{"id":5498,"date":"2017-09-26T10:58:18","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T05:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=5498"},"modified":"2017-09-20T12:10:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T06:40:32","slug":"transcript-sem-insider-insights-mobile-strategy-sem-pros-aaron-levy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/transcript-sem-insider-insights-mobile-strategy-sem-pros-aaron-levy\/","title":{"rendered":"[Transcript] SEM Insider Insights – Mobile Strategy For SEM Pros with Aaron Levy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second series of SEM Insider Insight presented by Bing Ads, Frances Donegan-Ryan<\/a> hosted the session with Aaron Levy<\/a> where they discussed about paid search strategy that SEM professional can put to practice for mobile-first world. To listen to the podcast click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Here is the transcript of the podcast:
\nIntroduction<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Welcome to the Insider Insights Podcast, a series brought to you by Bing Ads. We\u2019ll talk with insiders, who\u2019ll share their tips, tricks and confessions to help you become a digital marketing pro. I\u2019m your host, Frances Donegan-Ryan. Welcome everybody, to Bing\u2019s SEM Insider Insights Podcast Series. Today, we\u2019re going to be talking all about Paid Search strategies for a Mobile-first future<\/strong>. And we\u2019ve a very special guest, and good friend of mine joining, Aaron Levy, and he\u2019s from Elite SEM, but Aaron, I\u2019m going to let you introduce yourself.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: That\u2019s pretty much it. So, I\u2019m a\u2026 Our titles at Elite SEM are a little whacky. We try to be unique. So I\u2019m a Manager of Client Strategy here, so I oversee a team of about a dozen across North America. Actually I\u2019m in 3 countries now, but I also service kind of strategically for some of our larger clients. So that means I\u2019ve a lot of visibility into some, you know, large scale market places and seeing a lot of things about how media interacts as our lovely world is changing and growing.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. And you\u2019re based out in Philly.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: I\u2019m based in frigid Philadelphia today.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: [Laughter] Well, today Aaron and I are going to talk about Mobile-first PPC campaigns, when to consider them, how to help a client understand when they should use them, when they don\u2019t need to worry about them, and then just the ton of tips and best practices on targeting your customers or your leads through mobile devices<\/strong>. So Aaron, let me start first by asking you some questions. You know, I think, in 2015, maybe even earlier, was when everyone started saying, \u201cThis is the year of mobile, this is the year of mobile,\u201d and I think if you\u2019ve not started, you\u2019ve missed, like, several years already of the \u201cYear of Mobile.\u201d So, maybe, give me a brief, sort of history on when you felt it became critically important, and then, you know, how the users have really differed from each other \u2013 Desktop vs Mobile.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: I mean, I think we\u2019ve been in the decade of Mobiles since pretty much as long as I\u2019ve been in the field. I think we took a brief, brief break when it was the Year of the Tablet\u2026 That went away.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: [Laughter]<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: So\u2026 I mean, I think it kind of hit critical mass probably about 2 to 3 years ago. Obviously when, you know, the iPhone first came out, it was kind of a luxury item, it was amazing. I was convinced that it was going to hang up on everybody because touch screen didn\u2019t make sense to me. But I\u2019d say really, probably about 2 to 3 years ago when what are considered budget phones, so the lower-end iPhone android phones, when those started to become really critical mass, and data became less of an expensive commodity, that\u2019s when it really went nuts.<\/p>\n

