Mobile Trends and Search Optimization: Why Aren’t We Catching Up?

As mobile search continues to grow at a rapid pace, we cannot miss the opportunity to become better mobile search practitioners.

When I think of the current state of mobile search practices, my mind flashes to dog racing. I'm not particularly a fan, but the image of those dogs chasing a mechanical rabbit reminds me of the current state of mobile search. Right now, the mobile consumer is the rabbit and marketers and technologists are the dogs - everyone's moving quickly and trying to keep up the pace.

Mobile purchases are expected to outpace desktop purchases in the near future. Juniper Research estimated that annual retail payments on mobile handsets and tablets should reach $707 billion by 2018. Yet, according to Uberflip, only 25 percent of brands have a mobile strategy. If mobile marketing is the coming supernova it's expected to be, why aren't more enterprises first-movers in the mobile space?

Mobile Consumer Behavior

Fifty-five percent of all time spent with online retail in June 2013 occurred on a mobile device. Add to that comScore's assertion that just more than 50 percent of time spent engaging with websites is being done on a mobile device, and you can see that paid, organic, and site optimization for mobile are paramount to global search success.

With thanks to mobiThinking.com, here are some additional data points regarding mobile behavior, specifically mobile search behavior:

• 25 percent of overall search queries are now on mobile devices. - BIA/Kelsey (April 2014).
• In the U.S., mobile accounted for 34.2 percent of all paid search clicks in December 2013. It is expected to be 42 percent by December 2014 and 50 percent by December 2015. - Marin Software (March 2014)
• 58.7 percent of smartphone users access search; 73.9 percent of tablet users access search. -ComScore Mobile Future in Focus (March 2013).
• During the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, 60 to 65 percent of Olympics-related searches were performed on a smartphone or tablet. - Google (April 2014).
• The number of calls to businesses driven by mobile search is growing at 42 percent per annum and is predicted to fuel a staggering 65 billion calls in 2016. - BIA/Kelsey (April 2014).

To further push the notion that mobile search needs our full attention, Yahoo and Kenshoo partnered to survey 350 global marketers about their mobile marketing practices earlier this year. They revealed a stark reminder that multiscreen behavior is being driven by a negative impression of the mobile experience.

This is the first reason there aren't more first-movers. Marketers have been lagging when it comes to taking ownership over their mobile presence. As the BIA/Kelsey report showed, more than half of all mobile shoppers are low-funnel, high-intent buyers while searching. But if they arrive on a search result, landing page, or site not optimized for mobile use - click, they're gone. Solutions such as responsive Web design should make it easy to deploy mobile. So, where are we failing our mobile search audience? Part of the disconnect lies with search optimization practices.

Mobile Optimization: Thoughts to Consider

While many brands recognize the need for mobile optimization, adoption drop-off remains high because of a lack of cohesive, device-driven, activity-based strategies. Here are some of the more prominent issues facing mobile optimization neophytes.

1. Consumers still buy locally. U.S. e-commerce still represents less than 10 percent of all retail spending, with the balance usually completed within 10 to 15 miles from home. What's changed is that mobile and Web searches are being used to find brick-and-mortar goods and services that will be purchased in-store. So, while online conversions are great, the reality is that we must optimize for offline conversions as much if not more heavily right now. How do we generate a call to the store? Can we drive a visit through our mobile presence? Effective optimization recognizes the pathways that connect search behavior to in-store activity. 
2. Paid campaigns and site optimization deserve focus. Organic listings are being pushed further down the screen, below the fold, and Google has indicated that click-through rate (CTR) drops substantially after position four. While organic optimization is still relevant, a focus on paid campaigns and site structure is probably going to result in better return on investment (ROI).
3. Authoring boosts results. Structured authoring for mobile, as it is for desktop applications, enables quick viewing and rapid response. What is the task at hand, what is the concept being delivered, what is the reference? The general objectives remain the same for both formats. However, the intent of the mobile user is very different from the "lean back" desktop user. Therefore, search optimization is dependent on authoring that renders a result that encompasses low-funnel criteria mobile users invoke such as price, dimensions, inventory, etc. 
4. Tagging for mobile activities. Tags targeting the nature of high-intent consumers will be more effective in mobile than for desktop. What do they want while searching for solutions? Quick, hard facts that can lead to a purchase or further activity within 60 minutes. Local calls-to-action, though a seemingly obvious tactic, aren't being considered when marketers create mobile campaigns. There still remains a lot of desktop mentality during migration to mobile search marketing when it comes to tagging landing and site pages. 
5. Click- to- call features for all mobile sites. The rise of click-to-call appeal to mobile consumers has been met with a stunning lack of deployment by many brands. Search is inexorably linked with inbound calls on a local level. For many services (IT, financial services, home improvement, especially) and complex goods verticals, qualifying calls to local merchants are required to make a sale. Therefore, it makes sense to leverage mobile search (site, paid and organic) with click-to-call functionality.

