Pulling Levers Blog

If you own a Smartphone, it may come as no surprise that 79% of consumers use Smartphones to help with shopping (source: Google).  Whether or not you have actually made a purchase using your Smartphone, chances are at one point or another you have either browsed through product catalogs, comparison shopped or even searched for brick-and-mortar locations.   With the growing popularity of tablets however, a new phase of online shopping has been brought to the forefront.  According to a study done through Google, 41% of people say that their sole purpose for buying a tablet is for shopping.  With the ability to accommodate full browsers, a consumer’s shopping experience is arguably enhanced over mobile browsing and still offers the same convenience.

With Google now offering the capability to target tablets exclusively through AdWords and not just grouping them into mobile targeting like in the past (see image below), it is important to understand the impact of targeting tablets in their own campaign vs. grouping them in with desktop and/or mobile.

In looking at Google Analytics for one of our retail clients, we found 81% of the cost generated from our mobile campaigns (which targeted both mobile and tablet devices) was driven by traffic from mobile devices.  Based on this data, we had concern that mobile device traffic was monopolizing the daily campaign budgets and tablets were not getting a fair share of the traffic.   So, we removed tablet targeting from the mobile campaigns and broke out tablet-only.

Let’s take a look at the impact this had on the campaigns.

Prior to Tablet-Targeted Campaigns:

• Tablets were targeted in mobile-only campaigns (targeting included high-end mobile devices and tablets)
• Conversion rate of mobile-only campaigns: 0.13%

After Tablet-Targeted Campaigns:

• Tablets were targeted in tablet-only campaigns and mobile devices were targeted in mobile-only campaigns
• Conversion rate of mobile-only campaigns: 0.38%
  • 192% increase in conversion rate
  • Conversion rate of tablet-only campaigns: 0.82%
  • Mobile transactions increased 66% and tablet conversions increased 350%

By breaking out tablets into their own campaigns, we were able to allocate more traffic and spend to tablet devices which in turn produced incremental transactions.  Recognizing the importance of the growing usage of tablets and capitalizing on the opportunity to target highly-qualified, ready-to-buy consumers, will directly impact your bottom line.

As we ring in the New Year at Lever Interactive, our online marketing teams have come together to share some of their favorite advancements of online marketing tools in 2011.

The online marketing world is constantly evolving (as you know) and 2011 was no different for new technologies, features and advancements in website management, PPC advertising and SEO.  Some of our teams have compiled their favorite new features to engines, technologies and online marketing management tools in 2011.

Google Analytics

Google’s free online analytics tool made numerous updates and additions in 2011, including the roll out of a paid package, Google Premium.  One 2011 update Lever’s team highlighted as especially useful was the real-time dashboard.

The Real-Time section displays top referrals, top keywords, top active pages and top locations all in real time.  For a more in-depth overview, check out Jen’s blog post from October.

“The top locations data is the reason why this made my list because it has been very helpful with one of my retail clients.  With the client’s continued international expansion, determining new countries to target is key to the success of our campaigns.  Also, our campaigns are very sale based and rely on critical time frames.  We can instantly see if during a sale the targeted countries are trending in traffic.” – Danyl H.

For more additions to Analytics in 2011 (including mobile and social reporting, multi-channel funnels and the new Google Analytics v5 roll-out) check out Jen Davis’ 2011 Google Analytics blog posts in our archives!

Google AdWords

For many Lever staff members, a large portion of their day is spent within Google AdWords managing PPC campaigns of all shapes and sizes. Any additions to the AdWords online or desktop tool that makes our job easier or campaigns run smoother, generates excitement in the office. One favorite in 2011 was the Google AdWords Dimensions tab.

“The dimensions tab provides an easy way to pull a variety of reports, including geographic, demographic, daily and hourly reports. It’s much quicker than having to run these reports separately in the old reporting interface.” – Jamie W.

What’s your favorite dimension to pivot your AdWords data by?  I most often use the Geographic and Hour of Day dimensions. For more info on dimensions, Jeremy Decker over at Search Engine Journal recently posted a thorough review of the dimension tab to increase conversion rate.

Some other AdWords 2011 additions receiving staff mentions- Social Extensions and Google Display Network targeting by interest categories (previously in beta).

