By Chris Lee

It is estimated that by the middle of next year, smartphones will account for more than a half of the UK’s mobile users, according to Econsultancy. Retailers are already seeing the benefits of real-time, location-based services, such as Foursquare and other smartphone-driven marketing, such as QR codes.

As consumers become increasingly familiar with the mobile Web, so mobile search will become even more important to business. That’s the view of Farhad Koodoruth, managing director of consultancy Blowfish Digital. NMK caught up with Koodoruth to learn more.

Sit up and take note

“I don’t think [businesses] are giving [mobile search] the degree of attention it deserves. Make no mistake, mobile search is growing,” Koodoruth warned.

According to Koodoruth, brands need to build separate strategies. Not just between their traditional desktop paid search but also specific to the mobile platform. For example, iPad users search in a different way to smartphone users - both navigationally and transactionally - with large differences in behaviour internationally. Therefore, Koodoruth argues, businesses need to look at the data and run separate, mobile-specific campaigns to check how landing pages, creative and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are performing.

“Adwords can split targeting between tablets and mobiles and a different approach is needed for both,” he explained. “Tablets behave more like PCs, mobiles very differently and show differences by operating system. All mobile devices are not the same and, likewise, user patterns are different.”

Google’s Adwords advertising system allows marketers to split by operating system, Koodoruth said, so brands need to run tests to see whether Apple converts better than Android, the Google-developed platform used in many smartphones made by HTC and Samsung, for example. 

“Apple users are often a different demographic to Android and their purchasing behaviour is again very different,” Koodoruth argued.

Get interactive

Brands want users to have the same experience when interacting with sites, be it through a mobile device or a desktop, according to Koodoruth. Therefore, many are opting for a mobile specific website, such as Marks & Spencer, eBay and Amazon. This means fewer images and more information, he argued.

“All of this is fine but only if they can be found easily. Remember, these are mobile devices and by their very nature users want fast results,” he added.