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Q3 MOBILE REVIEW RETAIL FOCUS NO STOPPING THE TABLETth
OCTOBER 2012
How tablet grow exceeded all expectations in 2012
THINK WORKS
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SPARKING EXCEPTIONAL RESULTS www.latitudegroup.com | 1
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
CONTENTS 03 Key findings and stats 04 No stopping the tablet 04 Rise of tablet traffic brings lucrative opportunities for retailers 06 Mobile is here to stay 06 All I want for Christmas‌is to shop via my smartphone 06 4G – a possible gamechanger? 07 Google or Bing? 08 Mobile -v- desktop user intent when browsing 08 How are users interacting with your site? 08 Detailed tasks through desktop 09 Online shopping 09 Clarity is key for apps 10 Interview with Darran Kilburn from Get The Label 11 The cost of not having a mobile optimised site 12 Top tips for retailers to achieve higher mobile conversions 12 It could be the difference between a good year and a great year for retailers 13 Research online, purchase offline 14 Essential mobile PPC strategies for store and web retailers 15 Essential mobile PPC strategies for online only retailers 16 UAE spotlight: smartphones and user behaviour 16 Mobile is a big deal for the UAE region 16 A huge area of opportunity for marketers in the UAE 16 Offline media channels have more impact on mobile search 17 Users are more likely to notice your mobile advertising 17 People in the UAE are already buying on their smartphone 17 Users tends to do more research using their smartphone 17 Smartphone users in the UAE often use their mobile at work 18 Real-time bidding: the future of mobile advertising? 19 Conclusions and predictions www.latitudegroup.com | 2
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Retail click volumes overtook those of mobile for the first time in June 2012, with 12.6% of retail PPC clicks arriving via tablet devices. This is well ahead of the industry standard of 8.9%. Read more on page 4
Retail tablet click volume has risen an astronomical 400% year-on-year signifying the incredibly speedy consumer adoption of the tablet for online shopping. Read more on page 4
The number of smartphone clicks for retail campaigns has grown by 72% year on year. Smartphones will top many
Christmas wish lists, and just like in 2011, there is likely to be a surge of new smartphone owners flooding onto the mobile web at the end of the year. Read more on page 6
We expect to see smartphones directly delivering over 15% of retailers’ online revenue during November and December. Getting mobile right
could mean the difference between a good year and a great year for many retailers. Read more on page 12
Quickstats 82% of searchers use their mobile to browse at home even when a desktop is available. p8 Smartphones now account for just over 9% of all retail paid search clicks – nearly one in ten clicks! p.6 The impact of mobile optimised sites over the last 12 months has helped to deliver a five-fold increase in transaction volumes. p12 Video advertising on mobile increased by £0.6 million in 2012. p.18 Nine per cent of the £2.1bn online advertising display market was bought using RTB in 2011 – making it one of the fastest growing buying technologies of the past few years. p.18 Retail: paid search click share Smartphone
Tablet
16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%
Ju n11 Ju l-1 Au 1 g1 Se 1 p1 Oc 1 t-1 1 No vDe 11 cJa 11 n12 Fe b1 M 2 ar Ap 12 r-1 M 2 ay Ju 12 n12 Ju l-1 Au 2 g1 Se 2 p12
Key findings
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
www.latitudegroup.com | 3
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
NO STOPPING THE TABLET
W
hen Apple first launched the iPad two years ago, many were sceptical about where it would sit on the mobile and computer market and what the consumer take-up rate would be like. Wasn’t this just a smaller laptop or a larger iPhone? Would consumers use it alongside laptops or instead of them? Two years later, the growing popularity of tablet devices, Apple and other brands, is clear to see. In our Q2 Think Works Mobile Report earlier this year, Latitude predicted that tablet retail click share would surpass smartphone by the end of Q3. Back in June 2012, the 10.5% retail click share was well ahead of the industry standard of 8.9%. The prediction was correct and tablets have indeed found further favour with shoppers in particular. In late June 2012, retail tablet paid click volumes overtook those of mobile for the first time, with 12.6% of retail PPC clicks arriving via tablet devices.