Microsoft adCenter

In late 2011, Microsoft adCenter rolled out an upgraded look to their interface along with some new reporting features. It was a refreshing change that reduced some of the more cumbersome elements of the interface and brought it closer to the functionality you may be use to in Google AdWords. For more details on the upgrade, stop by Search Engine Watch and read John Rampton’s November article.

One of the fall updates to adCenter included a staff favorite - exact match negative keywords.

“It is important to have this level of detail when closely managing large client accounts. I was happy to see adCenter take this next step toward increasing functionality and campaign management options in their system. Hopefully it continues to expand in 2012.” – Brad B.

Google Webmaster Tools

Lever Interactive’s SEO team is good at adapting to changes with the continuous updates engines make to their algorithm, so 2011 was no different than years past. With Google’s decision to begin encrypting searches of users signed in through secure connections, various SEO reporting in Google Analytics became more limited.

One feature in the new Google Analytics interface to help overcome this limitation is through synching into Google Webmaster Tools. In the v5 version of Google Analytics, when you click through Traffic Sources > Search Engine Optimization > Queries, you will see this.

Click “Set Up Webmaster Tools data sharing” and follow the steps. In a minute you’ll have your Google Webmaster data in your Google Analytics account and you can report on impressions by landing page, search queries, clicks, click through rate and even average position.

“It takes some getting used to, but it’s accurate data without guessing, and it’s a step forward toward deep keyword analysis after the push backwards. This makes it very easy to analyze and plan your search engine optimization because you can visualize organic behavior from query to conversion (or exit). This makes it a bit easier to plan content creation by page or category based on which queries are dropping visitors off on your various landing pages.” – Mike H.

 Website Design & Development

We’re wrapping up our list of favorite 2011 online marketing management advancements with our web design team! Although not a new idea, with the rapid expansion of mobile and tablet websites in 2011, the expanded capabilities and use of responsive website layouts is an exciting area of growth in the industry Lever’s design team looks forward to using in 2012. Responsive layouts, formally called fluid layouts, adjust design and images based on the size of your browser window, to provide improved and more customized experiences for the visitor.

“These elements were great in 2011 for mobile websites because the flexible layout will reposition the content as necessary and the flexible images will resize on the fly without reducing the quality. These features help mobile sites look consistent across many mobile devices.” – Jonathan S.

An example of a responsive layout is http://css-tricks.com – open the page and play around with the size of your browser to see the changes in the site.

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What are your favorite additions to online marketing tools last year?

Stay tuned for our blog post tomorrow for our staff’s resolutions and wish lists for online marketing advancements in 2012!

For our retail clients, and probably many of yours, November and December are often the busiest months of year for online advertising.  According to comScore, U.S. consumers have already spent upwards of $9.87 billion with online retailers this season, which is 14% more than last year.

This season we’ve seen very profitable days for our clients since the big Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping pushes.  As we enter the final pre-holiday shopping stretch, here are some best practices and tips our retail teams put together to help you through the busy season!

• This is definitely not a time to “set it and forget it.” The key to a successful holiday advertising campaign is preparation, planning and flexibility.

• Use sale ad copy to spark interest amongst the tough competition on the search page.
  • Compelling and accurate offers will win over the potential buyer
  • As always, be sure to pick the most relevant landing page for your ads.  This is especially important during the holidays as online shoppers are searching to find what they are looking for fast.
  • Include shipping deadlines within your ad copy to create a strong sense of urgency with the buyer.  Additionally, make sure that the shipping deadlines pertain to the area in which you’re targeting.  For example, don’t serve the same shipping messages to both domestic and international campaigns as those deadlines vary.

