SMX seems a little while ago now especially as I went cycling in Barcelona straight after the event (recommendable!) Nevertheless I do want to share the highlights of what Philippe Huysmans -EMEA Director, APS Mobile, Local & Commerce- was telling the audience in the ‘What’s new in local and mobile’ session at this event. Coming from a search background myself, it was fascinating to see how search can be leveraged to reach ‘potential customers on the go’. A highly converting action-ready audience it seems!  Find out about two new features to be launched as well.

The Key Mobile & Local Takeaways

1. Local and Mobile are closely intertwined

2. Advertisers and retailers should recognize the rapid changes in consumer behaviour and take advantage of the opportunity to accompany their consumers all the way down the aisle, even influencing those last-minute hesitations.

3. We are entering a new world in terms of consumer behaviour with the full power of search now (literally) in our pockets.

4. Bing likes to be part of new consumer experiences.

How to Reach Your Audience During the Three Phases of Mobile Search

I think most of us have heard of search funnels but Philippe made a refreshing change by liking the phases of local search to a dating cycle:

1. The First Date: what are you interested in?

2. Dating: The results of your search are clear and you are refining the search.

3. Marriage: You are ready to make a commitment to a business or product.

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1. 37% of consumers leverage mobile after seeing outdoor ad, newspaper or radio ad.

Recent research conducted which focused on ROI showed that 37% of consumers go to their mobile phones to search for more product info after seeing a product advertised via outdoor, newspaper or radio. During the ‘first date phase’ (‘what am I interested in?’) it is important to be seen by customers in the top of the search funnel and lead them to a commitment with the help of local search. Scale is important and Bing will offer this through the Bing-Yahoo partnership, by working with Facebook and Twitter to enrich search results with social information and via the recent deal with Nokia.

2. 50% increase in consumers trust their social network contacts for product recommendations

When you introduce a new date to your friends you like to believe their opinion doesn’t matter but you still like them to approve of your choice. Consumers in the ‘dating’ phase are influenced by their social contacts too: eMarketer recently showed a nearly 50% increase in consumers trusting their social network contacts for product recommendations.

‘At Bing’ Philippe says ‘we see this as the natural progression, the ability to aggregate all the comments, likes and dislikes of your friends on Facebook and search them within one interface aggregated to only give you answers relevant to what you want to know. Just as your social signals spread across to all your friends, so to do these signals influence the decisions of those around you’.

Mobile searches are focussed on local action and with greater commercial intent; they are looking for something they need now.

MobileInstoreengagement 

3 New features to be released soon

Philippe reveals that two new features will be released in the coming months which will help marketers to reach their audience with local relevancy:

1:  A  feature which lets users define certain attributes to their ad  (address or phone number) and those attributes will  not only get served to those local queries but your copy is displayed in the ad. 64% of consumers expect a business’ distance to be within 15 miles – so this feature will enable you to meet those expectations much better.

2: Hyperlocal Targeting: it allows advertisers to segment a specific 5 miles radius in which to display their copy thereby increasing your ad relevancy for consumers and campaign efficiency and higher ROI for advertisers.

Bing is also releasing new features in Beta mode to showcase brands and advertisers on maps, showing specific store locations. This will ensure the ads people get to see are very locally targeted and relevant.

Now you have targeted your potential customers so precisely you wouldn’t want to lose them. Statistics say 90% of phone and 49% of smart phone users use search to compare prices in-store. Now it’s crucial to actually ‘get married’: get that coupon reclaimed or a barcode read. Whatever closing the deal means to you, the decision engine Bing is a good opportunity to convince them when it matters.

Hyperlocalopport. 

Thanks for reading,

Simone Schuurer, EMEA Community Site Manager

 

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