One of the first key pieces to good mobile marketing is ensuring your site renders well across all devices and browsers. After all, conversions on a small, difficult-to-navigate site are not easy to come by. There are two tools (more than that really!) you can use to test your site against mobile web standards.

The first is mobiReady from dotMobi. According to dotMobi’s site, “the mobiReady tool evaluates mobile-readiness using industry best practices and standards.” This tool is free and offers a score 1-5 as well as an analysis of your site’s performance on a mobile device.

mobiReady Test

The second tool is the W3C mobileOK Checker. This tool checks “the markup validity of web documents” in a variety of languages. These standards are set forth by W3C, or the World Wide Web Consortium.

W3C Mobile Checker Test

mobiReady incorporates pieces from the W3C mobile checker and usually provides a very comprehensive overview of your site and any necessary changes. For a complete list of quality assurance tools recommended by W3C, visit their toolbox.

It seems as if mobile coupons are everywhere. There are apps, websites, and text-to-phone coupons. You can even access mobile coupons through the Google Local Business Center. You don’t need a smartphone to get them – a simple SMS campaign can deliver coupons to any device that accepts text messages. But the question remains – are mobile coupons a valid offering for your business?

While adoption rates still have room for growth, several studies say the potential is out there. According to a Yankee Group study, 73% of consumers say they would be interested in receiving a coupon, but only if it is free. According to an eMarketer study, two-thirds of female mobile web users said they would be interested in getting coupons on their mobile device. The recession could be a factor for growth, but another interesting factor could be the ability to provide personalized coupons at just the right time using location targeting. It’s when a brand can deliver a coupon while the shopper is in a small radius relative to the store, restaurant or entertainment that mobile coupons become enticing.

There are a variety of mobile coupons available but the two most common are alphanumeric and the bar code. Alphanumeric coupons are versatile and simple with everyone understanding the coupon and brands being able to redeem them efficiently. While bar code coupons are easy to create and helps prevent fraud, there are not a high percentage of retailers that can redeem them using current technology. These bar code ads are also served on the mobile web which restricts the number of users that have access.

Bar Code Coupon

With any new technology or idea also comes problems. In the case of mobile, technology has not quite caught up to the world of bar code scanning and reading. Some problems include

• Poor quality of camera phones;
• Smaller screen sizes and screen distortion;
• Multiple coupon code types require multiple readers;
• Not having instantaneous coupon redemption at the point of sale; and
• Increasing hardware investments and replacement costs

While the industry might not be there *yet*, getting involved and learning the market early will always put you one step ahead of the curve. Considering mobile coupons are expected to grow into a $66.9M industry by 2013, I think it best to start exploring now.

With the insertion of iPad, recently announcing over 1 million sold, and the growing base of smart phone users I wanted to highlight the quick resources you have available in Google Analytics to view this level of data.

Under advanced segments there is a default segment for Mobile Traffic. This includes traffic from iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, Samsung etc.

Under the visitors section on the left hand side navigation is a drop down for Mobile which includes two sections 1) Mobile Devices and 2) Mobile Carriers

Explore and learn from the data, if you’re seeing traffic and conversions you may want to investigate tapping into this market.

If Apple’s acquisition of Quattro didn’t firm up the idea that mobile is important to the computer giant, perhaps the new iPad will. This newest revolution in computing power will affect everything from display ads to e-commerce. With a large, interactive touch screen built on a portable mobile web platform, marketers can build a richer mobile experience through traditional outlets including search, email, and display as well as non-traditional outlets such as e-book readers and mobile applications.

Google came to the court prepared. A new Gmail interface built specifically for the iPad will allow users a two-pane view with conversations on the left and messages on the right. A You-Tube application comes built in allowing users to view videos in HD while reading and making comments. Local advertising will benefit from having an enhanced maps application using new high resolution imagery including a new terrain view. Users can search for local businesses and get directions on the spot.

Interested in paid search marketing? Because the iPad runs on a mobile platform, advertisers can target all mobile devices which will include iPad. Google developers are working on a solution to target the iPad only and will appear in the coming days when you want to “target only selected mobile devices.” Display advertising will see new ad units, however, because the iPad can’t run flash, display make take a step backwards.

