Marketers Failing Badly on Mobile-Specific Landing Pages, PPC Ad Copy [Report]

Most online advertisers know that mobile-specific experiences are important, but less than half engage in mobile practices, and many aren't planning to this year. This is one of the mobile opportunity gaps that Yahoo and Kenshoo teamed up to identify in a recent survey on multi-device advertising strategy.

One of the first steps a brand can take to improve the mobile experience is a mobile-optimized landing page, however, "our studies show that approximately half of all marketers indicated that they did not have mobile-specific landing pages," the report said.

Perhaps the mobile experience lacking is the reason 88 percent of smartphone users and 82 percent of tablet users go back to their PC to continue the shopping process. "When asked to describe the computer shopping experience, consumers used words such as fast, trustworthy, and uncomplicated," the report said.

Because of this, the multi-device experience should be seamless, said the report. "Until retailers can instill more confidence in the mobile purchase process, consumers may be content with doing more retail searching than buying on the mobile web."

Even though there was an almost unanimous consensus on the cross-screen influence of paid search, the report stated that "many marketers still seem to disregard the unique qualities of each device type when it comes to campaign execution. For example, only 15 percent of the respondents indicated that they customize paid search ad copywriting by device."

In its report, Yahoo and Kenshoo listed several areas to examine to improve the mobile experience by asking the following questions:

Are your mobile campaign landing pages focused on providing information only?Is your mobile shopping experience as simple as it can be to capitalize on impulse purchase behavior?Are your paid search campaigns on mobile as robust as they are on the fixed web?Have you tailored your mobile search ad copy to be as mobile-friendly as possible, and are you taking advantage of all the unique features of paid search mobile platforms?

One of the areas for opportunity to influence consumers is in store. More than half of consumers (56 percent of smartphone owners and 49 percent tablet owners) said the mobile web was a way to validate impulsive purchases while in retail locations.

"This is where brands have a major opportunity to significantly influence consumers that are already very far down the funnel," the report said. "Providing the right information at the right time can be the tipping point for consumers who are on the fence with a purchase decision while standing in the store aisles, reinforcing the decision to go with your brand or potentially taking share away from a competitor."

That's why the need for retargeting across devices is more important than ever, the report said. "Take advantage of solutions that help you identify in-market consumers across devices so you can provide a continuous shopping experience and close the sale."