So I think it was\u2026 I believe 2014 was the first time that we really saw Black Friday volume was primarily mobile. I think that was the first time it crossed, based on our numbers, last year overall, and it was about 60% total mobile throughout the year. And on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, which are usually, kind of, our parameters, we saw around 70 to 75% of buying was on mobile. So that\u2019s a big switch.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. No, we\u2019ve seen that, you know, in our data as well and I would say, you know, although we\u2019ve always been, at Bing, you know, focused on building mobile products within, you know, within the Bing Ads Interface in the tool, I would say Aaron, the number 1 priority over the last year, year and a half has been building mobile partnership so that we can continue to help customers just reach more people and increase that volume as quickly as we can.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: I think it\u2019s interesting that you said partnerships instead of products. I think if there\u2019s one thing that has been the biggest challenge for us as marketers in mobile is to realize that we can\u2019t just shoehorn a desktop experience in a mobile, we can\u2019t make people do something they don\u2019t want to do. So the fact that Bing is looking at partnerships and working with a bunch of different app providers and, you know, looking at different ways to provide volume and tools for people to do what they want to do is much more important than, you know, just trying to shoe-horn your desktop experience or your search campaigns to mobile when, you know, people might be in a different mindset when they\u2019re on that phone.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah, exactly. And I think we\u2019re also starting to see or glean better understanding of that mindset with the advent of voice search as well.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: I mean, the biggest thing for mobile is that we want to find people who are in that kind of desperation mode rather than the time-killing mode and what we\u2019ve seen is that voice search or natural language search indicates someone that, like, that really needs something to be done right away, and that\u2019s the one where we want to be first, like, frontrunners on it.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. And so, you know, just a kind of follow up question on that, based the fact that, you know, we know that mobile is now more prevalent and then we\u2019re starting to layer voice search on top of that even more, you know \u2013 why do you think the current tools may be that we have within Paid Search, or the current tactics\u2026? Like you mentioned before, not just trying to jam PC, traditional Paid Search tactics onto a mobile device, you know\u2026 Those are not going to work with keeping us up to date. Are there sort of\u2026? What are your thoughts on that? And what do you hope to see, or what are you starting to see to help with that?<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: Well, there\u2019s kind of 2 to 3 challenges embedded within that. First of all, when we\u2019re talking about mobile consumers, it\u2019s not just one person. You\u2019re not the same person as you\u2019re on your phone. Depending on the time of day, you\u2019re 4 or 5 different people. So what we need to do and what our current tools and tactics don\u2019t quite do is that we\u2019re not necessarily taking a user-first approach, we\u2019re taking a device-first approach, and we\u2019re trying to get them to do what we want to, rather than enabling them or allowing them to do what they want to.<\/p>\n

So, until we can find a way to really map out, you know, user mindset, user cases, and figure out how to enable the users to accomplish what they want rather than trying to get them to whip out their credit card, I think that\u2019ll be a real key to success. And I think that\u2019ll kind of necessitate a return to what we, you know, in the good old days, used to call \u2018micro-conversions\u2019, getting people to conduct smaller and micro actions rather than trying to get the horseshoe bang in one shot.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. And I think that\u2019s not just a change in tactic in terms of Paid Search tactic. That\u2019s got to be a fundamental change in the way that, you know, businesses have to think about marketing in this newer world. We were talking a lot the last few weeks at events that I have been at about [Polite 06:56] Marketing, and keeping in mind, you know, remembering that we ourselves are consumers, and what are we willing to do, particularly because we are in this industry, and if we\u2019re not even optimizing for ourselves in our own behaviours, then, we\u2019re also then clearly not doing it for the general public.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: Well, it\u2019s important to remember too that we\u2019re not the general public, we\u2019re that weird. We\u2019re really good at phones, we\u2019re more comfortable with doing things, and we know how to manipulate search engines to get what we want. We need to think in the mindset of, you know, [John Q 07:35] customer who has 1gig of data a month and needs to budget it to make sure that he gets the right thing. We need to think in the mindset of someone who, you know, may be our parents. My mom just got smartphone, finally, 10 years late! And think about how she uses it, and what she would need it for. And it\u2019s not going to be the same way that I would use it, but she\u2019s going to receive the same marketing messages that I do if I were not careful.<\/p>\n

