The amount of time consumers spend on mobile devices has already surpassed their time spent on the web and advertisers are following suit to monetize the mobile dependence. Mobile advertising has been adopted faster than other media – much faster, in fact, than the Internet in the 90s. Consumers rely on their mobile devices more than any other piece of technology. And unlike the PC or cable TV, the mobile device is always with them.

There is an immediacy factor in mobile that drives higher direct response rates – consumers using mobile devices are searching and making selection decisions in a much shorter time span than ever before. Often times, that means calling a business directly from your smartphone where you found the mobile ad and business and completing the search and purchase cycle within minutes or hours not days or weeks.

With consumers spending a lot of their media time on their mobile device, advertisers are continuing to increase the allocation of their ad budgets going to mobile. In fact, 80 percent of SMBs are including mobile in their advertising plans. Mobile is a “must have” element in the overall marketing mix.

A local mobile advertising strategy, however, can take many forms. Whether advertisers are utilizing local mobile search ads, a mobile ad network, banner ads or in-app ads, they want to know how their mobile programs are performing so they can monetize. That means employing effective measurement and establishing tangible metrics that are easily understood. 

Here are three best practice tips for evaluating and optimizing local mobile ad performance:

Measure Beyond the Click
More so than other digital channels, mobile offers an opportunity to measure and gain additional insight beyond the click. Clicks offer detail on how a mobile consumer arrived to a business, but advertisers should also analyze the resulting calls. The primary use of a smartphone is for calling and mobile consumers are typically ready to purchase, so calls are a natural next step in the purchase cycle. Mobile call tracking is crucial as valuable lead insights can be gleaned from detailed call data including whether the call connected, how long it lasted, the demographic profile of the caller, etc. Also, don’t forget to consider other ROI indicators and secondary actions such as direction downloads, QR codes and map views.

Use a Targeted Content Strategy
Mobile content can’t offer the same content breadth and depth as traditional or digital creative content so a targeted content strategy is key. You are dealing with smaller screens and the user’s need for immediate gratification, so mobile content must walk the fine line of being short but well defined and targeted. Content that is too general may not result in quality leads. As an example, while attorney calls typically have a longer average duration (compared to a pizza delivery company), mobile leads to one law firm were generating very short calls. The problem? Customers were calling about a practice area not offered by that attorney. This is an opportunity to tweak the content for more relevant leads. Evaluate your copy and distribution strategy to make sure there aren’t gaps in your demographic targeting.

Optimize Mobile Call Response 
A natural extension to measuring mobile ad performance is to use mobile call response data/details to optimize your overall mobile campaigns. Advertisers can use call data to identify how the different mobile lead sources are performing and then feed that data back into the mobile ad program to improve the lead rate and quality. This is most effective with a concise measurement tool that clearly displays aggregate trending data. Call durations are a lead quality indicator and the longer a consumer stays on the line, the more likely they are to convert. Advertisers should compare the call durations each mobile lead source and ad type is generating and use that data to optimize mobile programs for quality leads. As all lead sources and mobile ad formats are not created equal, performance feedback is a key optimization tool to validate the quality of each mobile source being used in the advertising buy.

Advertisers who want to take advantage of the mobile opportunity must measure the lead activity that is driven by their mobile ad campaigns. As calls are a de facto way mobile consumers connect with businesses, capturing and analyzing mobile call details is key to understanding how consumers are responding to mobile ads. The detail can provide visibility into specific keywords and trends that inform valuable modifications to the mobile ad strategy and tactics.  Mobile measurement will provide advertisers the missing link to close the mobile ad spend gap and monetize the increasing mobile consumer audience.