What Is Mobile Marketing?

Let’s start with a simple definition: Mobile marketing involves promoting your business to users of mobile devices. Successful mobile marketing provides current and potential customers using smartphones with tailored information relevant to their time and location, allowing them to access what they need, precisely when they need it, even while on the move.

Some might say mobile is the future of marketing, but the truth is the era of mobile has already arrived. If you haven’t adopted a mobile marketing strategy, you’re falling behind!

The graph below highlights that more users are dedicating increasing amounts of time to mobile devices. This trend is projected to grow, so it’s time to adapt!

Desktop vs. mobile users in millions

How Mobile Marketing Works

Mobile marketing utilizes ads displayed on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. The formats, customization, and styles of these ads can differ significantly, as social media platforms, websites, and mobile apps each present their own distinct and specialized mobile advertising choices.

Why Your Business Needs a Mobile Marketing Strategy

Just like you need a computer and internet access in today’s world, your business needs a mobile marketing strategy! Take a walk in any city, and you’ll see countless people engrossed in their smartphones. Current reports indicate that 40% of users’ internet time is spent on mobile devices, making it impossible to ignore the rise of mobile.

Here are some other noteworthy mobile marketing figures:

• 80% of mobile device time in spent on apps, with gaming apps claiming the largest portion of app usage
• People spend more time browsing on 70% more web pages on tablets compared to smartphones
• Retail conversion rates on tablets are 2.2% on tablets, significantly higher than the 0.7% conversion rate on smartphones, although traditional PC conversion rates remain the highest at 3.3%
• Mobile searches experienced a 200% year-over-year increase in 2012
• Mobile advertising spending is expected to reach predicted to surpass desktop in 2014

Mobile technology is here to stay, and if predictions hold true, it will soon surpass desktop usage. If your business lacks a mobile marketing strategy, now is the time to act!

Different Mobile Marketing Strategies

There is a wide array of mobile marketing strategies at your disposal. The most effective approach for your business hinges on your industry, target audience, and budget.

App-based marketing: This strategy utilizes mobile apps for advertising. Although users allocate 80% of their mobile time to apps, you don’t need to develop your own app to participate. Platforms like Google AdMob enable advertisers to craft mobile ads that appear within third-party mobile apps.

Similarly, Facebook allows advertisers to design ads that seamlessly integrate into their mobile app’s news feed. These Facebook Promoted Post ads are so well incorporated that users often don’t recognize them as advertisements.

In-game mobile marketing: As the name suggests, this strategy involves placing mobile ads within mobile games. These ads can take various forms, such as banner pop-ups, full-page images, or even video ads displayed between loading screens.

Example of an in-game mobile marketing ad

QR codes: When scanned with a mobile device, QR codes redirect users to a specific webpage linked to the code. These codes often tie into mobile gamification and carry an element of surprise, as users don’t always know where they’ll end up.

Location-based marketing: These mobile ads are displayed based on a user’s proximity to a particular area or business. For example, advertisers can choose to have their ads appear only when users are within a one-mile radius of their store.

Mobile search ads: These are standard Google search ads designed for mobile devices, often enhanced with features like click-to-call buttons or maps.

Mobile image ads: These visually-driven ads are specifically designed for display on mobile devices.

SMS marketing: This strategy entails collecting user phone numbers and sending text message offers. However, this method is considered somewhat outdated.

If you’re ready to refine and maximize your mobile marketing campaigns, explore our compilation of 13 essential mobile marketing tools.

Mobile Marketing: Google Ads Enhanced Campaigns

On July 12th, Google launched Enhanced Campaigns for all Google Ads users, merging mobile advertising options with their traditional online advertising platform (formerly known as Google AdWords).

Enhanced Campaigns provide advertisers with a centralized platform to manage their Google Ads bids across different devices within a single campaign, eliminating the need for separate mobile and desktop campaigns. Advertisers can simply utilize their existing Google search ads and adjust bids for mobile devices. To increase bids for mobile users, a positive bid adjustment (e.g., +20%) can be set, and conversely, a negative adjustment (e.g., -10%) reduces the bid accordingly.

Enhanced Campaigns image via siteproppc.com

Simplifying mobile marketing for advertisers aligns with Google’s interests, as mobile ads generate substantial revenue for the company.

Google’s Enhanced Campaigns empower advertisers to effortlessly manage bids across devices, locations, and times. Advertisers can opt to bid higher for mobile users within a specific radius of their store or even limit bids to store hours – possibilities made simple with Enhanced Campaigns.

Google Mobile Ad Extensions

Utilizing Google to create mobile search ads grants access to their practical mobile ad extensions, which include features such as:

Mobile Site Links: These links streamline navigation for mobile users, allowing them to directly access specific pages on your site without extensive browsing. This feature is particularly beneficial in mobile marketing due to the added convenience it offers on smaller screens.

Mobile sitelinks on Google Ads

Click-to-Call Mobile Ad Extension: This extension places a prominent “call” button directly below an ad. Clicking this button automatically dials the business’s phone number on the user’s mobile device.

While this convenient extension facilitates easy contact with your business and guides users through the conversion funnel, it’s crucial to ensure its visibility only during business hours when calls can be answered.

Google Ads mobile call extensions

Google Offers for Mobile: This extension allows advertisers to showcase discount offers or coupons beneath their ads. These enticing promotions can effectively capture the attention of users who might otherwise overlook a standard ad.

Google offers for mobile

Click-to-Download Ad Extension: Functioning similarly to the click-to-call extension, this feature, when clicked, redirects users to the download page of the advertiser’s chosen app instead of dialing a phone number.

Click-to-download mobile ad extensions

Local Ad Extensions: Given that one-third of mobile searches are locally focused, local ad extensions are arguably the most critical for mobile marketing. Considering the significant number of mobile searches seeking local solutions, incorporating local elements into your mobile marketing strategy is essential.

These extensions often incorporate a phone number or a link to Google Maps.

Local ad extensions on mobile

Best Practices for Mobile Marketing

To conclude, here are some concise mobile marketing tips to ensure you get the most out of your mobile strategy:

• Clarity and Conciseness: Mobile screens are small, so use words judiciously. Overcrowded and cluttered ads will deter users and lead to them scrolling past your message. When it comes to mobile, simplicity is key.
• Local Optimization: Always remember that a significant portion of mobile searches are locally driven. Users frequently rely on their mobile devices to find immediate solutions in their surroundings – “Where’s the closest gas station?” or “Is there a coffee shop with Wi-Fi nearby?”. Optimize for local mobile searches to align with these user queries.
• Audience Consideration: Your target audience should heavily influence the type of mobile ads you employ. Are you targeting gamers? Consider leveraging in-game ads. Targeting a younger, tech-savvy demographic? Mobile Facebook Promoted Posts might be a better way to capture their attention.
• Strategic Experimentation: Mobile marketing offers ample room for experimentation. Don’t hesitate to test different ad extensions within your Google Ads Enhanced Campaigns. Try the Google Offers extension or the click-to-call extension and analyze their performance.
• Result Benchmarking: Experimentation is valuable, but it’s pointless without tracking your results to determine what’s effective and what isn’t. Utilize tools like the AdWords Grader to evaluate the performance of your mobile PPC ads.

Sitelinks photo and local ad extension photo via Marketing Land