Mobile & Desktop Advertising Strategies Based on User Intent

If you advertise on Google Ads or Facebook, both platforms have likely tried to sell you on the power of mobile advertising strategies at least once. Your attention to a marketing blog right now suggests a familiarity with the fact that mobile search traffic and mobile ad impressions passed their desktop counterparts in volume over the last few years.

You don’t need more convincing to prioritize your mobile advertising strategies.

On the other hand, you may still need help approaching mobile ads. You might need information about mobile device behavior and a strategy for engaging mobile users effectively.

Instapage can fulfill that need. Read on to learn how to account for device and intent in your advertising.

Consumer behaviors: Mobile advertising strategies vs. desktop advertising strategies

Mobile offers a tremendous opportunity to reach high-value prospects. Advertisers need to take advantage of the opportunities that are available. Full-screen video demands a viewer’s full attention, native formats can ease the disruption that ads cause, and search ads are highly noticeable.

If that’s not enough, consider these staggering statistics from Akamai:

• 56% of mobile and 57% of tablet users search for products on a weekly basis, compared to only 37% of consumers using desktop.
• 52% on mobile and 53% on tablet use their devices to compare prices weekly, compared to 34% on desktop.
• 46% of mobile and 50% of tablet users will read reviews online once a week, compared to 28% on desktop.
• 35% of mobile and tablet shoppers buy products at least once a week, compared to only 15% of desktop users. Mobile and tablet shoppers also participate in more omnichannel sales experiences than desktop users, meaning web experiences on mobile and tablet have a bigger impact on purchases made both online and in-store.
• Desktop users are being outspent by mobile and tablet users ($64 to $71, respectively) per month and mobile users are two times more likely to make purchases of $250 or more than desktop shoppers.

How should this information influence your advertising strategies?

Engagement and user position in the funnel

Engagement with your ad and brand depends on the device used and the viewer’s position in the purchase funnel. The more points-of-contact you offer, the greater the likelihood individuals will convert or purchase.

Research conducted by the University of Rochester found that there are “strong benefits to repeated exposures among users who see up to 50 ads, with revenues increasing approximately linearly at a rate of 4¢ per exposure.”

When you reach people across multiple devices, you have access to a higher inventory of ad placements to work with.

Yahoo! Research shows that advertising across multiple devices increases brand engagement. Specifically, “channel diversity stimulates disengaged consumers to transition to engaged stages. But it does not encourage the already engaged consumers to stay engaged. In addition, channel diversity is more effective for the early impressions than for the late impressions.”

The research insights can help inform your strategy in three key ways:

• Serve potential users a high volume of ads across multiple devices while they are high in your purchase funnel.
• Taper impression volume as users move down your purchase funnel.
• Modify the frequency and device settings in your AdWords display campaigns to account for this tapering off as users move through your funnel.

User intent and the funnel

Users that search for your product, category, or competitors are fairly low in your funnel. You benefit from visibility to these users. Craft your advertisements toward their search intent. Is this person merely looking for information or attempting to make a purchase right now? Has this person only recently discovered the existence of your product category or is the person ready to purchase and simply comparison shopping?

The London Business School found that when users begin their search, they generally construe preferences at a high level and therefore respond better to higher-level product information. Additionally, “only when they have narrowly construed preferences do they respond positively to ads that display detailed product information.”

Match search queries that demonstrate low brand familiarity with search advertisements that have generalized value propositions. Search queries that demonstrate specific intent should trigger ads that provide detailed product information. You can also tailor display retargeting to funnel stages based on terms that users search or pages they visit.

The two display banner examples here increase in specificity as a viewer moves down the funnel. The first presents a generalized value proposition to marketing professionals that have not been to the Instapage website. The second ad highlights a specific feature of Instapage that appeals to individuals who have visited the site and demonstrated an interest in A/B testing, conversion optimization, or marketing analytics:

Local searches on mobile devices

Mobile devices are often used for local searches that include a “near me” phrase. Searchers seeking immediacy and on-demand services are far more common on mobile devices than desktop, and they may end up on these large brand websites due to a retail store’s proximity to the device.

Similarly, immediate need can even outrank brand loyalty. If you have a local business or a location-based product, it is imperative that you promote your brand to mobile users seeking immediacy. Your proximity may prove more important than a search user’s loyalty to your competitor. If you offer a service, make sure you are present in the search results when users want to buy immediately.

Even branded searches tap into location. People are more likely to search “Where to buy Gushers fruit snacks nearby” on their mobile device than on desktop. Desktop search focuses more on complex or open-ended research and tasks that require greater detail or input. A typical search query on desktop might look something more like “which flavor of Gushers fruit snack is the most delicious?” The query is open-ended and does not signify quite as much an immediate need as the mobile search does. Also, all flavors of Gushers are delicious.

According to Google, 93% of people who used mobile to research go on to make a purchase but only 17% actually make that purchase on mobile. Even though that may be the case, mobile advertising strategies produce returns even if you can’t attribute those returns directly to mobile sessions. Modify your mobile strategy to compete with unbranded search terms. Make your brand available so that you will be top-of-mind when people make purchases away from their mobile device.

Don’t forget about Facebook

Don’t wait passively for users on mobile to search for your product. Facebook’s people-based audience pixel works great to engage potential customers on multiple devices. With the pixel, Facebook allows you to:

• Identify users across devices that are signed in
• Serve timely or relevant content to users cross-device
• Create audiences that collect users that engage with your content
• Retarget mobile visitors with desktop ads at a later time

Facebook enables the earlier recommendation of serving ads multiple times to people on a variety of devices. You can find and qualify your users on devices that demand more of their attention (and cost less to advertise on), then re-engage with them on desktop when they are more likely to purchase or complete a conversion with you.

How Instapage complements your ads and search intent with advertising strategies

Fortunately, you can drop both tracking pixels directly in your Instapage post-click landing page in the advanced settings or inserting the Meta pixel. That way, when search users click your ad, they’ll form a great first impression of your brand the moment they land on your page.

Once they land on your post-click landing page, ensure they have the best experience possible. Our latest guide can help you make sure they engage with your offer and increase your chance of conversions:

Start the process today by creating your optimized page, engage with mobile users on the responsive version that our software generates automatically, and push them through the funnel toward a purchase. Sign up for an Instapage Enterprise demo today.