The second reason there aren't more first-movers into the mobile marketing space is the Hummingbird-spawned move to semantic search.

How Semantic Search Influences Mobile Optimization

The evolution of semantic search poses the same challenges for mobile as it does for desktop. But mobile searchers are typically more oriented to navigational searches than research searches. In other words, they are using search to retrieve actionable information, such as a store location or product price, rather than attempting to explore any resource for information about an unknown. Therefore, the contextual attributes that exist for mobile semantic search are more likely to be structured around factors like geo-location and prior browsing activity.

Readability

Remember, we want to develop content that meets the two readability standards: those of the user and spider. The user is looking for action, while the spider is looking for relevance. Just as with desktop, Hummingbird has moved mobile optimization to a contextual approach. So metadata, page content, site structure, etc. that are built around conversational queries will tend to have better visibility and higher engagement.

For example, site pages filled with action-driving copy like "protect your skin" and "limit sun exposure" on clickable content within a skin care mobile site provides context for search engines and engagement for visitors.

Semantic search will drive localized SERPs. This, in turn, drives the need for sharper location-based optimization, which serves a more personalized experience that meets the local consumer on their terms, using their devices to shop locally.

Page Design Impact

On-page elements enable the user experience. Effective element attribution can lower the historically high abandonment rates by mobile users. Rendering instructions deploy page design elements, such as font size and color, background, white space, and other on-page characteristics. Mobile users seek a formatted page that fully displays on the horizontal axis and has robust functionality. Page rendering should quickly adapt to mobile access. Load speed is incredibly important, so is element positioning. Clean design attributes like simple navigation, concise copy, and lean imagery help drive mobile engagement. "Heavy" content such as video feeds must quickly orient, load, and stream seamlessly.

Mobile searchers look for different content cues on devices. Buttons, sliders, and image links move traffic on a smartphone. (Beware, the same doesn't hold true for feature phones.) HTML5-designed mobile sites rely heavily on CSS3 to deliver unique page views across smartphones, feature phones, tablets, and phablets. But you don't have to be immersed in code to optimize for mobile deployment. Best-in-breed tools like Adobe's Muse CC makes it easy for Web design neophytes to create a mobile site without code.

When it comes to page design, you should consider that searchers may use multiple devices for one purpose. For example, a person searching for a new vehicle on his smartphone during a lunch break may wish to return to a page on the home desktop after work. Chrome's multi-device features make this easy. Responsive design (or dedicated mobile sites) allows you to deliver the appropriate page layout for each device. Optimizing for multi-device search flow enables a better user experience with your brand.

Social

Google has shown us that social activity, while not an official ranking factor yet, is a signal that must be accounted for in the mobile space. Semantic search optimization is important in your social campaigns as well. Social activity that is optimized for mobile viewing gets more engagement, leading to higher visibility through indexing relevancy. (Hint: video, apps, images, and links that connect followers to other mobile-centric content is typically more effective when it comes to mobile ranking.)

Within the desktop environment, search has long been the primary conduit providing a path for our brands to reach consumers. The time where we must put emphasis on our mobile search marketing practices is here. The mobile generation has sprouted quickly and is demanding. We've got to adapt to the change that this movement has thrust upon us.

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How the Internet of Things Will Affect Social Media

If you own a smartphone, then you’ve already bought into the concept of the Internet of Things. Think about it. the main purpose of a telephone is to facilitate verbal communication across distances. The mobile phone makes it possible to accomplish this objective without having to remain tethered to a specific location, but thanks to cell towers and telephone lines, this can all be done (and was done for more than a century) without the need of the internet. So, why is it that we’re all currently walking around with wirelessly-connected supercomputers and calling them “phones”? It’s because we realize that our lives are enhanced through constant connectivity. By networking a mobile phone to other computers and servers around the world, we gain access to information that we can use to increase our own productivity, knowledge, or enjoyment. So, the question is this: Why stop with the phone?

