PPC School: The rise of Mobile Internet (and what it means for you)
Even the most casual followers of this year’s CES, will have noticed one particular trend emerging amongst the exhibitors, mobile internet. The unstoppable rise of the iPhone in 2009 has finally moved mobile internet from the province of nerds and show offs to actual everyday use. Vastly improved speed and performance of 3G and WiFi connections combined with Innovations like the app store have finally made it actually practical and useful to search the internet on the go.
The CES saw what gadget fans are hoping will be the next wave of mobile internet gadgets in the shape of internet televisions, pocket PCs, and even internet watches. There are even reports that the experiment has escaped the lab – the Detroit Motor Show, which starts this week, looks set to boast a range of web connected cars.
So what does this all mean for web marketing? Well, unfortunately it’s complicated. In the good old days when mobile internet was a pared down version of the real thing, advertisers were limited to 18 word adverts and only really bothered to do mobile advertising when they were selling particular products. We’re talking emergency or convenience stuff here – locksmiths and pizza delivery, yes; networked business solutions, no.
Now however, the lines are blurred. The internet on iPhones, blackberries, etc., is no different to the real internet and so the changes required are that much more subtle. The market is still young enough, and changing quickly enough, that a range of concrete best practices has yet to emerge, though there are a couple of key things that I always consider when deciding whether or not to actively target the mobile market.
The first is whether or not the product is actually suitable. The lines are less clearly less defined these days, with the increased ease of searching there is the chance that someone is actually going to search for IT outsourcing through their iPhone, though it’s best not to forget that people are still searching on a tiny screen with a tiny keyboard, on a train or taxi. Therefore, with the best will in the world, mobile internet is never going to be the venue for in depth research. The way to approach mobile is to think, ‘how much thinking/browsing time will it take someone to decide to purchase my product?’ If it’s a lot then the only traffic you’ll be getting will be people browsing – as people are probably less likely to make a huge purchase or decision when browsing over the phone. If this traffic isn’t important to you, then it might be an idea to avoid mobile altogether.
The other thing is searching. If you have a campaign full of long tail keywords then you probably aren’t going to do too much business online for the simple reason that typing things at length on a pad or on-screen keyboard is a hassle. That’s why the best thing is to work generic for the purposes of mobile. If you can’t afford these in your main campaign, then create new one just for mobile. The costs may well be less when targeting only mobile, as competition will probably be slightly lower as will search volume.
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