Gay Manchester, Company Bar

Company Bar
Originally uploaded by PimmsMMU

Canal Street

Canal Street
Originally uploaded by PimmsMMU

Canal Street

Canal Street
Originally uploaded by PimmsMMU

It is nice how Canal Street is pedestrianized. It would be great if more streets in Manchester were this way

How can marketers make the most of mobile search?

A new study provides more evidence of the growth of mobile, with the use of search on mobiles growing by 247% over the last 12 months. In the same period, desktop search fell by 15%.

The Tamar Mobile White Paper shows a rapid increase in mobile search use, especially among the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups with 14% of both searching on mobile every day. Last year the figures for the same groups were 5% and 8%.

The stats from the study show an overall increase in search usage, but the growth of mobile search shows how rapidly mobile internet adoption is growing:

While mobile search is still relatively small, at 3% of total search traffic, the data shows how rapidly it is growing.

So what can marketers do to make the most of mobile search?

• Take note of Google changes. For example, the introduction of Google Instant on a mobile could have a significant impact. It could be very useful for mobile users since fewer keystrokes would be required, and marketers would need to target 'early words' in search terms.
• Since many mobile searches are likely to revolve around local specific phrases, marketers need to incorporate this into keyword research and SEO strategies.
• Make sure you have mobile optimised landing pages. The hard work on attracting mobile search traffic will be wasted if you send users to a desktop site which provides mobile users with a poor experience. These pages should also be optimised for a range of mobile devices.
• Add a phone number to PPC ads, and prominent numbers on landing pages. This way mobile users can easily make contact for bookings etc. A freephone number would also help.
• Add prominent store locators / directions to local businesses. Multichannel retailers can drive customers into local stores by making it easy to find the nearest outlet.
• Separate mobile and desktop search campaigns. The data learned from desktop search campaigns will not necessarily transfer to mobile search, so campaigns need to be tailored to mobile users.
• Target local searchers with mobile AdWords. Restaurants and other local businesses can pick a location and target a radius around it to take advantage of local searches.
• Retailers need to follow mobile commerce best practice, including simplified navigation, nice big call to action buttons and, crucially, a checkout that has been optimised for mobile users.

Source: e-consultancy by UK editor Graham Charlton (2010)

As one of the objectives we set out at the beginning of our Digital Marketing Communications Management (DMCM) project was to develop a mobile friendly website for Canal Street Manchester we found the above report useful for us to gain an insight into how Canal Street can make the most of mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing Slides

Adding to the mobile website template we designed for our client, we also presented some good examples of mobile formatted websites currently online. These examples were taken from the presentation below and can be found on slide 14. Group Pimms is excited to be part of the process in creating a mobile website for Canal Street Manchester. This mobile website can provide information not only to Gay Manchester but the Canal Street community as a whole.

Mobile Web Design

View more presentations from Blue Kaboom.

Purple Papers

Less dressed up than white papers, but with all the information you need. For those that like to have the full story

View it here on Scribd Canal Street

Merging Convenience and the User Experience

When we first met up with the client he was eager to discuss implementing a mobile strategy for the Canal Steet website, which is justified as 91% of users in the UK have a mobile phone that can access the internet. Furthermore, the LGBT community as a whole tend be early adopters of new technology.

What was troubling for us though, was that there were some critical problems for the usability of the main site that we needed to avoid in the development of a mobile strategy. We wanted to give the client a strategy that would be easy to amend and easy for the user. From that we decided that a modular layout would be a great option. Each module holds a summary of information and can be expanded, collapsed, or moved. This has great implications for the end user and their experience as well as for the client and the future progression of the Canal St website offering.