Retail: paid search click share Smartphone
Tablet
16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%
Ju n11 Ju l-1 Au 1 g1 Se 1 p1 Oc 1 t-1 1 No vDe 11 cJa 11 n12 Fe b1 M 2 ar Ap 12 r-1 M 2 ay Ju 12 n12 Ju l-1 Au 2 g1 Se 2 p12
Rise of tablet traffic brings lucrative opportunities for retailers
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
This is pretty incredible for a gadget that has only been available for two years. The biggest change in click volumes has in fact happened during the last 12 months during which we have seen an astronomical 400% year-on-year tablet click volume rise. The rise of tablet traffic brings lucrative opportunities for retailers. Tablet usage tends to peak during evening hours and weekends, coinciding with traditional peak conversion times for retail websites. The screen size and proximity of WiFi connections (since tablet usage occurs most often at home) means that tablets do not face the same conversion obstacles as smartphones. The device is also associated with a more affluent audience; typically early adopters and consumers with higher levels of disposable income. Added up, these factors tend to result in higher conversion rates and higher average order values – something that has not gone unnoticed by PPC marketers.
Tablet usage tends to peak during evening hours and weekends, coinciding with traditional peak conversion times for retail websites. www.latitudegroup.com | 4
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
NO STOPPING THE TABLET In June this year we also recorded that tablet click costs had surpassed desktop for the first time. In Q3, tablet CPCs averaged £0.27 compared with desktop at £0.25. This suggests that more and more PPC marketers are segmenting their tablet campaigns and increasing bids to obtain more of this valuable traffic.
Key points lD uring the last 12 months we have seen an astronomical 400% YoY tablet click volume rise. lT ablet usage tends to peak during evening hours and weekends, coinciding with traditional peak conversion times for retail websites. lT he screen size and proximity of WiFi connections means that tablets do not face the same conversion obstacles as smartphones. lT he device is also associated with a more affluent audience
Retail: Avergage CPC £0.30 £0.25 £0.20 £0.15 £0.10 £0.05 £0.00
Desktop
Mobile
Tablet
Mobile
Tablet
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
Retail: September AOV £62.00 £60.00 £58.00 £56.00 £54.00 £52.00 £50.00
Desktop
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
Get in touch
Is your business making full use of tablet traffic? Contact us to discuss your mobile and tablet strategies. E: info@latitudegroup.com T: 08450 212 223 W: www.latitudegroup.com
www.latitudegroup.com | 5
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
MOBILE IS HERE TO STAY All I want for Christmas… is to shop on my smartphone
A
t the end of 2011 we found that 13.4% of all paid search clicks were arriving via smartphones and tablets, leading us to declare that 2012 was the year that mobile had finally arrived. Looking at the same stats a year on, consumer adoption of mobile in the retail sector has been phenomenal. The past 12 months have seen a huge increase in consumers using their mobiles to shop. Looking back at the last quarter, we have found that smartphone clicks for retail campaigns have grown by 72% year on year. Smartphones now account for just over 9% of all retail paid search clicks – nearly one in ten clicks! While the growth has slowed down in recent months,particularly in comparison to the digital industry standard of 13.7% recorded in September 2012, we expect this to change during Q4. Smartphones (not least the iPhone 5) will top many Christmas wish lists, and just like in 2011, there is likely to be a surge of new smartphone owners flooding onto the mobile web at the end of the year.
The number of smartphone clicks for retail campaigns has grown by 72% year on year.
4G – a possible gamechanger? We are keen to see the impact of 4G on smartphone campaign performance. At the time of writing, the UK’s first Mobile 4G network from Everything Everywhere is just a couple of weeks from launch. In theory, faster download speeds should result in increased web engagement. We hope to see more mobile searches, more pages viewed and higher conversion rates. Although 4G uptake will take a little while to gain traction, we still predict that by the close of December 2012, retail websites will be seeing at least 27% of all paid search traffic coming from tablets and smartphones.
We predict that by the close of December 2012, retail websites will be seeing at least 27% of all paid search traffic coming from tablets and smartphones.
www.latitudegroup.com | 6
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
MOBILE IS HERE TO STAY
Google or Bing?
