Think with Google

Alpharooms rebuilds its site using responsive web design and sees overall conversions jump 100%

2013-10-30T16:06:00.000+00:00

Discount travel website Alpharooms doubled its overall conversion rate, increased mobile conversion rate fourfold, reduced mobile bounce rate 35% and cut the time required for customers to price their itineraries by half. How? By rebuilding the site using responsive web design (RWD).

The impetus was the dramatic increase in mobile internet usage. Smartphones had come to comprise about 8% and tablets about 11% of Alpharooms’ traffic. These numbers were predicted to grow, but the brand’s conversion rates on these devices were poor. It was in response to these challenges that Alpharooms decided to launch its new multi-screen strategy.

It took 11 months to go from initial planning to migrating all traffic to the new RWD site, with several user journeys launched on a staggered basis during that timeframe. The RWD site responds to a user’s screen orientation and size, then adjusts images, content visibility and layouts accordingly.

The exercise resulted in improved usability on all devices. With a site that consumers can successfully use on any screen, Alpharooms today has greater confidence in marketing to mobile users, and AdWords enhanced campaigns is one tool that makes it straightforward to apply device-specific tactics. For example, the team can ratchet up the percentage bid adjustments to the mobile channel easily, as well as tailor messaging directly to consumers on smartphones.

In terms of future mobile strategy, the plan is to increase the bid adjustment and compete on all mobile channels. The marketing budget allocated to mobile is set to increase from just 1% to between 10 and 15%, in line with the brand’s steadily expanding mobile audience.

To learn more about Alpharooms’ RWD build, read the full case study here.

Article by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google

New on Think Insights: Building websites in a multi-device world

2013-10-03T10:39:00.001+01:00

These days we're constantly connected, shifting from one device to another for communication, shopping and entertainment.

Our research revealed the average person in the UK has three connected devices while 90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal. These 'sequential screeners' now expect a superb experience regardless of what they're using to browse on, whether PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, hybrid device or television.

Businesses have an opportunity to increase engagement and drive conversions by creating a great user experience that serves consumers across all of these browsing options. To support your business in establishing a winning strategy, today we're launching a new initiative on Think Insights dedicated to making your website work across multiple devices.

Who uses multiple devices? What do they value when they search? How do people prefer to browse when they're using more than one screen? We tackle all of these in one infographic - which also explains three implementation options for developing your website to function at its best across multiple devices.

These new Think Insights pages provide links to loads of useful resources too. A testing tool helps businesses like yours to analyse website load speeds on mobile and desktop. We've also included examples of great multi-device strategies - read how PlusNet grew its sales on mobile tenfold. Baines & Ernst increased mobile conversions 51% and Towergate increase mobile visits 218%.

This launch aims to provide industry-leading best practices, case studies and tools to enable you to optimise your site across screens and devices.

Article by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google

Think Insights: A new hub for Marketers & Ad Agencies

2013-10-01T10:00:00.000+01:00

We’re excited to announce the new Think Insights site in the UK. Think Insights is Google’s one-stop shop for marketing insights and inspiration for advertisers and agencies. On google.co.uk/think, you can read about the latest research in digital marketing, be inspired by creative brand campaigns, and find useful products and tools - all to help you make the most of the web.

We’ll feature content that spans industries and interests. Here’s an initial snapshot of some of the content available now:

Get the lowdown on how Three created brand love & fame with #DancePonyDance

Learn how to Make Your Website Work Across Devices with tips, case studies and an infographic
See the ads that moved the audience the most in the YouTube Ads Leaderboards

If you always wanted to know about how consumers search your brand or what role social media in the customer journey plays head over to the Product & Tools section.

We built google.co.uk/think to help you do it all—stay up-to-date on the latest in digital marketing, arm yourself with data to support your business cases and create inspiring campaigns.

Article by Calvin Lau, Product Marketing Manager, EMEA

links and hastags: #thinkinsights #googlebusiness #google www.google.co.uk/think

lowcostholidays.com reaches new audiences and drives brand awareness with YouTube

2013-09-23T18:45:00.000+01:00

This year lowcostholidays.com, a global online travel agent, wanted to drive awareness of their brand in new European markets. They turned to YouTube for innovative advertising options. ‘We wanted to reach our audience at a different stage of their research, particularly at the top funnel stage, and measure their engagement with our brand,’ explains Claire Goodenough, Marketing manager at lowcostholidays.com.

What did they do? They utilised two distinctive advertising options on YouTube: a bespoke TrueView ad and a Homepage Takeover.

TrueView:

TrueView ads are pre-roll videos that run on content across YouTube. As the ad starts, the user is presented with a choice of skipping or watching the ad and advertisers are only charged when a user chooses to watch. Consequently users who choose to watch are likely to be more engaged.

The 30-second video that lowcostholidays.com produced was designed specifically for TrueView, in order to take advantage of the features that the ad format offers. In the opening few seconds, the ad invited the viewer to participate in a quiz to win a voucher code applicable to a future holiday. Once ‘hooked’ the viewer was then presented with a range of enticing holiday photographs, and at the end could guess the destination of the photos to win the discount. Annotations appeared throughout the video to encourage users to complete the quiz. lowcostholidays.com tested various targeting options and ensured they were targeting a relevant audience.

