As much as Silicon Valley's ethos is the constant pursuit of creating value, eventually the byproduct of this process (and the stakeholders involved) will also require the creation of revenue.

In the past year, we have seen these dynamics play out in the social networking sector across a variety of companies at different stages of growth, maturity, and monetization.

While the early phases of social media success tend to focus on metrics around user growth and engagement, every social media company must eventually figure out some sort of revenue stream (unless they prefer to go the acquisition route).

Most social networking companies eventually monetize through advertising, and more specifically through "native advertising" – or non-standard ad units that are specific to the platform and are organically integrated into the content experience.

Facebook and Twitter, both mature, publicly traded companies with well-established revenue streams, have been the pace-setters in social by effectively monetizing their respective native ad units, Sponsored Stories for Facebook and Promoted Tweets for Twitter.

Linkedin also introduced their Sponsored Content ads, and while its advertising business has not yet monetized to the same degree as Facebook and Twitter, it also has a strong value proposition to advertisers given the quality of its business-oriented audience.

Other established players like Tumblr and Pinterest are in the earlier days of monetizing through advertising, but they too have native ad units that integrate into their content experience.

Social Evolving in the Direction of 'Mobile-First' Experiences

But all of these networks are children of the desktop web. True, they are all in various phases of transition towards mobile as the dominant medium for consumption, but their networks were all built around a fixed Internet experience.

Fast forward to today, and we've seen another evolution in the social networking space that centers around “mobile-first” networks. Social brands such as Instagram, SnapChat, and Vine are all recent examples of mobile-first success stories, which represent an evolution in social media by focusing on the single core utility of capturing and disseminating interesting content captured through mobile phone cameras.

Each of these services has built massive audiences in a very short period of time (70 million users age 18+ for Instagram, 25 million for Vine and 21 million for Snapchat), something that has clearly been enabled by being mobile-first.

With people carrying their smartphones around with them 24/7, the opportunity to capture a slice of life on camera is always within arm's reach. This has created an environment of fast and simple content creation that is fueling the experience of these networks and driving their rapid growth.

Consider that Instagram already has an audience the size of Twitter in the U.S., and both Vine and Snapchat have reached audiences about half that of Tumblr and Pinterest in little more than a year of existence.

Turning Eyeballs into Dollars... Natively

While these newer networks aren't necessarily under extreme pressure to monetize just yet, all are beginning to work with brands in experimenting around marketing. In each case, they will likely be looking to native advertising models to pave the way toward monetization.

The trick with native advertising is that the ad units, by definition, are not one-size-fits-all. Such ad models typically only work for companies who can deliver ad impressions at significant scale.

Because the popular social networks not only amass a large number of users, but those users are also highly engaged, this affords the opportunity to deliver billions of ad impressions every month. It is this sort of scale needed for advertisers and marketers to want to play ball with an individual media company.

Native ads also dovetail particularly well with the mobile environment because they are typically delivered within the content stream. Hence, the mobile-first networks have a built-in monetization advantage, providedthey can reach a level of scale to become viable peddlers of native ad inventory.

Since Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine all provide visually rich environments that reach strategic audience segments (read: young people), they offer platforms that are clearly compelling to marketers. These mobile-first networks are rapidly changing the social networking space and creating a significant amount of value very quickly for their users.

Value for users means potential value to marketers, and when marketers turn their attention to an emerging platform, it's only a matter of time before these networks can turn on the revenue faucets.

Source Link:-  Search Engine Watch

Facebook has confirmed it’s testing a mobile version of Graph Search – the social network’s unique search function that allows you to connect people you know with places and things you’re curious about. 

If you aren't familiar with Graph Search yet because you haven’t used it or it’s not available to you (currently only those using Facebook in English have access), it’s a handy little tool that lets you dream up scenarios to your heart’s content, like how many of your friends have read the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (try that search and see!) or any other factoid you may be interested in. 

To use it, you just begin typing a query in the Facebook search bar, as illustrated below:

Some reports are criticizing Facebook’s slow adaption of Graph Search to mobile. Graph Search rolled out to English-speaking users in August 2013, but first launched in January of last year.

From CNET:

Zuckerberg attempted to explain away the lag in a mobile release with remarks about the complexity of indexing more than 1 trillion connections and a trillion status updates. Graph Search, he insisted, is a multiyear effort.

But it really isn't an easy task, as we found out late last year when we took a peek under the hood of a new feature in Graph Search. Back in October 2013, Facebook added a layer of complexity to the search, allowing users to seek out posts, comments, and more in addition to what Graph Search had already been able to do.