S
hare of mobile traffic from search engines continues to favour Google. In Q3, Bing Ads delivered just 2% of all our mobile clicks. We found that Bing mobile ads tended to demonstrate lower impression shares and lower click-through rates (CTRs) for smartphones when compared with Google Adwords. This is due to the lower number of ad spots (only two on the first page of Bing results compared with five on Google) and the limited ad extensions available in Bing. The reduced attention paid by marketers to Bing Mobile Ads is also a factor - the relative click volumes offered by Google mean that it generally makes more sense for advertisers to invest time into Adwords rather than optimising Bing Ads. However, we may see Bing becoming more significant for mobile marketers in the coming months. The recent rollout of location extensions, that allow businesses to show the address of the business location nearest to the shopper in Bing Ads, will inevitably see smartphone CTRs increase. Click to call extensions, which allow a phone number not associated with a particular location but appropriate for all locations to display on the ad, are also due to arrive very soon for Bing. Over the past three months Latitude has started to see signs of meaningful click volumes coming from Bing mobile campaigns.
We may see Bing becoming more significant for mobile marketers in the coming months.
Adwords: Q3 2012 retail clicks
9.3%
12.6%
n Desktop n Mobile n Tablet
78.0%
Bing ads: Q3 2012 retail clicks 3.8% 5.7%
n Desktop n Mobile n Tablet
90.5%
While mobile click growth has been slow on Bing, any future agreement to become the default search provider on mobile devices may be an instant gamechanger. We’re not likely to see Apple rattling Google’s cage by switching to Bing search anytime soon – Apple would probably prefer not to upset customers further after their recent iOS 6 Maps adventure – however the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet will feature Bing search as standard. If other devices follow, Bing Mobile Ad campaigns will certainly demand much greater attention.
Data Source: All of the above data has been aggregated from Latitude Retail sector PPC campaigns, providing a data set of approx. 0.81 million clicks per month. www.latitudegroup.com | 7
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
MOBILE -V- DESKTOP USER INTENT WHEN BROWSING How are users interacting with your site?
L
atitude recently completed a sample study comparing user intent when browsing on a mobile to using a desktop. The survey uncovered that 82% of searchers use their mobile to browse at home even when a desktop is available. It is natural for smartphone owners to be consistently close to their handset. It can often be faster and more comfortable to complete a task on a smartphone.
82% of searchers use their mobile to browse at home even when a desktop is available.
Quick view Mobile at home
Mobile usage has become an additional source of entertainment within the household. 88% of respondents keep up to date with social network sites and complete on the spot research in their leisure time through the mobile device. The handset is used as an impromptu TV guide and on the spot fountain of knowledge. When the main household television is in use, many may choose to occupy themselves by watching catch up TV, streaming sports, reading forums and news sites and playing games. Recipes are also a resource.
Mobile out and about
Handset usage varies when users are out and about – we found that many also check the weather, look up road traffic information, train times and places to eat. When out and about, many may check live sports results, bank accounts, cinema times, lottery numbers and betting sites via their mobile. It’s about finding answers to questions and quickly. For users that spend a significant amount of their time commuting, the handset is used similarly to those relaxing at home. News sites and forums are read to pass the time; radio apps are popular, as is personal email.
It’s about finding answers to questions and quickly.
Detailed tasks through desktop So what tasks are still performed on a desktop? Most users tend to agree that buying a car insurance, renewing car tax and booking a holiday all require closer attention to detail, which can in many cases only be obtained via desktop. Active community forum members will inevitably benefit from desktop
usage in order to create and edit posts at ease with the keyboard, as it can be tricky to type lengthy posts with a touchscreen. The same reasoning applies to lengthy emails. Predictive text on many handsets can pose difficulties in fast typing.
www.latitudegroup.com | 8
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
MOBILE -V- DESKTOP USER INTENT WHEN BROWSING
Online shopping
W
hile many respondents view online shopping as a leisurely activity, purchases are often not made on the move unless a specific item is required. Inputting payment details can be complicated if the site is not well optimised. Images of the product may not be of an adequate size on a handset to get an accurate visualisation.
Clarity is key for apps Of the preferred online stores, we found that eBay, ASOS, Very, Littlewoods and Amazon were the clear favourites. If we take a look at how well the apps render on a mobile device, it is clear to see that in each example the design is clear, a search box is provided and clear call to actions can be found:
Many respondents of the study will use a handset to research and a laptop to process and complete an order, with one user filling the shopping basket on a handset prior to refining order details and processing payment on a laptop. Most impulse purchases are completed through a handset between 7pm and midnight prime leisure time.