So, it’s fancy but is it enough to revolutionize mobile? In our opinion, the iPad does have the capability of changing the face of mobile marketing. Even though you can’t make phone calls on the tablet, users can consume data and information on the go, increasing access and capability. Users can easily access the web and their favorite mobile applications to accomplish exactly what they want, when they want – and on a larger, easier-to-read screen.

What does this mean for marketers? With mobile, you could reach your audience on the go. With the iPad, you can do an even better job of it. This tablet brings local search to a whole new level – combining interactive, portable information with rich compelling media. Marketers will be able to think outside of the text ad or banner and start using books, movies, music and much, much more.

To fully understand mobile web, you have to look past traditional Internet. A user experience on traditional web is far different from a user experience on mobile web and these differences must be taken into account if you are to run a successful campaign.

The first obvious difference is audience. A recent study by Experian Simmons identified five unique user groups – Mobirati, Social Connectors, Pragmatic Adopters, Mobile Professionals, and Basic Planners. These segments offer insight into different kinds of demographics that can be coupled with traditional information such as gender and age. All these factors help determine where your target audience is and how likely they are to accept or reject your campaign. Don’t assume mobile web demographics are similar to web demographics – in fact they are very different.

The times when users access the mobile web and mobile social platforms differ between mobile and social web. Advertisers who run campaigns on Facebook or Twitter for traditional web, for example, will not reach the same audience as mobile web.

Because the smartphone audience is limited on a global scale, advertisers need to understand the demographics of smartphones verses other devices. Along with understanding device demographics comes a need to understand the individual devices themselves. Different interfaces, content formatting, download times and 3G verses 4G speeds will dictate the user experience.

All of these factors, along with many others, may cause users to perform certain tasks on mobile web that they wouldn’t consider doing on traditional web, and vice versa. Take the time to understand your audience, how the audience interacts with mobile web, and what devices the audiences interacts with.

We had our Google Ad Words reps in our offices last week for their ‘state of the search industry’ address, which is always interesting and helpful. Google’s client/agency support has always been miles ahead of Yahoo and MSN, but that’s a topic for another day. In Google’s presentation they had a slide illustrating the increase in long tail keyword usage and the huge decrease in one to two word keywords. At first I didn’t think anything of it as it makes sense and is something we have known from our own data for years, but then I remembered a blog I had read the night before from Matt McGee that describes the exact opposite.

In Matt’s blog he presents data from Experian/Hitwise which indicates that one word keywords have actually increased by 17% in 2009. It’s important to point out that the Hitwise data represents all search engines, while Google’s is specific to their results. So what might have caused a rise in one word keywords as of late?

I would first look to how the search result pages have changed in the last year with Google, Yahoo and MSN all displaying much more content through universal search based on a users IP address. When someone searches with single keywords such as ‘sushi’ or ‘shoes’ results are returned that provide much more options than before. As I’ve noted in previous blogs the engines display local businesses that are relevant to the search term entered. Similarly, sponsored ads can attach a local address to the text ad for that search query as well. Personally, I know this new format has changed my search behavior as I’m able to put in less to get more results.

Another contributing factor to this increase can be applied to the dramatic rise in mobile usage. Mobile phones provide a resource for immediate on the spot information and that information is almost always requested through as little searching as possible. The convenience of mobile browsing has developed a search behavior much more dependent on location rather than keywords.

So how does this affect advertising strategies? From a sponsored campaign perspective there is no argument against the need for long tail keywords and the effective CPA’s they generate, but a searchers behavior should also be observed when building a keyword portfolio. This includes the select use of one and two word search terms that can ‘assist’ with the overall performance. Without going too deep into visitor acquisition channels and attribution models, it’s thought that these ‘top of the funnel’ keywords are usually clicked on well before the actual conversion is made.

Organically, this puts even more emphasis on having a correctly optimized map listing as trends show those will be appearing more frequently for generic search queries. Achieving high positioning on a general search term in the maps can provide significant web, phone and in store visit traffic.

In a recent study published by InsightExpress, researchers found mobile ad campaigns were five times more effective than online campaigns.  This is probably why 97.8 percent of agencies see mobile advertising as a valuable part of the media plan and expect to see increases in mobile budgets across nearly all services, according to Mobile Marketer’s 2010 Mobile Outlook (which can be downloaded here).