This is exactly what leaders in the tech industry have been asking each other for the past several years. After all, if a connected phone can make such an impact, why not a connected car? Or a connected refrigerator? Or a connected pair of socks? The Internet of Things is the natural result. It is predicted that the Internet of Things will encompass over 50 billion devices by the year 2020, and as more and more devices are made “smart,” we’re going to start seeing some fairly drastic changes in the way that our world works.

For example, let’s take a look at social media.

Social media is, in and of itself, a fairly new and influential innovation. In fact, some have called it the single most impactful development of the last decade. Today, 72% of the American adult population use social media sites, and it seems like it’s impossible to surf the web or even look through a magazine (if anyone even still does that) without being buried in a flood of “like” and “follow” invitations. As the internet of things gains strength in the years to come, it will find social media ready to take its hand. But will this new partnership benefit humanity, or hinder it? The quick answer is yes. Let us explain.

Yes, having our various appliances and devices able to connect directly to our social media sites will be a boon. Our personal preferences for products will be delivered to advertisers who will give us special offers and send sms messages tailored to our own tastes. We’ll be able to receive updates from home systems letting us know how things are going back at the house while we’re away. Friends and family will be able to check in on us and our activities without having call or text us directly. Your iWatch will check in for you via Facebook when you arrive at an event. Your oven will take a photo of the cake you just baked and post it directly to Instagram. Basically, any information that you might want posted to your page and available to your acquaintances or to marketers will automatically be handled by the devices themselves.

And yes, the information that you would rather not share might be just as available. The 2013 Snowden fiasco proved that the data that we choose to send and receive across networks isn’t nearly as secure as many had hoped. With revelations regarding NSA surveillance, and other scandals involving the less-than-legal gathering of consumer information by business marketers, it seems fairly clear that the Internet of Things could be just another nail in the coffin of individual privacy. Would you feel as though your sensitive information were safe if Google or Microsoft had an informant (or several) hidden in your home, watching your every move? Because once your devices are all internet-connected, there’s a good chance that you’ll have even less say in what information is passed along to businesses and governments than is currently the case with web browsers and online purchases. Give the Internet of Things access to your social media, and you can expect to soon be sharing your page with any number of unknown eavesdroppers.

Still, there’s no stopping progress, as they say. The Internet of Things is already here, and in the next five years, we can expect to see it expand to encompass almost every facet of our lives. Social media will be—and indeed, already is—the first and most prominent arena in which the Internet of Things will really make its presence known. With its coming, we’ll enjoy a new era of communication, ease of access, productivity, and entertainment. However, don’t forget that increased connectivity means increased supervision, and as we embrace the Internet of Things, you can be sure that Big Brother will be watching.

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It’s the year of mobile but not the mobile ad

A mobile device used to be a luxury, an item that only the geeky few would own let alone use on a daily basis. But now you’re the odd man out if you don’t have a mobile phone in your pocket. Check out these stats from Forrester Research:

• More than 2 billion smartphones installed worldwide
• They’re in the hands of 31.3% of the world’s population
• Massive usage in three countries: More than 64% in the UK, 64% in the US, and 66% in Hong Kong.
• Three-quarters use their smartphone to access the internet at least once a day.

This is great news for marketers, right? Well, it would be if we weren’t going backward through the history of online marketing.

Think about the last advertisement you saw on your phone? I’ll bet it was a banner ad. Even if it wasn’t, that’s the ad that stuck in your mind because they’re annoying on mobile. Without even realizing it, you might have seen an ad for a movie or TV show or a new beauty product. You might not remember the ad because it blended so seamlessly with the content it didn’t stick out in your mind.

So. . . memorable is bad and blending in is good. This is a topsy turvy world we’re living in but it’s true. We have to find ways of getting our message across without annoying the masses.

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Mobile Internet Advertising Maintains Fast Ascent

The Interactive Advertising Bureau México (IAB México) and PwC found that mobile marketing revenues, including ad spending and development costs, expanded 98% in Mexico between 2011 and 2012, to reach MXN794 million ($60.33 million) in 2012.

Of the two components in the IAB México/PwC measurement, mobile internet ad spending was the driving force behind gains last year, with a 104% improvement. That growth rate outpaced the also impressive 63% gain in mobile development investments.

Ad spending took the lion’s share of mobile marketing, with 86% of industry revenues generated from ad inventory sales, up from 83% in 2011. Mobile internet ad spending in Mexico totaled MXN683 million ($51.9 million) in 2012.

Consumers more concerned about mobile privacy than a phone’s brand or screen size

A TRUSTe survey of 900 smartphone users has found that battery life is the primary concern for 45% of smartphone users when using mobile apps, followed by privacy (20%), brand (13%)  and screen size (11%).