Homepage Takeover:

In addition, lowcostholidays.com ran a Masthead Lite on YouTube’s homepage for 24 hours in Ireland, affording massive reach in a concentrated time period. The ad unit consisted of an image banner as well as a video. Careful scheduling helped lowcostholidays.com maximize results. ‘We were able to pick what we deemed the most relevant day in terms of YouTube visits within our market and how it was aligned with our usual visitor behavior calendar,’ Claire explains. ‘Taking over the YouTube homepage for one day allowed us the broadest YouTube reach possible.’

Results:

An astonishing 80% of the Masthead’s traffic was from new visitors. ‘This was our aim,’ explains Claire, ‘to get broader targeting and reach people who hadn’t heard of our brand before.’

The TrueView campaign also produced excellent outcomes. ‘Our initial objective was to drive brand awareness, which was achieved: our TrueView ad saw a much higher new visitor rate than we normally see,’ reports Claire. ‘Also, it was great that we achieved sales from TrueView at a CPA similar to some of our Search campaigns. Seeing conversions was certainly a bonus. The effort we put into targeting and making bespoke videos for TrueView paid off.’

Next steps:

lowcostholidays.com are extending their reach by testing engagement ads as well as Mobile Roadblocks. Claire adds, ‘after the success we’ve had with YouTube, it’s something we would definitely keep as a constant on our annual marketing plan’.

Click here to view the full case study

Article by Anna Tong, Industry Manager for Travel

Baines & Ernst uses responsive web design, mobile conversions leap 51%

2013-08-22T16:46:00.002+01:00

Baines & Ernst is a leading provider of debt solutions in the UK. In dealing in such a complex subject area, the company’s aim in terms of digital is to help users understand its products. And from all accounts, that’s something it seems to be doing better than ever, thanks to the launch of a new responsive web design (RWD) site. On mobiles, pages per visit have increased by 11%, average visit duration is up 30% and mobile bounce rate is down 8%. Most impressively though, mobile conversions are up by 51% since the RWD site’s debut.

When Baines & Ernst first grasped that mobile usage was on the rise, the decision was made to launch mobile-specific search advertising in late 2011, incorporating both sitelinks and click-to-call functionality. Positive results from this led Baines & Ernst to create a mobile-optimised site that launched in the second half of 2012.

While the additional site helped provide a better experience to growing numbers of mobile users, maintaining fresh content on both the desktop and mobile site proved to be an inefficient use of resource. Through testing and research, Baines & Ernst discovered a solution that would satisfy its goals. The main focus was to deliver a consistent user experience across all devices so potential customers could find the right information on any screen. The team initiated the build of an entirely new site incorporating the best practices of RWD.

Using RWD enabled Baines & Ernst to optimise its site experience across different screen sizes without creating multiple websites. By using flexible templates, CSS media queries and JavaScript events, the new RWD site responds to a user’s screen size and orientation, and then adjusts images, layouts and content visibility in accordance. It also harnesses novel device capabilities such as dragging, swiping and other gestures recognised by touch devices. All of this can be layered onto a single repository of HTML content, so while there’s only one content file to be maintained, it can be delivered across all devices.

Since most consumers lack deep familiarity with financial solutions, the company’s online presence is a critical tool for explaining Baines & Ernst products. As more and more consumers are researching these kinds of products away from their desktop computers, the move to an RWD site has proved a very savvy one. Read more of the Baines & Ernst RWD success story here.

Posted by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google

Towergate Insurance boosts mobile visits by 218% through responsive web design and enhanced campaigns

2013-08-12T17:19:00.000+01:00

As a company covering more than 200 specialist insurance products for niche markets ranging from holiday homes to private helicopters, the array of information found on Towergate’s website is extensive. Because users need to access this content whenever and wherever suits them best, the company wanted to efficiently optimise site experience across all devices and screens. By adopting strategies to respond to the demands of a multi-screen world, Towergate boosted mobile visits by 218% and tablet visits by 236%.

Towergate’s first move was to rebuild its website using responsive web design (RWD). The result is a device-independent solution that caters for all and is well placed to embrace new smartphones, tablets and other web-enabled devices. The approach circumnavigates the need to maintain separate websites for various devices, offering a significant savings in time and resource.

In terms of digital marketing, Towergate’s goal is the same regardless of device – to drive a high volume of quality leads to the site, who in turn will to either buy online or make contact with a skilled advisor. Not long after the completion of Towergate Insurance’s new RWD site, the company upgraded all of its AdWords marketing to enhanced campaigns in the span of a single afternoon – in total around 150 campaigns across 15 different accounts – and can now make bid adjustments in the AdWords interface for mobile so that the appropriate Towergate ad is automatically served to the right user.

Thanks to the advanced reporting features in enhanced campaigns, Towergate can refine its efforts even further. Performance metrics have consequently made great strides forward. “The new site has given us more confidence to increase bids across all devices, which has led to improvements. Conversion rates tend to fluctuate seasonally, but in general visit to lead rates across the board are on the rise,” reveals Towergate’s PPC Manager, Keith Mowbray.

Read more about the multi-screen success of Towergate Insurance in the full case story here.