In October, a Facebook engineer talked about what goes into being able to search for posts in Graph Search. He highlighted the fact that the “posts index" was much larger than any other at Facebook; the company had to move from RAM to solid-state flash memory to accommodate the more than 700 terabytes of data in the posts index.

For the lucky few who have been chosen as test cases for the mobile rollout of Graph Search, it seems much of the functionality is business as usual; however, the real potential, reportedMashable, is the local angle. 

No confirmation yet from Facebook on exactly when this feature will be official; however, in the company’s Q4 earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated it would be “pretty soon."

Source Link:-  http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2326976/Facebook-Tests-Mobile-Graph-Search

There's no denying that your target audience is incorporating mobile devices into their lives more with each passing day. Capturing the most value out of mobile can be a challenge – but as a PPC campaign manager, you can't ignore this huge opportunity.

Before you pay for one click via mobile PPC, you need to have a specific, detailed strategy in place. It's OK to run some initial tests via mobile to get your feet wet; but mature campaigns need a thoughtful, purposeful mobile strategy in order to win big.

There are numerous factors that help or hinder your mobile PPC performance. Below are five items to consider when you're crafting your mobile strategy. Some of these tactics are contained within AdWords and a few of them discuss your mobile website experience in general.

Launch Mobile Preferred Ads

Based on recent account audits, I think many campaign managers neglect the ability to choose "Mobile Preferred Ads." This option is basically a "suggestion" that certain ads are preferred for mobile devices, but you should utilize every element of distribution control within AdWords.

Create a Mobile-Optimized Experience

It's shocking to see how many mobile PPC ads send users to experiences that aren't optimized for their specific device. As an SEM manager, you need to understand the user intention of your mobile website visitors.

Remember, not all traffic across devices has the same goals or desires the same experience. SEM mobile visitors tend to be in a browsing state-of-mind with a lower propensity to make a purchase or become a lead. Numerous case studies show that many people will initiate their consideration process on their mobile device when they have some down time, but they will continue and possibly end their journey on a PC.

You've probably read numerous articles in the past few years about the importance of optimizing mobile for creating a response design website. This is all true.

You need to have a website experience optimized specifically for mobile visitors. Of course, this means that your website needs to render properly on each device, but you should also optimize your mobile website for user intention too.

How can you provide an awesome experience for the user, while gaining as much value from this traffic? If possible, allow users to take a quick, easy action on your mobile site; possibly save a product for later or complete a super-simple contact form.

For example, I arrived at the three landing pages below via ads displaying for the term, "online conferencing software." Folks who search this query on their mobile devices are probably looking for some quick information or a fast way to create an account that they can access via their PC later. And individuals who search this exact term on mobile devices may also be analyzing the mobile-savviness of each provider.

The first page looked very good – aside from the unnecessary captcha. But overall a good mobile experience.

The second landing page rendered properly but was a bit squeezed for my device's screen. The call-to-action is at the top of the page but there is no supporting to tell a user what to do or what to except after they take the desire action.

The third page is poorly optimized for mobile, PCs and just about any device (sorry to be picking on anyone).

Utilize Bid Modifiers for Mobile Devices

With bid modifiers in AdWords you can decrease bids 100 percent, which removes your ads from mobile devices. You can also increase your bids for mobile devices by up to 300 percent. If you don't have a clear strategic plan for mobile, and you aren't ready to at least conduct some tests, then you may want to opt-out of mobile for now.

Keep in mind, if you use Conversion Optimizer you can't use any bid modifiers within your campaigns. Remember, with Conversion Optimizer you're handing the keys to Google take any measure toward generating as many conversions for your target CPA. This includes time of day or day of week, and this includes mobile devices now too. If Conversion Optimizer is your preferred method of bid management, then optimizing your mobile experience is even a higher priority (since you can't opt of mobile).

Monitor Your Geographic Bid Modifiers

Bid modifiers don't act in a vacuum. That is one of the core challenges of enhanced campaigns. You can have modifiers for device, time, and even geography all firing on one keyword. This can make adjusting keyword bids extremely difficult as the data gets murkier with each automated adjustment.

However, you may find that conversion rates run the same per devices in similar geographic areas. For a large-scale ecommerce client, I analyzed their PPC mobile conversion rates for PCs and mobile devices (see below). I found that conversion rates, regardless of device, were very similar throughout the U.S. This means if you have mobile modifiers and geographic modifiers, they may not be in direct conflict for any given device.