So we think about mobile\u2026 I mean, I know from my personal experience\u2026 In fact, most of my friends in those dang millenials\u2026 People don\u2019t necessarily want to use a phone as a phone any more, they\u2019re really, really intrigued by messaging apps. Not just messaging apps, but messaging extensions in advertising. So, figuring out how we can use the rise of what we may call \u2018Chat Box\u2019 or \u2018Message Extensions\u2019 to give people another avenue to communicate, knowing full well that it might mean that we\u2019ll have to re-engineer how we work things on the back end.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re seeing huge success in using chat behavior on phones or driving people to send us a text message rather than call, because it takes a couple of layers out of things, and it makes the conversion much easier for consumers. So, you know, it obviously means that we have to re-engineer the call centre, because we had people waiting on the phone for the phone to ring, but instead, if they\u2019re getting a text message, that means all of our tracking systems are now broken, all our response systems are now broken. But we also know that it gets people on the phone a lot faster, and it leads them to convert a lot faster. So there\u2019s a certain level of trade-off that, you know, do you nuke the old system or do you just, sort of, start putting additions on the house until it looks right?<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Okay, so back to, looping back around to mobile, are there\u2026? You know, when you\u2019re actually creating the mobile ads or the mobile campaigns, what do you feel are some of the tools and tactics that not only are going to be immediately successful but that are going to build this sustainable long-term success?<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: What I think is the most important and – this is where it gets a little bit complicated – is that you need to isolate your tests by device. So if you think about looking at Time of Day or Day Parting, the curve is going to look drastically different for a phone, it\u2019s going to look drastically different for a desktop. We see that tablets are kind of somewhere in the middle, they tend to fill up the boredom hours but not the commuter hours that a phone would. But the things that you\u2019ll wind up seeing work really well on mobile phones are things that\u2019ll probably be different from desktop.<\/p>\n

I mean, the old school test that we would always run, you see\u2026 We would have our Display URL say, you know, www.aaron.com\/mobile to give people the semblance that it will be a mobile site.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s kind of child\u2019s play now. Instead, you know, really varying your \u2018Calls to Action\u2019, so instead of going \u2018Shop Now\u2019, you could change to ;Call Now;, or \u2018Buy Now\u2019, or whatever it may be, something to indicate that you\u2019re tailoring to the mindset of the user and not just what\u2019s in their hand.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Right, and that you\u2019re creating more of the urgency rather than, you know, \u201cCome, enjoy some time with us.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cGet what you want done right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: It\u2019s not even necessarily the urgency but more that it\u2019s not pressure, and we\u2019re giving people the freedom to act how they want to act, knowing full well that it isn\u2019t just a [inaudible 10:51] scenario where we squeeze the whole website into something responsive that now magically fits on a 4-inch screen. More that we have an experience that\u2019s tailored to what they want, which is easier said than done, of course, but giving that message and that feel to customers is what\u2019s really going to help everyone grow.<\/p>\n

So, what this whole swap to mobile is doing, which is kind of a blessing in disguise, is it\u2019s forcing us to take a step back, as you\u2019re saying, and look more at that, not only creative side, but the human side and figure out, you know, how we can reach people in a way that\u2019s important to them instead of important to us.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. Are there any\u2026? Are there pitfalls, or things you feel have kind of been tried and tested and don\u2019t need more attention, and you should spend your time doing other things?<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: It\u2019s an interesting question. I mean, I think\u2026 I don\u2019t like to be broken record, but aside from trying to smush-in the whole desktop site into a mobile experience, being cognizant of users swapping devices, and allowing that and being okay with it, instead of, you know, having an \u2018Exit\u2019 intent pop-up on your mobile landing page or someone\u2026 or gated content which says, \u201cYou can\u2019t read this until you click on it,\u201d Maybe not the best user experience, whereas, you know, if we know that our mobile conversion rate is, like, a third of what our desktop is \u2013 that\u2019s pretty much the same for all of our clients \u2013 so that doesn\u2019t say to us that we should do mobile CRO, or may be it does.<\/p>\n