Article by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google

The world has gone multi-screen

2013-08-05T08:50:00.000+01:00

Most of us now have laptops at work, smartphones in our pockets and great looking tablets at our disposal and they can all answer nearly any question instantly. To better understand how the multi-screen revolution is changing everyday life, Google commissioned three global studies, each covering more than 35 countries: “The Connected Consumer Study” and “Mobile Purchase Journey” with TNS, and “Our Mobile Planet” with Ipsos. These studies explore various aspects of multi-screen lifestyles: How many devices do people own? How do people use them together? How have these devices changed their lives? Do consumers research and purchase differently across different devices? The answers lead to one conclusion: in Europe, the multi-screen world is here now and context is king.

Fast growth of connected device usage: Europe leads the way

The growth in usage of connected devices has grown spectacularly in the two years since Google first commissioned these studies. We all know laptops and desktops were already widespread across Europe, smartphone usage is growing fast and now tablet usage as well. Smartphone usage in the UK has more than doubled in two years, rising to 62%. Meanwhile, tablet usage tripled in the last year rising to 30% from 11% a year earlier. In nearly all the countries studied, people use more than one connected device. European countries like the UK, Norway and the Netherlands lead the way with people using, on average, at least three connected devices. In the United States, the average person uses 2.9 devices and the average in China is 1.4. In southern Europe, where internet usage is slightly lower than northern Europe, people use two or more connected devices. Globally, all countries are growing fast, and many have seen tablet usage double or even triple in the past year.

Be on the screen your customers are using

This explosive growth in multiple device usage has had a major impact on people’s lives. Nearly three quarters of British smartphone users go online with their mobile every day, 80% never leave home without it and 54% search the web from their mobile daily. People use their smartphone everywhere: 85% use it on the go, 71% at work and 72% specified they use them in stores. Two thirds of smartphone owners expect websites to work as well on their phone as on their desktop. So it’s imperative for every advertiser to ensure their website is designed to work across all devices.

Multi-screen buying

Sixty-one percent of smartphone owners use their phone for researching or purchasing products, and while 52% research products on their phone at home, many do so out of home as well: 25% do so on the go, 19% on public transport and 18% in a store. Peaks in mobile product research happen during lunch, just before the evening commute and after dinner.

The research process crosses devices, especially when research behaviour before purchase is intense. For instance, 93% of smartphone owners use their mobile, desktop or tablet to research travel products, while 70% use them to research technology products. While research behavior is different across product categories, it is very similar across devices: price, quality information, reviews, ratings and location are common topics of research across all devices.

Research on smartphones affects purchases on mobile and elsewhere. For example after researching a travel product on the smartphone, 12% completed their purchase on the smartphone and 88% on the desktop/tablet or offline.

Google recently launched enhanced campaigns to help advertisers reach consumers across devices in the moments that matter. Enhanced campaigns allow advertisers to easily serve ads across screens from one single campaign, which can be targeted across locations and time frames, for instance only serving ads near shops during opening times. And with the new ‘offer extensions’ feature, advertisers are able to give people close to their stores a special tailored offer, such as 10% off if used in the next 1 hour. To see the full value of ads targeted to mobile consumers, check out the Full Value of Mobile calculator, a new tool that provides measurement tips and benchmarks to understand mobile’s contribution to purchase decisions.

Take multi-screen action

Will you thrive in the multi-screen world? Here are some tips and tricks for success across screens:

Check your site. Is it optimised for all devices? The web is speeding up, with the average UK site loading 14% faster than last year. Fast and optimised sites are better for users and businesses – find best practices, technical tips, common mistakes and many more insights on how to make your website work across multiple devices.

Can consumers find you? Try searching from different devices and using generic and branded terms related to your product or service. Did your brand appear the way you want it to? Enhanced campaigns offer an easy way for advertisers to be present on all screens with minimal effort.

Check the Full Value of Mobile calculator to assess how your mobile advertising drives store sales and cross-device purchases.

View full presentation

View infographic

Posted by Ali Turhan, Industry Analyst - Agency Strategy

On smartphones and tablets, Plusnet’s Responsive Web Design site doubles traffic and increases sales tenfold

2013-07-31T14:43:00.004+01:00

Thanks to the fact that its new site is built on the principles of responsive web design (RWD), Plusnet has made serious gains in both usability and performance. The provider of broadband and phone services has doubled traffic and boosted sales tenfold on smartphones and tablets. On these devices, visit duration and the number of pages viewed per visit have increased, while the time to complete a conversion has dropped 40%. Impressively, the new site is converting at a higher rate than the previous site converted on all devices.

Plusnet’s multi-screen strategy started to take shape back when the company saw that the number of users accessing its website through smartphones and tablets was growing significantly – by a percentage point every six months. The team’s decision to build a new site using RWD was based on the aim of improving user experience in a world where screens come in all shapes, sizes and contexts.

A device-independent solution that caters for all, RWD uses HTML5 and CSS3 features to optimise site experience. The creation of Plusnet’s new site entailed a complete overhaul of content. The team streamlined the customer sign-up journey so it now entails considerably fewer steps than before. Navigation and key offers move depending on screen size, while navigation collapses to ensure the most important content always takes priority. As a result, a customer can complete the entire purchase of an ISP or phone package on the site with ease, no matter the size of his or her screen.

Before the release of the RWD site, Plusnet didn’t have a mobile optimised site or strategy, and consequently had invested only minimally in mobile marketing. But with newfound confidence that smartphone users would get a great experience, Plusnet has turned its attention to the platform’s opportunities in paid search. The company has increased its mobile AdWords spend since launch and has used sitelinks and click-to-call functionality in ads too.