• Increase remarketing efforts.
  • Be sure to have remarketing pixels in place on your website well before the holiday season to capture a base of non-purchasing site visitors.
  • On the Google Display Network, advertisers can target previous purchasers and non-purchasers alike using both banner ads and text ads in an attempt to woo buyers back.
  • These folks were interested enough in your product the first time around; remarketing will bring them back when you are presenting your most enticing sales.
• Maintain strong spend and expand keyword coverage.
  • Take advantage of bidding on keywords that revolve around “store hours” and “coupons/coupon codes” as these terms are popular during the season.
  • Returns are usually much greater during the holidays for advertisers so don’t be afraid to open up spend to make sure that all of your bases are covered.
• Monitor ad positions and increase keyword bids to combat competition.
  • Keywords become more expensive around the holiday season due to increased traffic and competition.  Therefore, it is important to routinely monitor your ad position to make sure that ads have not fallen below the desired position.
  • Setting up an automated rule through Google will allow you to bid to a desired position. It is a quick and easy way to ensure you are not losing out on traffic to your competitors and affords you more time to focus on other holiday sale initiatives.
• Maximize your mobile presence.
  • According to Google, mobile queries have spiked the week before Christmas over the past 2 years.  Whether you are an online retailer or brick-and-mortar, make sure that your campaigns are a) targeting mobile devices and b) utilizing ads enhanced for mobile.
  • Break out separate campaigns that target mobile devices so that you can gain better insight into reporting and use different ad messages for mobile users.  You can even offer exclusive discounts for mobile users.
  • Most importantly, make sure your site is mobile friendly!

• Don’t shut down after pre-holiday sales.
  • A recent report by Google shows that shoppers usually have 25% of their shopping left to complete by mid-December.
  • Shoppers will be looking to take advantage of post-holiday (after December 25^th) sales and redeem those gift cards they received in their stockings.

If you plan ahead and use some of these best practices for your holiday PPC campaigns, hopefully it will not only be the busiest time of year, but can also be the most wonderful time of year for your clients!

Google announced a change in the layout for paid search ads optimized for tablets. This is in response to the growth in table usage over the past year and providing tablet users a better search experience. A refresh of the Google Search is now optimized for tablet users to maximize the real estate on the screen as well as easy to navigate by touch.

There are a few visual changes, but the main change of paid search ads is depending on the orientation of the tablet:

• Landscape mode: maximum of two ads will show above the search results
• Portrait mode: maximum of three ads will show above the search results
• In addition, there will be a maximum of three ads below the search results, regardless of orientation

Here are photos of the new Google tablet search results:

With the ability to target tablet devices within campaign settings in AdWords, as well as mobile reporting within Google Analytics, it is now easier to target and measure visitors that use tablets at your website.

 

Current reports by Gartner indicate that mobile devices will overtake desktop/laptops as the most used Internet access device worldwide by 2013. Many marketers still think they have plenty of time to optimize their site for mobile traffic. Many don’t believe users will trust mobile devices to make purchases or provide personal information. With our first review of the new mobile reporting in Google Analytics, these marketers are already behind in their mobile strategy.

The new mobile report can be found in the visitors report section:

There are two components to the report:

• Overview-provides an overview of mobile and non-mobile device visitors, with the standard site usage, goals and e-commerce information.


Google Analytics Mobile Overview Report

• Devices-provides detailed information by:
• Mobile device-Apple iPhone vs Motorola DroidX
• Device brand-Apple vs HTC
• Service provider-ATT vs Verizon
• Input selector-touchscreen vs clickwheel
• Operating system-Android vs Blackberry


Google Analytics Mobile Devices Report

In addition, the devices report has a Map Overlay report:

How We Are Using Mobile Information to Help Clients

This new mobile report nicely complements the Google AdWords device targeting:

Armed with the new Google Analytics mobile tracking, we can create AdWords campaigns targeted to particular operating systems or carriers. Knowing that Apple related products on AT&T convert better than Android products on Sprint, we can better allocate budget and effort to produce highly engaging campaigns.

In addition, we can assist our clients in optimizing landing pages for different devices. With the new report we can instantly identify devices that do not have good site engagement or convert well. Correcting any usability issues with landing pages for certain devices can dramatically increase engagement and conversions.

Lastly, many marketers do not have a grasp on how mobile users have been interacting with their site. Over the past couple of months I have heard several marketers (clients and non-clients) share with us that they do not believe their mobile visitors would ever interact with the site and wanted to wait in the shadows before implementing a mobile site or landing page, or a mobile marketing strategy.

Below shows the mobile report for a business that did not want to create a mobile site or landing page or market to mobile users:

By providing this business insight into their mobile visitors, their marketing team is working with Lever Interactive to better target and convert mobile users.