Most impulse purchases are completed through a handset between 7pm and midnight – prime leisure time.
Littlewoods and Very both use eyecatching sale banners positioned at the top of the apps. One of our respondents describes the Amazon app as “awesome (and far too easy to make a purchase on!)” and it’s clear to see why; the app looks good and is clean and easy to navigate.
www.latitudegroup.com | 9
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
Interview with…
DARRAN KILBURN FROM GET THE LABEL Ben Wightman, Head of PPC, spoke to Latitude client Get The Label on the brands plans to go mobile. 1. Could you tell me more about Get The Label and your clientele? Getthelabel.com is a leading online fashion store and mail order catalogue offering significant savings on branded sportswear, leisurewear and footwear for all the family. Get The Label carries a host of brands including Penguin, Nike, Voi Jeans, Henleys, Gio Goi, Bench, Fred Perry, Firetrap, Lipsy, UGG Australia and ClubL. Primarily targeted at 16 to 24 year old men and women, the brand also attracts a slightly older audience of 35-45 parents buying for the brand conscious young teenagers in the household. 2. Tell us more about your mobile activities so far? We already have a mobile optimised site that we launched in Oct 2011. In a couple of weeks we’ll be enhancing that site with some extra features including the ability to filter and sort the category pages. We’ll also be adding PayPal as a payment option to make paying that little bit more easier and increase conversion. 3. What do you think the benefits of going mobile have been for your brand? The benefits of mobile for Get The Label are in allowing our customers to shop when, where and how they choose. By providing this channel we are giving the customer yet more choice and flexibility, which in turn benefits us.
4. What have been the biggest challenges in putting a mobile strategy together? The first challenge is whether to start with an app or an optimised site. We went for an optimised site in order to accommodate as many of the different phone brands and operating systems out there as we could. Another challenge is getting rid of the unnecessary stuff and fitting in the things you do need. What’s really needed on the page? You strip it right back and then you start to put things back as you think you need them. If you’re not careful you’ll end up putting everything back and end up exactly where you started with a crammed busy page, so you have to be strict.
Another challenge is getting rid of the unnecessary stuff and fitting in the things you do need. What’s really needed on the page? 5. Where do you wish to be with mobile in 2013? We want mobile to be a seamless channel in the service offering to our customers, giving them choice and enabling them to transact and interact with us in whatever way they choose.
Get in touch
To view a full case study on the work we have done with Get The Label as well as with other clients, contact us. E: info@latitudegroup.com T: 08450 212 223 W: www.latitudegroup.com
www.latitudegroup.com | 10
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
THE COST OF NOT HAVING A MOBILE OPTIMISED SITE
T
o date, the greatest obstacle to mobile conversion rates has been the limited availability of mobile optimised websites. This encompasses a range of problems for visitors including:
Slow page load times
A positive user experience is crucial to mobile success. Google recently released some survey stats to highlight just how crucial a mobile optimised website is:
61%
61% of users said that if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site, they’d quickly move on to another site
Pinch and zoom in order to read text
Small buttons make navigation difficult
79%
50%
79% of people who don’t like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site
50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly
Giving mobile visitors a sub-optimal experience therefore isn’t merely a case of living with low conversion rates – it’s potentially a case of permanently losing those visitors to competitors, along with the resulting revenue. www.latitudegroup.com | 11
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
TOP TIPS… …FOR RETAILERS TO ACHIEVE
HIGHER MOBILE CONVERSIONS Tablet
Transactions
14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000
Oc t-1 1 No v11 De c11 Ja n12 Fe b12 M ar -12 Ap r-1 2 M ay -12 Ju n12 Ju l-1 2 Au g12 Se p12
0
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
Retail: device conversion rate 3.5%
Mobile
Tablet
3.0% 2.5% 2.0% 1.5% 1.0% 0.5% 0.0%
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
Retail: device revenue share 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
n Desktop n Mobile n Tablet
Oc t-1 1 No v11 De c11 Ja n12 Fe b12 M ar -12 Ap r-1 2 M ay -12 Ju n12 Ju l-1 2 Au g12 Se p12
This Christmas, mobile will be an incredibly important element of the overall marketing for most retailers. In September 2012 13.6% of online revenue came directly from smartphones, compared with just 4% one year ago. During this November and December we expect to see smartphones directly delivering over 15% of retailers’ online revenue. Getting mobile right could mean the difference between a good year and a great year for many retailers.