All this adds up to a bright future for Plusnet – and one in which multi-device marketing plays a key role. Ideas currently on the drawing board include researching how to link multi-device users, an app to provide troubleshooting for broadband customers, and the implementation of AdWords enhanced campaigns, all supported by A/B and multi-variate testing to pave the way for further optimisations.

Read the full case study on Plusnet’s successful use of responsive web design here.

Posted by Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager, Google

Top 10 YouTube Ads for April

2013-05-15T16:27:00.000+01:00

The Top 10 YouTube Ads for April have been published on MarketingWeek.co.uk.
This month's Leaderboard shows us how brands can engage a global audience from both sides of the atlantic.

The Evian Babies ad is a huge hit at number 1 on our leaderboards in the UK, France, Germany, Italy & Spain and has also ranked highly in the US. Carrying on the trend is the internationally successful Dove Sketches ad, which has captured the imagination of the UK audience and comes in at number 2.

Irn Bru ranks well for the second month in a row and is a great example of how a brand is building episodic content, delighting impassioned fans despite geographical borders. Similarly, KLM's ad takes advantage of YouTube's global reach to launch their worldwide competition.

Check out the full list here.

Posted by Ali Turhan, Industry Analyst - Agency Strategy

Introducing the new YouTube Ads Leaderboard: Great Ads People Choose

2013-04-09T18:07:00.000+01:00

What makes an ad great? Simple: when people “choose” to watch it. On YouTube, we see this more and more - fans are opting to view and share content they’re passionate about, be it a music video, a favorite show, or an ad.

In order to celebrate great ads that people love to watch, we are launching a monthly YouTube UK Ads Leaderboard to showcase the top 10 ads that most moved audiences and had the highest number of views through a winning combination of promotion (paid ads) and popularity (organic views).

The top ten ads leaderboard list for March is:

1. Fiat - The Fatherhood - Fiat 500L 12" Remix (Fiat UK)

2. IRN BRU - New Fella | New IRN-BRU advert 2013

3. Pepsi - Pepsi MAX & Jeff Gordon Present: "Test Drive"

4. Adidas - adidas Originals | unite all Originals

5. Samsung - Introducing Samsung GALAXY S4

6. Save the Children UK - What Has Aid Ever Done For Anyone? Apart from...

7. Volvo - Volvo Commuter Hijack #2 - Cardiff

8. Foot Locker - adidas "Never Stop" with ClimaCool at Foot Locker

9. Volvo - Volvo Commuter Hijack #1 - London

10. O2 - Mother's Day Apps For Kids: O2 Guru TV App Lab

‘The clear trend this month is how big brand advertisers are using video to deliver unique original content made specifically for their YouTube fans - whether chart topping music videos such as Fiat’s The Fatherhood, app reviews like O2’s App Lab, or enlisting the help of Monty Python comedic geniuses for Save the Children. It’s no longer only about sticking your TV ad on the web and waiting for views, true success is thinking about how to entertain and interact with the online community to build a loyal audience of brand fans. A look through the Fiat’s comments demonstrates the connection that can be built through this sort of creative outreach and the value that represents for a brand.’

Kevin Mathers, Managing Director, YouTube UK

Stay tuned throughout the year as we recognize the new ads you love each month!

Posted by Ali Turhan, Industry Analyst - Agency Strategy

Introducing Gen C - The YouTube Generation

2013-04-08T17:50:00.001+01:00

Gen C is a powerful new force in consumer culture. It's a term we use to describe people who care deeply about creation, curation, connection and community. It's not an age group; it's an attitude and mindset defined by 8 key characteristics.

Gen C:

Is a state of mind - 80%* of Gen C is made up of millennials. YouTube's core (though by no means only) audience
Strives for expression - 67%* of Gen C uploads their own photos to social networks
Is a taste maker - 85%* of Gen C relies on peer approvals for buying decisions
Defines the social network - 88%* of Gen C has a social profile, with 65%* updating it daily
Uses YouTube as a habitat for entertainment - Gen C is 2X* more likely to be a YouTube viewer than the general population and 40%* more likely to be only a light TV viewer
Is constantly connected - 91%* of Gen C sleeps next to a smartphone
Connects on YouTube on all screens - 80%* of Gen C with a smartphone watch YouTube
Values relevance and originality - 39%* aren't opposed to ads when they are relevant.

*For further information click here.

Download Infographic below

Posted by Ali Turhan, Industry Analyst - Agency Strategy

How Fashion gets a makeover with Topshop’s full London Fashion Week experience on Google+

2013-03-20T14:26:00.001+00:00

There was a time when only editors of the world’s style bibles got the chance to sit on the front row of a fashion show, when the catwalk was the exclusive domain of top models, and when stylists and makeup artists were the only ones lucky enough to join in the backstage excitement of London Fashion Week.

But this February Topshop reinvented its fashion show and simultaneously democratised the thrill of London Fashion Week. How? By partnering with Google+ in a groundbreaking series of inventive online happenings. The programme not only grabbed headlines – a key goal of every brand’s fashion week involvement – but also stimulated deep engagement with the Topshop audience. The programme had four components – Be the Model, Be Part of the Team, Be the Front Row Fashionista and Be The Buyer.