Bottom line: keep all of your bid modifiers in check and be extremely cautious.

Reconsider the Google Display Network via Mobile

I recently conducted a case study on devices in Q4 for some of our larger retail clients. Previously we found that the Google Display Network (GDN) distributed via mobile devices provided very poor results – and the recent study found this to be true still.

Our overall traffic via mobile devices on the GDN was much lower than the Search Network, and for good reason. As you can see below the conversion rates on GDN mobile ads was very weak the average order value was much lower (AOV).

Perhaps the GDN works great for you on mobile devices. If so, do it! But you should consider skipping this distribution option for now or monitoring your results very closely.

Summary

Consider reviewing these tactics within your mobile campaigns and making some adjustments to improve your results. If you aren't fully invested in mobile PPC just yet, then let these serve as cautionary tale on where there may be some bumps in the road.

It's up to you super-smart SEM managers to take the challenge of mobile (and it is challenging) and make it in an awesome opportunity!

Source Link:-  http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2324303/5-Critical-Factors-for-Optimized-Mobile-PPC-Targeting

If you have an Android app, you'll be happy to hear the latest feature by Google for app developers. Developers will now have the option to get their app content indexed, and that content to be opened up within the app on Android devices. This will help provide a seamless user experience for users when they are alternating between websites and apps.

Googlebot can now index the content contained within an Android app, either through a sitemap file or through Google's Webmaster Tools. This means that if someone searches for content that is contained within an app, and the user has that app installed, they will have the option to view that content within the app, rather than just on a usual mobile webpage. For sites that have content on their main website as well as their app being displayed in the same search results, the app results will appear as deep links within the search listing.

Right now during the testing phase, indexing is only available to an initial group of developers. Signed-in searchers within the United States will start seeing these results on their Android devices within a few weeks.

App developers can sign up to let Google know they are interested in having their apps indexed. Developers can fill out an application of interest at Google but they should be aware that they do need to have deep linking enabled within their app (full instructions for developers on how to do this here). Developers will also need to provide Google with information about alternate URLs, either within their sitemap or in a link element within the pages of the website.

App indexing is only available for Android apps at the time. No word yet on whether it could expand to iPhone or Windows apps as well.

Source Link:-   http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2304590/Google-Starts-Indexing-App-Content

Mobile marketing is no longer an aspirational play for some new pie in the sky. The biggest challenge today, according to Google, is educating or training marketers how to deliver on mobile's promise, with the right strategies and processes for specific goals.

Taking a fresh look at the mobile landscape, Google has outlined five critical questions that businesses should address when developing a mobile strategy. The company published its latest recommendations and examples in the second edition of the Mobile Playbook as a follow-up to last year's guide.

"At Google, we believe that constant connectivity represents a sociological shift in how users relate with both the digital and physical world. Businesses that understand this will win," writes Jason Spero, head of global mobile sales and strategy at Google.

While most chief marketing officers are already embracing mobile, the gap between knowing and doing remains prevalent, Greg Stuart, chief executive of the Mobile Marketing Association, notes in the report. "We believe that now is the time to close that knowing versus doing gap. It is time to take action and not just do mobile, but do mobile right," Spero adds.

Google interviewed hundreds of marketers to understand their struggles and best examples for success in mobile, and backs those findings with the latest market data to highlight important trends. More than two-thirds of all mobile searches occur at home, according to a recent study from Nielsen.

Juxtaposing that data with its own research from more than 30 internal studies, Google says 88 percent of clicks on mobile search ads are incremental to organic clicks, and in certain industries the number can be as high as 97 percent.

Another recent study from Nielsen found that half of all purchase-related conversions happened within an hour of the mobile searches that initiated them.

To hit those results, Google offers marketers five tips or action items to help them adapt to the new marketing concepts and opportunities made possible by mobile:

• Focus your value proposition so it meets true mobile-specific needs.
• Create mobile-first, not desktop-lite, destinations.
• Build mobile accountability into your organization.
• Drive ROI (return on investment) and branding with mobile marketing.
• Integrate mobile into multi-screen marketing.

"When companies talk about the opportunity mobile presents, often they are referring to the opportunity context presents. A better understanding of context, the specific circumstances in which your customers seek you out, such as time, location, and even proximity, allows your marketing message to be more targeted, meaningful and successful," Spero writes in the report.

Tailored messaging is required to effectively serve each customer's specific need. For example, someone searching for pizza at 7:30 p.m. on a mobile device downtown isn't likely to be looking for the same thing as someone searching for pizza on a laptop at home around lunchtime.