Mobile
16,000
Oc t-1 1 No v11 De c11 Ja n12 Fe b12 M ar -12 Ap r-1 2 M ay -12 Ju n12 Ju l-1 2 Au g12 Se p12
The impact of mobile optimised sites over the last 12 months has helped to deliver a five-fold increase in transaction volumes.
18,000
Conversion rate
W
e are seeing a promising increase in the number of retailers providing mobile optimised websites. The impact of these sites over the last 12 months has helped to deliver a five-fold increase in transaction volumes. This has resulted in a 259% year-on-year gain in visit volumes and a 48% year-on-year improvement in conversion rates.
Retail: device transaction volume
% total revenue
It could be the difference between a good year and a great year for retailers
Source: Latitude Digital Marketing
During November and December we expect to see smartphones directly delivering over 15% of retailers’ online revenue. www.latitudegroup.com | 12
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
TOP TIPS FOR RETAILERS TO ACHIEVE HIGHER MOBILE CONVERSIONS
Research online, purchase offline
O
nline conversion rates are naturally only one aspect of mobile campaign performance. Smartphones are the most personal of digital devices and we use them to augment our decision making process. Mobile therefore plays an integral part in a multichannel path to purchase. In addition to driving direct sales, a mobile website will also provide “assists” for desktop, telephone and in-store sales. Unfortunately, it is exceptionally difficult to track the steps before conversion across multiple platforms. There are a few ways, however, through which it is possible to track what part mobile plays in the customer’s purchase decision: lQ R codes can help to track the impact of offline marketing on online performance. Give smartphone users a reason to scan the code – for example trial QR codes on in-store point-of-sale to link to detailed product specifications and reviews on your website. l I ncentivise mobile users to tell you when they used your mobile website before making an in-store purchase. This doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated – it may be as simple as advertising to your mobile website visitors that they get a free pack of Jelly Babies when they show off your mobile website during a purchase in store. Record the results as each sale is made to understand how many customers visit your mobile site before making a purchase. Make sure you acquire a separate supply of Jelly Babies for the sales assistants or your figures may appear inflated!
Most important retail tasks for mobile users
74%
Get directions or operating hours
64%
Contact the store
61%
Find product information
50% Make a purchase or order a service
Source: Google
Get in touch
To discuss how these and other top tips could improve your mobile strategy and grow traffic, contact us. E: info@latitudegroup.com T: 08450 212 223 W: www.latitudegroup.com
www.latitudegroup.com | 13
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
ESSENTIAL MOBILE PPC STRATEGIES FOR STORE AND WEB RETAILERS #1 Location extensions
During Q4 customers will use smartphones to facilitate high street shopping. Link a Google Places account to your Adwords campaigns and then enable location extensions. If the customer performs a search near one of your locations your ad will be augmented with a hyperlocal extension, which the user can click to get directions straight to your doorstep.
#2 #3 #4 #5
Click-to-call times
Consider using local store numbers rather than an “08...” centralised number as this helps to keep call costs down for customers. Keep in mind that click-to-call is only useful to customers when phone lines are staffed. Click-to-call is enabled at campaign level within Adwords – this means you may need two separate campaigns for each keyword set; one campaign scheduled to run during store hours with click-to-call enabled, plus an out-of-hours campaign that does not use click-to-call and focuses simply on driving traffic to website pages.
Geo target
User proximity to a physical location is a factor in Adwords Quality Score. The closer the searcher is to you, the higher your Quality Score is likely to be. This results in higher ad positions and a greater share of clicks. Rather than running a single nationally targeted campaign, experiment with multiple campaigns geo-targeting areas around store locations.
Keyword selection
Google estimates that 40% of mobile search queries have some kind of local intent. Many of these search queries will be modified with a geographical term – for example “tv shops tottenham court road”. Ensure that your mobile keyword strategy includes as many relevant location terms as possible and that these are reflected in your ad creative. Dynamic keyword insertion can be useful here.