Be The Model afforded a rare opportunity for fans to get a model’s-eye view of fashion week. Top models Cara Delevingne, Jourdan Dunn, Rosie Tapner and Ashleigh Good wore HD micro cameras – “model cams” – so online viewers could see and feel what models experience as they stride down the runway. And at Topshop’s Oxford Street flagship fans could enter a special Google+ booth and try on their favourite outfits. From the booth, an animated picture was instantly uploaded to the Topshop’s Be the Model Google+ event page.

Be Part of the Team included an exclusive hangout on air behind the scenes at Topshop’s headquarters with a host of fashion insiders, such as Kate Phelan (Topshop Creative Director), Emma Farrow (Topshop Head of Design), Hannah Murray (international make-up artist) and Beth Fenton (show stylist). Two lucky Topshop fans were allowed to post questions just before the start of the show.

Be the Front Row Fashionista featured a red carpet hangout on air on the day of the show and allowed viewers to get a unique perspective from the front row. After the arrival of leading celebrities like Kate Bosworth, One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and Pixie Geldolf, the hotly anticipated show was streamed on Topshop.com, in Topshop’s Oxford Circus store and on all of Google’s platforms through a special customised YouTube gadget.

Be The Buyer saw the launch of a hangout app that enabled users to pick and choose their favourite items to share with friends on Google+. Topshop chose the best fashion collection from among these and awarded one stylish winner a free shopping spree. The app was promoted on Topshop’s homepage through a leaderboard that dynamically ranked the most popular of all the shared items.

The programme delivered fantastic results:

4 million views across all platforms

2.5 million views from YouTube

G+ posts viewed over 400,000 times, a +400% increase

Comments increased by 340% per day

Reshares increased by 275% per day

+1s increased by over 400% per day

7,500 live views of red carpet hangout

600 animated photos posted from in-store booth

Average 11-minute engagement with hangout app, 52% reshares

300,000 new G+ followers in two weeks

2 million views from TrueView ads
400+ press mentions (inc. Guardian, Vogue, CNN video, FastCompany, Vogue IT & FR)

To learn more about the future of fashion, read the full case study here.

Post by Natalia Cano, Product Marketing Manager, Google+

A look back at a merry multi-screen Christmas season!

2013-02-20T09:00:00.000+00:00

Suppose that we could have hopped onto a flying sleigh for a quick trip around the world during Christmas. What would we have seen from up high? The twinkling lights of millions of multi-screen homes. This was a multi-screen Christmas season. People shopped online at all times, from everywhere, on all kinds of devices.

Cyber Monday, the first Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and the busiest online shopping day of the year, provided people with limitless opportunities to shop and save while being constantly connected. Thanksgiving may not be a European holiday and Cyber Monday may not be a well used term on the streets of Paris, Madrid and Milan, but our research proves that Europeans are just as likely to begin their shopping sprees in the week after Thanksgiving as their American counterparts. What's even more interesting - in Europe - is that shoppers were getting a head start with their mobile devices the Sunday before Cyber Monday.

We looked at several popular Christmas present search queries across the US and Europe, and discovered a surge of mobile queries on Sunday 25th November. In the United Kingdom, for example, mobile queries for electronics surged 103% YoY on the 25th when people were using their phones while out shopping. The following day, people turned to their PCs and tablets to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals while at work and we saw PC and Tablet (where we see similar search behaviour) queries grow by 105% YoY for top electronic gifts.

These same multi-screen trends carried us into 2013 as people researched how to shed those extra Christmas pounds and get healthier in the new year. On New Year's Eve, people did their research on smartphones while shopping for last minute outfits or getting their hair done. In the United Kingdom, mobile search queries rose 288% YoY on New Year’s Eve for gyms, cleanses and diets. And on New Year's Day, as people sat on their sofas at home recuperating, search queries on PCs and tablets rose 128% YoY for gyms, cleanses and diets.

Advertising implications for businesses
So we know that today's shoppers are constantly connected. We know they move seamlessly between many screens, in the moment, without second thoughts. And on all screens, they search. Now that we know that, what do we do?

One good answer is to think about context. All these new search patterns have created a world of new context-based marketing opportunities. When you know the time of day, a shopper's general location and the kind of device that they’re using, you can guess quite a lot about what they may be looking for and where they are in the buying cycle.

Need help? Upgrade to enhanced campaigns in AdWords to make your cross-device advertising smarter, more powerful and more measurable. Enhanced campaigns can help:

1. Manage your bids across devices, locations and time.

2. Show the right ad creative, sitelink, app or extension based on user context and what the device can handle.

3. Track conversions like calls. And soon, you will be able to track digital downloads, in-store purchases and other cross-device conversions.

Get the context right on the next day of note, say Mother’s Day or Easter. To learn more about AdWords enhanced campaigns click here.

Posted by: Suzanne Mumford, Product Marketing Manager - Mobile Ads

Source: Google Internal Data. Growth based on YoY data.
*Top electronic gifts defined as smartphones, tablets, ereaders, mp3 players.

Gumtree extend the reach of TV ads

2013-02-14T17:21:00.000+00:00

Gumtree a network of online classifieds and community websites, wanted to extend the reach of their TV advertising on YouTube using TrueView ads. To achieve this, Gumtree harnessed the power of Google data to get the right ads in front of the right searchers.