While mobile opens up new opportunities for conversion, according to Google, the path to conversion is very different from that which begins on a desktop or tablet.

"A mobile conversion doesn't necessarily entail filling up an online shopping cart and checking out," the report notes. "It can be a customer searching for store directions, calling your business directly or visiting in person. It can be an app download that leads to a purchase, or a shopping process that starts on mobile and then finishes on a computer or tablet later in the day."

Source Link:-  http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2300171/google-closes-knowing-vs-doing-gap-in-new-edition-of-mobile-playbook

Mobile app stores are growing by the minute. There are over 45,000 apps added to app stores every month.

It isn't enough to just develop and launch your mobile app. Getting users aware of your mobile app can be competitive and expensive.

In 2012, the average user downloaded 80 apps per device. This is eight times more than when there were only 10 apps downloaded for every one device in 2008.

With those numbers it's quite a feat to get your app downloaded, but what can be even harder is getting users to use your app more than once. Marketers and developers need to plan and execute marketing efforts to keep users engaged after your app is downloaded to their device.

Why Users Delete Mobile Apps

Because the data doesn't lie, most of your users either aren't using your app or uninstalling it altogether. Research by Mobilewalla revealed that users eventually delete 90 percent of all downloaded apps. Make one wrong move that angers or frustrates users – and chances are your app will be deleted.

The survey by Compuware also sheds light on the most common reasons why users might delete mobile apps or give them bad reviews. The number one cause: freezes. Sixty-two percent of the people who were surveyed said they would delete an app if it froze up.

Another survey from uSamp revealed that 71 percent of users said they would delete an app that crashed, 59 percent for slow responsiveness, 55 percent for heavy battery usage, and 53 percent for too many ads. That's a lot of pressure for developers and marketers!

This tells us a couple of things:

1. Mobile customers are intolerant and fickle. (You know you are). If your app isn't a knockout on first impression, it's probably going to be deleted or will be forgotten on their smartphones.
2. You're potentially losing thousands or millions of dollars in revenue. That's no joke.

Profit in the app world is a numbers game dictated largely by your app users. Whether your app business model is pay to play, in-app purchases, advertising, or freemium; theoretically, the amount you can generate from an app is highly dependent on the number of users you have.

In a study by Gartner, this year, in-app purchases will account for 17 percent of revenues to more than $4 billion. Advertising will account for 7 percent of revenues, which relies heavily on mobile app usage data.

Why Users Abandon Your App

Here are top reasons why users abandon your app:

• Complex or bad registration process: Users won't keep an app if the registration process is complicated. Mobile users want to start using their new apps quickly. If logging in isn't a fluid experience, you may have users leave your app for good. Greet new users with useful welcome messages or an intuitive tour.
• It's another "me too" app: It's difficult to stand out in a crowd of a million. (Literally a million apps just in the iOS app store). Search "to-do list" on any app store and you'll find pages of apps that offer "the best" solution to managing your to-do list. Finding the best combination of channel, creative, and timing for your marketing campaigns to reach your target audience – and stand out from competitors – is critical to make sure your app gets repeat use.
• Lots of bugs and errors: Mobile users have a very low tolerance for unstable apps and nothing can turn them away faster than crashes and buggy interfaces. That's why 71 percent of users will delete an app after it crashes. If your app happens to have bugs when it's released, be sure you have the resources to handle support questions or you may receive a lot of poor reviews in app stores.

It's important to remember that the factors above aren't the only reasons customers will delete an app after one use. Every app is different. The problems in your app's first time user experience might not always be apparent from just looking at these three issues.

Don't Leave Money on the Table

To figure out how to prevent users from deleting your app, you need to understand why they're leaving in the first place. If your users are abandoning your app after only one use, whatever is turning them away is probably not very deep into your app experience.

The launch and registration of your mobile app is the first opportunity to impress new users of your app. By seeing how your first time users navigate through your app and where and when they leave, you'll be able to identify the exact feature and/or screen that caused them to drop off – and fix it.

Monitor valuable metrics, such as tutorial completion, time spent on each screen, quitting the app, back tracking between screens and more. For example, if users are closing out of your app after connecting their Facebook account to create a new account, it may mean there's a bug that's causing your app to crash or it could be that users are reluctant to share their social network information on their first visit. You may need to offer email registration as an additional option.

The mobile app landscape is only going to get bigger and more competitive. As more apps enter the market, you're going to need every advantage you can get to stay ahead of your competitors.

Source Link:-   Search Engine Watch