for example, will have some serious advantages.
2. You can target local consumers when they are ready to buy. The ability to target by geographic location (down to the zip code) has existed forever in AdWords. However, combining this capability with mobile device segmentation gives local businesses an opportunity to target people who are searching on their phones. Consumers who are searching on their phones are most likely on the go, so you can target them with specific offers to get their business!
3. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile. The ability to segment mobile devices for PPC is new. If you don’t have a website that is designed for mobile use, it’s easy enough to opt out of showing your PPC ads on mobile devices all together. However, this does not protect you from showing up in organic search results. Whether participating in PPC or not, any serious marketer should make sure its business has a website that is mobile ready. (Note: All websites using HubSpot are mobile-ready) It’s important to note that websites built with Flash are no good on iPhones, because Apple doesn’t recognize Flash at all.
4. Get ahead of the mobile learning curve. Testing various campaigns targeted toward mobile device usage will help you learn how different keywords, ad copy, and landing pages perform on different devices. If you start testing now, there is no doubt you will be way ahead of the curve when the rest of the business world starts getting in on the action.
It will be interesting to see how fast businesses adopt different forms of mobile media like PPC. What do you think are the biggest advantages or disadvantages?
Photo Credit: meedanphotos
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