Using TrueView ads Gumtree achieved a 26% view rate (45% above the benchmark), whilst maintaining a low cost per view at 2p (75% below the benchmark). Gumtree were also able to attract new visitors to their website with 59% of visitors from YouTube new to Gumtree.

Sam Diamond, Head of Brand and Communications at Gumtree highlighted the importance of YouTube in their media strategy by saying 'We found TrueView easy to use, and an effective way of extending the reach of our TV advertising. We gained lots of interesting insight from our trial, and will now always consider YouTube as part of our media strategy'.

You can find the full Gumtree YouTube channel here.

For further details on YouTube TrueView ads click here or watch the short video below.

Posted by Ali Turhan, Industry Analyst - Agency Strategy

Ocado and LateRooms.com share their experiences of using Google+

2012-10-09T13:40:00.000+01:00

In previous posts we have highlighted the creative ways that Ocado and LateRooms.com are using Google+. We'd like to share with you two videos from them on why Google+ is working for their brands.

LateRooms.com, a hotel aggregator matching customers around the planet with suitable hotel rooms, is using hangouts to discuss top destinations, providing travel tips to their customers and have experienced a 9%CTR uplift in search as a result of social extensions. See what they have to say...

Internet grocery retailer Ocado has done a series of hangouts with Great British Chefs who cooked for customers and these hangouts were promoted via True View ads on YouTube, which resulted in 167k engaged views. The Ocado YouTube channel views went from 50k to 230k in the space of a week thanks to the hangout, without including the people who live-streamed the event (which numbered to about 60 individuals at any given time). Ocado is also using social extensions and experiencing a 30% CTR uplift in Search as a result.

Posted by +Natalia Cano

Media Planning Toolkit

2012-09-25T15:00:00.000+01:00

Planning can be tough. Ever changing media consumption, elusive audiences & time constraints can make it difficult to know your audience, how to target them and measure the impact... And yet careful media planning is key to successful campaigns.

Google planning tools can enable better decisions and more agile planning, with real-time data, insights across digital platforms.

Today, we are launching the Media Planning Toolkit to bring all these planning resources in one place.

Make it your go-to destination to find quality insights and ideas, optimize your media plan and measure the results.

Happy planning.

Posted by Romain Perrier, Agency Marketing

Ocado case study: Google+ features take the cake

2012-09-19T11:39:00.008+01:00

With its inherently digital focus, internet grocery retailer Ocado has established itself as an early adopter of new technologies, so it comes as no surprise that the company embraced Google+ as soon as it could – and has already started reaping some tasty benefits.

The opportunity for Google+ to contribute to improved search rankings was a convincing reason to launch the brand’s Google+ page. By adopting social extensions, Ocado ads became instantly more compelling, and click-through rates increased by 30%.

Hangouts are a clever way that Ocado has brought food-centric content to life. The company capitalised on its existing Great British Chefs initiative and used Google+ to produce a live event where the chefs cooked for customers. Ocado promoted the hangouts via True View ads on YouTube, which resulted in 167k engaged views. The Ocado YouTube channel views went from 50k to 230k in the space of a week thanks to the hangout, without including the people who live-streamed the event (which numbered about 60 individuals at any given time).

The experience has led Ocado to consider further possibilities for moving images. They are keen not to use text-based feeds as what they really want is to get people excited about food, and images are a great way of differentiating. In addition to hangouts and images, Ocado has embraced the Google+ badge which appears on the check-out page with the aim of making the shopping experience social through gifting and sharing.

In future, Ocado has plans for more hangouts on the Google+ page, as well as ideas for more video and channel-specific content. The intention is to deliver the sights and sounds – if not the tastes and aromas – of Ocado products straight to users’ screens.

Find out more about Ocado’s recipe for success by reading the full case study here.

Posted by +Natalia Cano

Creative Sandbox Gallery. Now open for play.

2012-09-18T08:55:00.000+01:00

At Google, we're amazed by how the ad industry is using the digital canvas to bring brands and ideas to life. Whether it’s enticing viewers with video, evoking a smile with a mobile phone, or re-configuring the typical ‘test drive.' When digital advertising works, it can not only be informative, but emotional and dazzling. That’s why we've created a space where everyone can see this great work, talk about it, and roll around in it like a big happy dog.

Yesterday we launched the Creative Sandbox gallery. It’s a crowdsourced collection of global campaigns that push the boundaries of creativity and technology from across digital platforms -- a place to flash your brilliance, spark new digital ideas, inspire and be inspired. We're asking the creators to share a little detail on how they made the magic happen and the tools they used to do it, exposing us all to new ideas and new ways to improve our own work.

As with any sandbox, looking and playing are required. Vote to push your favorite projects to the top. Tell other creators what you admire. And if you've done something amazing lately, send it in. We'd all love to see it.

Jump in. Explore. And play.

www.creativesandbox.com

Posted by Justin Joy, Agency Marketing Manager

How Google+ is being used by Fashion Brands

2012-09-10T14:57:00.000+01:00

For anyone with a passion for fashion, the most exciting time of the year is here: Fashion Week. While the runway shows in New York, London, Milan or Paris are still filled mostly with fashion buyers, bloggers and celebrities, with YouTube and Google+, everyone can get a front row seat right from their desktop, mobile phone or tablet.

