Mobile search is the leading edge of web marketing for casino affiliates who are looking for quick conversions and high value players.
The challenge for mobile-minded affiliates is understanding what makes mobile search, and mobile players, different from their desktop-bound counterparts. Once you’ve made that connection, adjusting your strategies to take advantage of the mobile search revolution becomes a lot easier.
Understanding Mobile Players
“Mobile players are very different from desktop players. The sooner you adjust your marketing mindset to the mobile mentality, the sooner you’ll be able to start racking up mobile conversions.”
mobile web searching and surfing habits aren’t always what you think they’ll be.
For starters, mobile players aren’t necessarily on-the-go. Study after study have shown that mobile device users are most likely to be laying at home on the couch watching TV or sitting in the break room at work as they search and surf. A recent study from Google showed that 77% of all mobile search happens at work or at home.
Even better, for casino affiliates, a whopping 55% of these folks convert within one hour of making their purchase.
“Players who are searching on their mobile devices are looking to scratch an itch,” Strohl says, “They’ve decided that they want to play real-money gaming right now. If you can help them scratch that itch without a lot of headaches, you’ll get that conversion.”
Stay-at-home mobile searchers are another advantage for casino affiliates; they’re still close to their desktop PCs.
Plenty of players, especially those in the older bingo demographics, are still reluctant to use their mobile devices for financial transactions.
Remember, mobile searchers are oftentimes only using their smartphones for research with the intention to play mostly from their desktop devices. A Google study from 2012 found that only about 17% of mobile searchers actually make their purchases from a mobile device.
If they can make a quick deposit via their desktop and be playing in a timely manner, getting them through the sales funnel will be a whole lot easier.
Mobile Players Need Mobile Optimization
If there’s one thing that mobile searchers will not tolerate, it’s websites that haven’t been optimized for mobile devices. Simply presenting a standard website that looks, good enough, on a tablet or smart phone won’t be enough to keep mobile searchers interested in your wares.
“You need to be working with programs that offer mobile-friendly sites like m.silveroakcasino.com that load quickly and mobile marketing support,” Strohl says. “If your players have positive experiences searching for your mobile partners on their tablets, they’ll come back time and time again.”
Make it Easy
The bottom line with mobile search and conversions is to make things as easy as possible.
When you’re researching a new mobile partner, test out their offerings on your own phone or tablet. Search for their sites and keywords and hit every link you can find. If you get frustrating waiting for their sites to load, you can bet your players will feel the same way.
By that same token a mobile partner that offers quick load times, and minimal headaches, is the quickest path for grabbing that high-converting mobile search demographic.