While online campaigns still have their place in advertising, mobile campaigns were found to offer higher levels of engagement with more technical capabilities. When you couple that with a low clutter environment, you have a campaign that is more likely to increase brand impact, according to InsightExpress.

Right now, mobile web is the strongest mobile marketing tactic followed in close suite by SMS and mobile video.  Even thought mobile video is still fairly young, research showed it on par with SMS in terms of increasing brand awareness. According to the study, the following industries had a much higher response to mobile than online:

• Mobile entertainment purchase intent effect is four times higher than online entertainment intent.
• Mobile travel purchase intent effect is five times higher than online travel purchase intent.
• Mobile technology purchase intent effect is seven times higher than online technology purchase intent.
• Mobile automotive purchase intent effect is four times higher than online automotive purchase intent.
• Mobile retail purchase intent effect is eight times higher than online retail purchase intent.

Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy recently wrote a letter to Jon Leibowitz strongly encouraging the FTC to block Google’s acquisition of AdMob. The letter states that “the proposed deal would substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market” and that it’s “harmful to consumers, advertisers and application developers, among others.” The letter goes on to cite privacy issues due to the amount of data collected by both parties, potential issues with the release of Google’s smartphone, whereby Google could use info from AdMob to market Android better, and potentially leading to a lack of competition in the mobile space.

Learn more about the plea made to the FTC.

After revamping several dozen PPC landing pages for one of our clients, Crystal and I have turned our attention to re-creating the pages in the mobile space. While she dives into the actual work, I thought I would take a moment to review some best practices for mobile sites and landing pages.

I came across this great document a while ago, published by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Published in July of 2008, the document guidelines everything you could possibly imagine from use of large graphics, to style sheet size, to the default input mode. If you do decide to create a mobile website “from scratch” so-to speak, I would recommend sharing the entire document (ok, at least the free standing summary) with your web developer. (Or hey, did we mention we do web design and development?)

Some highlights:
•    Provide minimal (and consistent) navigation
•    Use clear and simple language
•    Limit scrolling to one direction
•    Ensure that information conveyed with color is also available without color
•    Do not use frames – avoid tables unless the device is known to support them
•    Don’t rely on cookies being available

Just like “traditional” web design, you should bear in mind the limitations of the devices where your site will be served. The W3C suggests catering to the Default Delivery Context, defined as “the minimum delivery context specification necessary for a reasonable experience of the Web” and is outlined as follows:
•    Usable screen width = 120 pixels, minimum
•    Markup Language Support = XHTML Basic 1.1
•    Character Encoding = UTF-8
•    Image Format Support = JPEG, GIF 89a
•    Maximum Total Page Weight = 20 kilobytes
•    Colors = 256 Colors, minimum
•    Style Sheet Support = CSS Level 1
•    HTTP = HTTP 1.0 or 1.1
•    Script = No support for client side scripting

However, the W3C wants to stress “many devices exceed the capabilities defined by the DDC. Content providers are encouraged not to diminish the user experience on those devices by developing only to the DDC specification, and are encouraged to adapt their content, where appropriate, to exploit the capabilities of the actual device.”

Bottom line, mobile web design is still tricky. A variety of platforms, sizes and browser access make it hard to pin point a common denominator. Therefore, my final recommendation is to design both a WAP-friendly site and a smart phone site…and test, test, test!

Remember coupons? Well, those rectangle pieces of paper that you used to watch your mother cut out of the Sunday paper just got a huge face lift.

Early last week, just in time for Black Friday, the Google Local Business Center extended the ability to offer coupons on mobile devices. Previously, this was only done through printable coupons.

Now, when consumers search for businesses from their mobile devices, they will be able to see coupons from the device. Rather than bringing a printed coupon into a store, they will be able to show the coupon, formatted correctly, directly on the screen of their mobile device.

For business owners, coupons can be added and updated by claiming your business in the Local Business Center. Searchers can find these coupons on Google.com and Google Maps by searching for products and services in their area and then click through to the ‘places page’ of that specific business.

There will always be adaptation periods to wait out with any new release, but the simplistic nature at which Google coupons can be created should ease that along. That coupled with new opportunity for exposure afforded by Google, will likely inspire a fresh wave of mobile marketing exploits aimed at lifting the sagging holiday sales expected for many small businesses amidst a still-tenuous economy.