But by mobile CRO, it doesn\u2019t mean raising that conversion rate for your desktop experience, it means changing what we\u2019re asking of people. I mean, it\u2019s going in for something a little bit smaller and making it easy so that they can get it done, and go back to playing Candy Crush or whatever they feel like.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah, I was just going to say I am that user that switches\u2026 Well, also, I have a Surface Computer which is starting to, like, raise the divide between desktop, tablet and laptop because I use that as all 3, but I totally switch between my devices when I run out lives on Candy Crush on one device, I\u2019m going to pop to the other device, and in the mean time, I\u2019m playing Candy Crush and more than likely binging on Netflix or Hulu, I\u2019m also going to be shopping, I\u2019m also going to be researching, I\u2019m also going to be reading articles, and so, I think it\u2019s not, it\u2019s almost not even thinking TV and phone, it\u2019s, you know\u2026 I\u2019ll talk to Alexa, I may be watching the TV, I might be on my Surface, reading, because it\u2019s bigger, and then I might be texting on my phone\u2026 I mean\u2026<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: Well, so, what we\u2019re also seeing is that doing things like native or small content pieces, because people are looking for condensed version of articles and they\u2019ll skim through until something else catches their eye, which is where we\u2019ve seen a lot of success with the rise of native for being where, you know, we can insert something where, historically, you know, search has always been people looking for solution to a problem\u2026 We can kind of insert ourselves into somewhere where that problem may not exist yet and get ahead of the game.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Any other top tips you want to share for people who are either starting their foray into mobile, or for those of us that have been doing it for a while but need that next boost?<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: So, we joked at the outset that it\u2019s been the Year of Mobile for 10 years. I think what we\u2019re seeing is that people have looked at mobile as a stagnant technology aside from the screens getting bigger and the devices getting better, you know, \u201cWe\u2019ve got apps. Yey!\u201d But realistically, mobile is changing a lot more than that. So, when you\u2019re building your mobile strategy, write it in pencil, don\u2019t chisel it out of stone, because what\u2019s going to be big next year is different from what\u2019s going to be big this year. So we actually\u2026<\/p>\n

I know even though we didn\u2019t touch on but, you know, we could talk about this for another 3 hours, it\u2019s looking at re-targeting in Search or otherwise for App re-engagement to that point exactly, the same way that you might look at a Search campaign to have someone, you know, hit someone in 6 months when they\u2019re going to be ready to replace their running shoes.<\/p>\n

You have to look at that behaviour where…the App Download is, like, step 1. That\u2019s the form filling, they haven\u2019t given you any money yet. Looking at marketing tactics for App Re-engagement, if they\u2019re searching for something and they already have the app downloaded, create condition and use it all the time and get the most valuable piece of real estate you can on a phone, which is the old home screen. You can get there, you win. It might not show on your Analytics, it might not make your Paid Search Program look good, but that\u2019s not our job. Our job is to help people make money.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Yeah. And Apple\u2019s already going to help you do that as well. Awesome. Well, I think we\u2019ve touched on a lot of different aspects in mobile. I\u2019m going to wrap up with what I thought were, like, the top 3 things, and then you tell me if I missed one. I think the number one thing we are saying, like you said, do not write the strategy in pencil or \u201cBAH, DO write it in pencil, don\u2019t write it in Sharpie or chisel it in stone,\u201d because not just the technology of the phone is changing, but it\u2019s the usage that\u2019s changing even faster. So that was my first one.<\/p>\n

My second one was, don\u2019t just try and squash your typical PPC desktop-friendly either website design, landing page design or budget strategy into a mobile strategy. And I think something that we didn\u2019t talk about a lot but I hope that is helpful is, figuring out how to make the tools work for you for mobile. You know you can turn on those mobile-preferred ads, you can use bid-modifiers, you can use things like keywords of that who, what, where, that we know tend to be more voice search which in turn is going to lead you more to mobile and creating different targeting for that. So, don\u2019t feel like just because we can\u2019t do those mobile-only campaigns on Google and Bing anymore that you can\u2019t make it extremely mobile friendly.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: To wrap it all up here, I would say that.. I think I\u2019m quoting, may be, Garfield, I don\u2019t know, \u201cPobody\u2019s nerfect.\u201d So, don\u2019t let…don\u2019t let perfect get in the way of done, so when it comes to mobile campaigns , yes, it\u2019s certainly growing fast; yes, a lot of users are on it, but it\u2019s moving so fast that if you try to make a perfect strategy, you\u2019ll always be chasing something that doesn\u2019t exist. A lot of time, it\u2019s just run with the stuff with a…seeing what sticks, so don\u2019t be shy about testing or tweaking without, you know, planning out a 3-month, say, re-design just to see what happens.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: Well Aaron, thanks so much for chatting with us. You gave us a lot of your precious, precious time and hopefully, we\u2019ll get you back on our Industry Insights Podcast again soon.<\/p>\n

Aaron<\/strong>: Thank you for having me.<\/p>\n

Frances<\/strong>: And that\u2019s a wrap on another episode of the Insider Insights Podcast. You can catch up on all the episodes on SoundCloud or your favourite podcast app. You can share your feedback with us on any social channel @bingads. And until next time, thanks for listening.<\/p>\n

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