From New York, more than 30 fashion shows are being streamed on YouTube Live from the Runway channel, sponsored by Maybelline, giving you front row access from your living room.
very.co.uk hosted a hangout on air with Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton who presented her Winter Collection with fans. Only 6 people were given the chance to chat with Fearne and ask her questions about her new Collection but there were prizes for everyone: free tickets to join her exclusive London Fashion Week show this Thursday.

Paris Vogue Fashion’s Night Out: +VogueParis posted “Live-GIFs” of the event on their +Page, where notable guests, models and VIPs had their images turned into GIFs, ready to be shared across the web. Their 3hour YouTube live broadcast, is now available on the Vogue Paris YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Vogueparisfr or on www.vogue.fr.

There are without any doubt an increasing number of EMEA brands Gucci, Burberry, H&M, Hugo Boss with over 1 million followers on Google+ and others such as Versace or Armani who continue to grow on the platform. These brands are all using the photo / image capabilities of G+ to showcase all their latest designs and collections.

We saw this earlier in February with H&M’s David Beckham underwear collection, and now again in August with H&M’s (#BeckhamforHM) behind the scene photo shoot, and continue to see more and more examples of how fashion and retail brands are embracing Google+ to engage with their followers.

Posted by Natalia Cano, PMM Google+ B2B Marketing

Online Engagement and FMCG Spend in the UK

2012-09-05T13:12:00.000+01:00

Are you an advertiser or agency interested in the UK FMCG sector? Are you looking for more information on ROPO (research online purchase offline) behaviour? Then check out this study that looks at ROPO behaviour in the UK FMCG sector focusing on FMCG searchers and those who have visited a grocery retail online site. The study combines single source data for online behaviors and offline purchases in those categories.

Key Findings:

In 2011, 64% of UK internet users spent significant time researching brands before making a major purchase (vs. 50% in 2008).
47% of main shoppers visit grocery retailer websites and 72% search for FMCG related terms. Two thirds of main shoppers search for Food & Drink related terms, half search for Beauty information.
Main shoppers who Search & Visit spend +13% more in-store than those who do neither.
Main shoppers who search for FMCG information online are younger, more affluent and have larger households.

You can access ppt and pdf versions of the study on the Think Insights site here. Posted by Rosie Rankin, Agency Team

Global Business Map - International Market Insights

2012-08-22T08:38:00.006+01:00

Are you an Agency or Advertiser managing international business? Are you after market insights from specific countries? Then take a look at the new Global Business Map on Think Insights.

The Global Business Map provides a country profile for 48 countries on 6 different continents. The country profiles give an overview of fundamental country facts and specific market insights. We have collected those metrics most relevant for uncovering market potential and to help you recognise business opportunities. For instance, did you know that Brazil is one of the top ﬁve countries worldwide for mobile Internet usage, whilst in Israel users spend on average 11.1 hours on social sites, more than double the global average?

This guide also provides an introduction to products and tools available at Google, which can help you get acquainted with the different ways to reach out and connect with your target markets.

Each country page contains the following data:

Basic Facts: official country name, capital, area, top-level domain, official or most spoken language, local currency, age distribution and GDP in terms of purchasing power parity and rank. GDP in each country has been expressed in US Dollars.
Demographics: Population (total, growth and country rank), a breakdown of the age distribution according to gender and age group, median age.
Internet statistics: The Internet penetration of the population, the total number of broadband and fixed Internet subscriptions, as found by the International Telecommunications Union.
Google Contact: The email address that you can use to get in touch with our local representatives. They will be happy to give you more insight into the statistics you can find in the pages here and connect your ideas with the appropriate Google products.

We hope this information helps you unlock new opportunities.

Posted by Rosie Rankin, Agency Team

The Mobile Playbook UK

2012-08-14T11:35:00.008+01:00

The question is no longer “Why should I invest in mobile?” - we’ve all read statistics about the tremendous adoption of mobile and tablet devices - but “How should I invest in mobile?”

A new addition to thinkwithgoogle.co.uk is the The Mobile Playbook:UK - a guide to winning with mobile. So if you need answers to crucial questions such as:

How does mobile change our value proposition?
How does mobile impact our digital destinations?
Is our organisation adapting to mobile?
How should marketing adapt to mobile?
How can we connect with our tablet audience?

Then check out The Mobile Playbook...

Posted by Rosie Rankin, Agency Team

Think Quarterly, The Play Issue

2012-07-19T14:16:00.003+01:00

New technology is turning the world into a playground, and play into the new business battleground.

Vast entertainment libraries can be accessed at the touch of a button. Video games are moving from teenage bedrooms to corporate boardrooms. Every lunch queue or quiet moment is an opportunity to create, collaborate or compete online with friends and strangers.

And in just a few days the greatest Games of all are coming to London, with 11,500 athletes taking part in a global celebration of sport.

At Google, we know that play is a serious business. It’s why we launched our new online entertainment service, Google Play, and it’s why this issue of Think Quarterly is dedicated to play in all its forms.

We speak with the world’s most playful brands, including the reconstruction of LEGO, the colorful evolution of Crayola and the free-roaming future of Disney. Our Country Director of Brazil, Fabio Coehlo gives readers a tour of marketing’s newest and most fun-filled frontier. We were granted exclusive access to the digital teams delivering the Olympics on both sides of the Atlantic; surfaced the latest research from our UX team on social gaming; and learned the secret to making YouTube videos that go viral.