Promote stores with paid search
Very often retailer budgets are ‘siloed’, meaning that marketing budgets for stores and for the website are separated. This usually results in a lack of online promotion for store locations since ROI from online to store usually cannot be tracked. KPI focused marketers are therefore reluctant to spend budget on anything that appears to reduce KPI performance. Customers, however, will expect a seamless service between online and offline – valuable in-store sales can be lost if this need is not catered for. Set aside a portion of marketing budget specifically to promote online-to-offline visits.
www.latitudegroup.com | 14
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
ESSENTIAL MOBILE PPC STRATEGIES FOR ONLINE-ONLY RETAILERS #1 Sitelinks
All paid search campaigns should have sitelinks enabled as a best practice. Investigate how you can make these more useful for mobile customers. A top tip is to refer to your analytics data for site searches – what site search terms occur most frequently for mobile visitors? These make great sitelinks and with deep linking to relevant pages they can help to speed visitors along the path to purchasing.
#2
Click-to-download App
Apps are superb for both customer retention and branding – take advantage of the opportunity to have your logo and service installed on a customer’s personal digital device and you can become a part of their everyday life. The click-to-download app extension for Adwords will take users directly to your app page on iTunes or Google Play. Be sure to include your ‘Download App’ option on your mobile website too – many visitors will want to experience your service before bringing your app into their lives.
#3
Ad schedule
#4
Click to call extensions and timings
Ad schedule for Saturday and Sunday mornings as well as all evenings. Day parting analysis for Latitude retail campaigns found that smartphone and tablet clicks show peaks between 6am and 10am on Saturdays and Sundays. Be conscious that at these times many consumers will be researching local stores before heading out to the high street. Can you capture their attention before they leave to go to the store of a competitor and poach their customers to shop online instead?
Equally valuable to pure-play online retailers as well as those with bricks and mortar stores, click-to-call can put prospective customers directly in touch with sales assistants. A good sales assistant will usually be able to deliver higher conversion rates than even the most efficiently optimised e-commerce website. Include click-to-call options on your mobile optimised website too – while the ad extension is effective, customers may prefer to look at your products first before making a call.
www.latitudegroup.com | 15
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
UAE SPOTLIGHT: SMARTPHONE USER BEHAVIOUR Mobile is a big deal for the UAE region
S
martphone penetration in the UAE is higher than in the UK. Of the people surveyed by Google, 61% of UAE respondents were using a smartphone compared with 51% in the UK. Of these people, 67% of UAE users were online with their smartphone multiple times a day compared with 52% of UK users. 71% of UAE respondents use their smartphone online every day, as opposed to 51% of UK respondents.
71% of UAE respondents use their smartphone online every day, as opposed to 51% of UK respondents.” It is quite telling that road traffic accidents in Dubai fell by 20% during the three day Blackberry BBM outage in October 2011, according to statistics by the Dubai police. In Abu Dhabi, this drop-off rate in accidents was 40% (with no fatalities). To put these statistics into context, the Dubai roads see a traffic accident every three minutes on average, while there is a fatal accident in Abu Dhabi every two days. Not only is this a tell-tale sign of the dangerously relaxed attitudes towards using a mobile phone while driving, it also signals the importance of the mobile phone to the average United Arab Emirate.
A huge area of opportunity for marketers in the UAE A huge 70% of UAE users surveyed use a search engine daily on their smartphone. This stat is particularly surprising when compared to the UK numbers; only 52% of users in the UK search through their mobiles daily. This is a huge area of opportunity for marketers in the UAE. The UK has already shown considerable investment in mobile marketing and mobile web development but there is clearly a need for investment in mobile in the UAE. These numbers are especially significant when comparing the UAE search behaviour across different platforms. ‘Only’ 69% of people use their desktop to search daily. While marketers in the region seem to be more focused on social media (where mobile advertising is still emerging), data shows that less people use social media on their phones daily (68%) than a search engine (70%).
