#5 — Check Campaign Performance by Device Type and Implement Bid Adjustments
Mobile devices have started to dominate internet usage, with US consumers doing nearly 3/4 of their online browsing through a mobile device vs a desktop or laptop computer. However, conversion rates do not necessarily follow the same pattern.
A few things to consider when determining how much of your bids and budget to focus on mobile devices:
- Is your site mobile friendly?
- What action do you want your visitor to take, and how easy would it be for them to do so on your site?
- How many interactions does it usually take with a customer before completing a sale.
Based on the answers to these questions, you could find a very different balance in your campaign strategy between computers, mobile phones, and tablets. For example:
| Balanced Approach |
Heavy Desktop Focus |
Heavy Mobile Focus |
This is a good approach if you have a well-designed, mobile responsive site where the conversion action is easy to complete using a mobile phone or table. As you can see the, clicks are fairly equally divided, although the cost per click tends to be lower on mobile devices. And even when you have a very mobile friendly site, conversion rates still remain softer in the mobile world than the desktop world. |
When you know that your site is not mobile friendly, sometimes it’s best to simply accept that fact and create your campaigns accordingly. In the above example, the mobile bids have been reduced dramatically because it is only seen as having a potential awareness and cross-device benefit. |
On the opposite side of the spectrum, some campaigns are created with the sole purpose of targeting mobile users. This would especially be the case if the action being requested requires installing a mobile app, or if your targeting “on the go” consumers with location-based advertising. |
Whichever approach you take, one caveat to keep in mind is that not every single click you drive should be intended to drive a conversion on the first click, and not every click you drive should be intended to drive an online conversion. Awareness, branding, cross-device conversion, in-person conversion, and more should be taken into consideration when finalizing your overall mobile bid strategy.