I hope you have fun reading the issue and follow our Think with Google Plus page.

Posted by Rich Pleeth, Think Quarterly Editor

With over 940,000 followers, H&M captivates Google+ users with exclusive content

2012-06-12T09:14:00.004+01:00

When H&M produces hot new collections, the Swedish fashion retailer knows just how to get the word out. With around 2,500 stores spread across 44 markets, not only does the company engage in traditional forms of marketing, but also integrates its social media with other communication activities. An early adopter of Google+, today H&M has more fans on the platform than any other retail brand – over 940,000 followers.

Unique, exclusive content wins followers
Instead of replicating the experience of shopping in the store or on the website, their page supplies a steady stream of interactive content tailored specifically to the Google+ audience. H&M publishes unique coverage, including a captivating range of exclusive collection previews, contests and behind the scenes footage, such as a Vogue editor preparing for an H&M photo shoot. Their most popular posts are the ones for their top collections with Beckham, Versace and Marni.

Using ripples to understand trendsetting
H&M has a very high rate of shared posts. Their team can “View Ripples” to see who has shared content and what has been said. In this way, the ripples feature lets H&M see how posts spread across Google+, who’s sharing and resharing the content and whose opinions matter. The feature can be used to identify influencers and see how communities form around content. The larger the circles in ripples, the larger the reach they might have.

Social extensions to integrate their social strategy into search
Another feature H&M uses are social extensions in its AdWords advertising. Social extensions help the company obtain a higher number of brand recommendations, +1’s and direct traffic to their Google+ page, effectively increasing their number of followers by doing so. On average H&M has achieved a 22% CTR uplift on all their AdWords campaigns thanks to implementing social extensions.

It’s all adding up...

All of this has contributed in great levels of engagement from fans with the following results so far:

Average number of +1’s per post: 72
Average number of reshares per post: 11
Average number of comments per post: 22

To learn more about H&M’s inspirational example, read the full case study here.

Posted by Natalia Cano, PMM Google+ for Businesses

38% of Eurovision searches happened on mobile devices during the grand final

2012-06-06T14:50:00.005+01:00

If you were watching the exceptional vocal achievements of the contestants like 100 million Europeans on Saturday 26th, it is likely that you had a smartphone or a tablet device in your hand at the same time.

From our recent Our Mobile Planet research, we know that consumers actively use their smartphones when multi-tasking with other media and more than 50% of Europeans do this while watching the TV. We therefore wanted to understand how Eurovision viewers were using their mobile devices during the finals by analyzing Google search results.

Top 10 mobile Eurovision countries - share of Google search queries related to Eurovision

Looking at related search queries from all 42 Eurovision countries on the day of and day before the finals of the Song Contest, we saw an increase in the share of smartphone and tablet searches by nearly 50% from Eurovision 2011. Consumers in a handful of European countries were particularly savvy, actively using their mobile devices to learn more about the mind-blowing performances they saw on screen. More than 54% of Eurovision fans in Denmark searched from mobile devices, along with more than 40% in both Switzerland and Norway. Additionally, Denmark and Norway had the highest share of Eurovision searches conducted on tablets with 11% of Norway’s and 14% of Denmark’s Eurovision queries occurring on tablets.

Tablets and smartphones come out when the show starts - please note this does not show absolute search volume

Looking at a timeline of searches for Eurovision (normalized based on total search queries for each device type), shows us that these mobile and tablet searches were largely complementary to desktop searches. At the primetime of the Eurovision finals, on the evening of May 26th, we observed that people were switching to their smartphones and tablets with more than 38% of queries coming from mobile devices. This is similar to previous search data showing that tablets come out as the sun goes down. The large screen and compact form factor of tablets favour usage in front of the TV and from previous studies we know that the top browsing location is on the couch.

So, how can advertisers take advantage of all these multi-tasking mobile consumers? Make sure that you are on their screen with Google Mobile Ads so that you can get in front of them at the right time with the right ad formats. This way, if a customer sees your TV commercial and then picks up their phone to find more information, you may show up at the top of the results.

You can easily show your ads only when your customers are on their couch looking for information thanks to custom scheduling in AdWords. Or, you can configure your account to bid more aggressively at the times of the day that correspond with your television advertisements.

And don’t forget to add a mobile specific call-to-action such as a clickable phone number for potential customers holding a phone in their hand. You should also ensure that the site your users see on their smartphones is mobile optimized for the best user experience. With all that done you can sit back, relax and watch the stunning performance of Loreen from Sweden who finally won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Posted by Frank Albert Coates, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile & Social ads EMEA

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A look back at a merry multi-screen Christmas season!

Gumtree extend the reach of TV ads

Ocado and LateRooms.com share their experiences of using Google+

Media Planning Toolkit

Ocado case study: Google+ features take the cake

Creative Sandbox Gallery. Now open for play.

How Google+ is being used by Fashion Brands

Online Engagement and FMCG Spend in the UK

Global Business Map - International Market Insights

The Mobile Playbook UK

Think Quarterly, The Play Issue

With over 940,000 followers, H&M captivates Google+ users with exclusive content

38% of Eurovision searches happened on mobile devices during the grand final