70% of UAE users surveyed use a search engine daily on their smartphone. Offline media channels have more impact on mobile search Print and outdoor advertising are still heavily invested in in the UAE and their impact on mobile search is evident from data by Google. 15% of UAE respondents had searched daily as the result of a print ad, compared with just 3% in the UK. 35% of UAE respondents had searched as a result of an outdoor ad either weekly or monthly, compared with just 13% in the UK. This reinforces the importance of making sure digital messages and offline messages are consistent across all channels.
www.latitudegroup.com | 16
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
UAE SPOTLIGHT: SMARTPHONE USER BEHAVIOUR
Users are more likely to notice your mobile advertising
T
he good news for marketers in the UAE is that not only are people searching for your service or brand, they are also more likely to notice your mobile advertising. 20% of UAE users notice advertising on their smartphone all the time while 24% notice it most of the time. In the UK this percentage is much lower, with only 7% noticing all the time and 15% noticing most of the time.
20% of UAE users notice advertising on their smartphone all the time while 24% notice it most of the time.
People in the UAE are already buying on their smartphone In the UAE 39% of respondents had made a purchase on a smartphone, with 61% having done so in the last month. The UK is considered to be a more advanced market in this respect but scored lower, with only 31% having purchased on a smartphone and only 56% having done it within the last month. This is another tell-tale sign for online retailers in the UAE region: not only are customers searching for your products on their phone, they are also willing to buy. Even better, the UAE customer plans to purchase more through their smartphone in the future. In the UAE, 44% of users expect to purchase with their smartphone more often in the future, compared with just 24% in the UK.
In the UAE 39% of respondents had made a purchase on a smartphone, with 61% having done so in the last month. Users tend to do more research using their smartphone 54% of UAE users have researched a product via smartphone and then purchased using a computer later, while 38% have used their smartphone to research and then purchased via smartphone at a later stage. This demonstrates the importance for UAE brands to have a presence on mobile search results to make their impact on the customer’s buying process.
Smartphone users in the UAE often use their mobile at work 82% of UAE respondents use their smartphone at work, compared with 72% in the UK where most people tend to use their smartphones “on the go”. This is possibly the result of tighter restrictions on personal browsing during work hours or merely a reflection on users looking for privacy only attainable via their smartphone.
Get in touch
Does your business operate in the UAE? Contact us to receive a FREE audit of your mobile marketing campaigns. E: mena@latitudegroup.com T: +971 4 3911490 W: www.latitudegroup.com
This has several implications from a marketer’s point of view. Traditionally in the UK, we would see spikes in smartphone usage during commutes and lunchtimes. Using ad scheduling guarantees your budget is being spent in the places where your customers are likely to be. In the UAE, there looks to still be some value in making sure you have a good presence on mobile web during the entire working day, particularly on potentially sensitive subjects such as finance. 10% more UAE respondents had used their smartphone for banking or finance activities than in the UK.
www.latitudegroup.com | 17
Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
REAL-TIME BIDDING: THE FUTURE OF MOBILE ADVERTISING?
R
eal-time bidding (RTB) is a revolutionary means of selling and buying online display advertising space. Despite being a relatively new method of acquiring ad space, RTB has already transformed online advertising and it is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, business adviser PwC estimates that nine per cent of the £2.1bn online advertising display market was bought using RTB in 2011 - making it one of the fastestgrowing buying technologies of the past few years.
Nine per cent of the £2.1bn online advertising display market was bought using RTB in 2011 - making it one of the fastest-growing buying technologies of the past few years
Get in touch
Interested in display advertising? Contact us to discuss your marketing strategy and how display can help you reach more targeted audiences at scale for a lower cost. E: info@latitudegroup.com T: 08450 212 223 W: www.latitudegroup.com
It is therefore not surprising that the demand for mobile display ad impressions (both in-app and otherwise) through real-time bidding rose from 0.4 bids per impression request in January to 1.6 in June, with a peak of 1.7 in May. Interestingly, a similar trend is apparent from research conducted by Latitude – eCPMs, or effective cost per thousand impressions, via RTB trading for mobile are now on a par with desktop buys at around £0.60. Average CPCs rival those achieved via search at < £0.16. While mobile ad growth has previously been driven largely by standard display formats, such as banners, video advertising is likely to be the next growth driver. In fact, video advertising on mobile increased by £0.6 million in 2012. This is likely to be the result of advertisers investing in new rich media formats. As mobile devices continue to develop with larger, high-definition screens and faster internet connections, consumers will spend an increasing amount of time on their smartphones. The timing and relevancy opportunities for retailers from mobile could therefore not be better, making the medium and long-term outlook for RTB on mobile extremely bright. Although real-time bidding has transformed online advertising, major brands are still nervous about using the buying technology for mobile platforms. Not only are many marketers still flummoxed by the complexities of RTB, the issues linked to measuring and analysing the costumer journey on mobile are still making some brands hesitant to invest in mobile display advertising. The challenge now is to persuade advertisers to look more closely at the opportunities offered by mobile.