Furthermore, 54% of smartphone users are frequently or always concerned about privacy when banking online, the online activity causing mobile users the greatest concern, followed by shopping online (50%).

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Mobile Usage in Travel On The Rise

MOBILE BOOKINGS ARE BOOMING

All the statistics show sheer growth, not only for smartphones but also tablets and other wireless devices, i.e. iPods. According to a recent study by Tradedoubler Insight Unit, tech-savvy European travelers are ignoring travel agents and instead using mobile and online sites to book their vacations. This study looked at the online behavior of 2,500 smartphone users from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Poland. Overall, 19% of these tech-savvy travelers booked their vacation through their mobile device. But if you dig a little deeper, you’d find that in the 25-34 years old demographics, 28% of users say they now book their holidays from the comfort of their mobile phone!

This should come as no surprise, though. Google Travel found that 25% of all online search for travel came from a mobile device at the end of 2012 and eMarketer predicts that this figure would jump up to 40% by the end of 2013. Well, lo and behold, it seems we’re already there! Looking at results gathered during Q1 2013 for the various hotels across North America managed by HeBS, a New York-based agency, we find that 39.5% of all online traffic came from either a smartphone or a tablet – in 89% of cases, an iPad.

Source: The 3 Screens in Hospitality, Q1 2013, HeBS

As can be seen in the chart above, while there is a considerable amount of traffic generated from mobile devices, bookings & revenues remain a small fraction. Nevertheless, it now represents more than 10% of revenues, and growing! So much so, in fact, that PhoCusWright estimates it should reach 20% of online travel dollars in the U.S. by end of 2014, when mobile bookings will reach US$25.8 billion.

Yet, another aspect that requires marketers’ attention is the fact that while bookings may remain on the lower end of the spectrum, mobile is increasingly important at the research level. Thus, travel brands should ensure they have optimal mobile sites and/or applications to properly capture their fair share of bookings, whether this eventually comes through a mobile device, laptop, desktop or even call center.This recent study and infographic from Mobiquity sheds some interesting insights on the matter.

MOBILE IS MORE THAN A CHANNEL

At the end of the day, however, we need to grasp and understand that mobile devices are taking an omnipresent role in our everyday life and that they represent more than just “another channel” to market, communicate or advertize through. In fact, eMarketer recently found that for the very first time, as of this year time spent on nonvoice mobile activities will surpass time spent online on desktop and laptop computers!

We have a much closer relationship with our mobile devices than we would with the office desktop or even a personal laptop. Some bring their smartphone with them to the washroom, others bring their tablet to bed for nighttime reading… it has therefore become a lifestyle item, above and beyond its useful and inherent attributes.

Some takeaways:

• Not all mobile is mobile. Treat smartphones and tablets differently, and have a distinct strategy for each. Behavior and willingness to spend are not the same, whether in research mode or in booking mode, according to different devices.
• Online travel agencies (OTAs) have taken a clear leadership in this space yet again, with mobile applications and mobile sites adapted, in some instances differently according to tablets or smartphones. Hotels, airlines, cruise lines, restaurants and destinations should take a few notes from their best practices.
• Have a mobile marketing strategy in place and appropriate dollars to fund future initiatives. If it’s too late for 2013, then it’s certainly time to prioritize this for 2014 strategy planning sessions that are taking place in various travel brands headquarters right now…

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Has online advertising made us apathetic to privacy?

It’s a recent development, this rash of digital advancements resulting in America’s new high-tech society has really only boomed over the last twenty years.  

Products that wowed developers in the 1980s now fit firmly into your front pocket.  

So what does a connected life cost these days? Your privacy, for starters.

This is “the future” that everyone from Orwell to Spielberg warned us about. We live in a rapidly maturing economy filled with shiny new gadgets and expensive technologies. 

Apps can help you with everything from directions to diet plans. Computers and cell phones are basically considered extensions of the human body. Everyone and everything is connected through the miracle of the World Wide Web. 

It’s a recent development; this rash of digital advancements resulting in America’s new high-tech society has really only boomed over the last twenty years. Products that wowed developers in the 1980s now fit firmly into your front pocket. 

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Why Businesses Need To Notice SMS Marketing

Simply put, short message service marketing or SMS marketing needs to be given attention to by businesses because it can be an effective way to reach customers. Consider this: 98 percent of text messages received by people are read. Compare that to the following read rates for other social marketing outlets: 29 percent for Twitter tweets, 20 percent of emails, a dismal 12 percent of Facebook posts.

