If you’re going mobile-first with your digital advertising (hint: you totally should be), you’re likely missing out on conversions. We know that more people engage on mobile, but the desktop is still in the lead when it comes to converting clicks to customers.

Why?

According to Think With Google, the answer is simple: mobile users are 60% less likely to buy from a brand if they have a bad experience on their website.

That means if you’re not getting the conversions you want from mobile users, you’ve got room to grow.

Going Mobile-First

Not sure where to start? I’ve got some ideas.

Upgrade your landing page: Before you purchase a single ad, get things right on your landing page. There are many ways to do it, but page loading speed is critical when it comes to converting mobile users.

How critical? Google estimates for every second of delay, your conversions are dropping another 20 percent. Yikes. But don’t worry, there are many free page speed calculators out there that can test your site and show you how it measures up.

A few ways to speed things up:

• Enable compression
• Avoid CSS and HTML when you can
• Get rid of JavaScript above the fold

Craft unique content

You already know not to copy/paste your content from your landing page on to your blog, or from your Facebook onto your Instagram. So why wouldn’t you include content for mobile users that shows them you’re paying attention?  

For example:

Mobile user? Download the app here.

Roommate on your computer? Shop on your phone.

You should also consider optimizing content and ad copy for [voice search] with long-tail keywords and a conversational style. Location keywords also work well for mobile users, since people on the go are often looking for nearby businesses with their smartphone.

Optimize Your Ads

Here are some ways you can make sure your digital advertising is mobile-first:

• Center CTAs and campaign goals on getting more phone calls: “Call or text now” and similar CTAs are more likely to engage a mobile user than “Read all about it!”. Whatever your marketing strategy, make sure generating calls is an integral goal. You can even try call-only ads as a way to encourage people to take direct action and give your business a call.
• Use call or message Extensions: Call/message extensions are clickable parts of your ad or GMB listing that user can interact with right from their search results page. [While these are two must-have Extensions, any extensions will improve the User Experience for mobile users.]
• Make your bids device-specific: Creating Google Ads/Bing Ads campaigns just for mobile users takes some time and effort but could level up your traffic (and your conversions). You can also check out Auction Insights to see how your competitors are bidding.

[INTIMIDATED BY Google Ads? DOWNLOAD OUR FREE GUIDE HERE.]

Going mobile-first means changes have happened fast over the last few years, and marketing professionals only expect that trend to continue. So make sure your approach to mobile optimizing isn’t “set it and forget it”. Make a point of regularly reviewing your data, analytics, and content [and keep your eye on industry trends] to ensure no mobile user gets left behind.