The challenge now is to persuade advertisers to look more closely at the opportunities offered by mobile. If the industry can work out how to measure and analyse the consumer journey on mobile, it could see advertising funds flood into this area. RTB trading via desktop has already proved to be a profitable buying approach. The integration and use of data via RTB now needs to be carried over to mobile.
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Think Works Mobile Review | Q3 2012
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS No stopping the tablet
Tablet growth exceeded all expectations in 2012. The popularity of tablets has grown astronomically during the last 12 months and it is showing no signs of slowing down. The rise of tablet traffic presents lucrative opportunities for retailers. Not only does tablet usage tend to peak during traditional peak conversion times for retail websites, the lack of connection and screen size limitations means that tablets do not face the same conversion obstacles as mobile phones.. The device is also associated with higher conversion rates due to the more affluent audience – all good news for retailers.
Even more mobile growth in the retail sector
The retail sector will see further growth arriving through smartphones. Although tablet has now surpassed mobile in terms of paid search click share, smartphones still account for one in ten clicks in the retail sector, a number which cannot be ignored.
Positive user experience is crucial to mobile success
As smartphones become the shopping tool of choice, more users expect a mobile site that is easy to navigate, quick to load and allows pinching and
zooming in order to read text. Giving mobile visitors a sub-optimal experience isn’t merely a case of living with low conversion rates anymore – it could result in permanently losing customers and resulting revenue to competitors who are doing mobile better.
UAE mobile users
Mobile is a huge deal in the UAE, even more so than in the UK. UAE users are already ahead of the UK with more people buying and searching via smartphones. They are also more likely to notice mobile advertising, which gives advertisers in the UAE fantastic opportunities to target consumers via mobile advertising.
The future of advertising is in RTB
Real-time bidding is one of the fastest-growing technologies of recent years. Nine per cent of the total £2.1bn online display advertising market was bought using RTB in 2011, a trend which shows no sign of slowing down. Buying mobile display advertisement through the same platform is likely to be the next trend, with major retail brands already experimenting with different technologies.
Latitude predictions for Q3 PREDICTION 1:
Even though mobile click growth has slowed down in recent months, there is likely to be a surge of new smartphone owners flooding onto the mobile web towards the end of the year, as more smartphones are given as Christmas gifts. This makes investing in mobile as important as ever.
PREDICTION 2:
We anticipate that by close of December 2012, retail websites will be seeing at least 27% of all paid search traffic arriving from tablet and smartphones.
PREDICTION 3:
Bing will become more significant for mobile marketers. New features are due to arrive very soon for Bing. These additions will make it easier for businesses to add information onto their Bing Ads making advertising via Bing more appealing. Any new deals struck between major technology companies and Bing to make it the default search provider will certainly increase search volumes.
To learn more about our predictions on the next big thing, and to discuss their impact on your strategy, contact us.
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CONTRIBUTORS
BEN WIGHTMAN HEAD OF PPC HOLLY WILDE HEAD OF DISPLAY & PERFORMANCE MEDIA JANET PLUMPTON SEO STRATEGIST RICHARD GREGORY MANAGING DIRECTOR
About
Latitude Digital Marketing has pioneered the use of digital channels in the UK and internationally for 10 years. Areas of expertise include search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), social media marketing, online display advertising, affiliate marketing and conversion analytics. The business works across a range of sectors including retail, gaming, leisure and travel with clients such as Post Office, bet365, Effortless Skin and Haven Holidays.
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To talk about your mobile strategy or arrange a FREE audit of your mobile marketing campaigns, contact us now. E: info@latitudegroup.com T: 08450 212 223 W: www.latitudegroup.com www.latitudegroup.com | 20