People have a penchant for checking their phones every day. The mobile phone is probably the last thing people set aside when they are about to sleep and the first thing they check when they wake up.

According to the infographic from SlickText.com, an average person checks their phone 150 times every day and has his or her phone at arm’s reach 14 hours every day.

Furthermore, SlickText says that SMS marketing campaigns are opted out less than 5 percent of the time.

Learn more about the reasons why a business should consider SMS marketing in the informative infographic below.

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Mapping the Customer Journey with Social Intelligence

There’s never been a better time for marketers for to see, understand and respond to the customer journey. Today’s “open social age” has created a “looking glass” for companies to understand the complex nature of their customers as millions of them are broadcasting their opinions, attitudes, behaviors, experiences and even unmet needs on a real-time basis.

 In fact, society is rapidly approaching a complete digital state. New technologies have transformed the way people work, learn, communicate and share. And consumers freely share their opinions and experiences on social networks, blogs, micro-blogs, message boards, forums, mainstream news sites and a variety of other online platforms. 

According to Dimensional Research, over 90 percent of these consumers rely on independent reviews of products and services before they make a purchasing decision.

 An "Always On" World

 While many within the marketing realm point to the customer journey fragmenting between the offline and online worlds, the mobile revolution is actually pulling these worlds more closely together than ever before. No longer are customers tethered to their computers. Today they are ‘always on’ and connected to a myriad of shopping tools and social sources, empowering them and driving the ‘age of the consumer.’ In fact, according to a Morgan Stanley study, 91 percent of mobile users keep their device within three feet of them 24-hours per day. Mobile devices are now widely a standardization of life; people watch TV with them, make medical decisions with them and certainly shop with them.

This ‘always on’ state that mobile online accessibility facilitates is particularly transforming the way we all undertake traditional offline shopping activities, from conducting product comparisons and identifying best prices to locating coupons or offers and getting opinions and reviews. This, along with the all-time accessibility of mobile devices has made the wealth of information ubiquitous in the ‘offline’ world.

A Versatile Journey

The empowerment consumers have with this information access presents a challenge for marketers to keep pace with the journey, which is ever changing. The inundation of information creates a myriad of paths customers can take towards their purchase. This wealth of information also increases the velocity of purchase decisions, often compressing the time between demand moments and decision points, making it even more challenging for marketers to identify and influence the purchase.

The key to driving success is for marketers to deeply understand consumers, continually map the journey and leverage this insight to drive messaging, education, promotions and innovation to align with the customers’ needs (met and unmet) and wants.

 Understanding the Journey

The basis of understanding the customer journey today is mapping it with advanced social intelligence. To adequately accomplish this it must be derived from the ‘big data’ mining of millions of daily consumer social conversations. Simple in concept, but challenging in technical execution. This is why so many leading brands are turning to advanced, streaming ‘big data’ solutions to deliver deep market and customer insights on rapid basis.

The ability to analyze millions of customers and prospects allows for deep insights and the

construction of key strategic journey components, which enables the organization to strategically drive decisions

and innovation. For example, this segmentation of Apple customers was initially built analyzing over 2.2 million rel

evant social discussions by Apple customers.

Within the dominant group, in this example, the “Brand Addicts,” 57 percent reveal a need to acquire new Apple product immediately. Many are not only “addicts,” but also evangelists for the brand, responsible for introducing new consumers to the Apple ecosystem. Specifics within these types of detailed segments provide great value to the brand’s ability to strategically message, promote and ultimately drive sales.

Along the same lines, using advanced social intelligence, the customer journey and particularly the critical path-to-purchase can be mapped to detail the specific demand moments and decision points driving the final purchase decision.

Many marketers think that this path-to-purchase mapping is only relevant to larger ticket items, like cars or electronics due to the array of features and options and higher prices. While the customer journey is very relevant towards helping to influence these types of purchases, they are very applicable to low-ticket items.

 

As an example, here is the path-to-purchase for potato chips assembed across the social commentary of 18,000 consumers of the snack food. This illustration reveals a variety of steps many consumers go through in their decision process even for a low priced snack food, ranging from nutrition and health considerations to lifestyle aspects and purchase pattern changes to product discovery.

An Intelligence Impact

Today, with advanced social intelligence accurately personifying customers and mapping their journey’s has never been easier, more accurate or powerful. Leading corporations are adopting this methodology to drive their product innovation, packaging, messaging, promotions, positioning, placement and ultimately their bottom line by delivering what the consumer wants based on their own requests, interests, activities and attitudes. 

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