Our Next mobile search interview is with Dave Davis of RedFly Markeing based in Dublin Ireland. Dave is an avid blogger and a great guy not to mention a really great marketer. Today we talk about mobile search marketing and leveraging it to help our clients on and offline marketing efforts.
Joe: Can you tell my readers a little about yourself just in case they are not familiar with you and your work.
Dave: I am the managing Director of a Search Marketing company called RedFly Marketing based in Dublin, Ireland. We offer search engine optimization, pay per click management and overall Online marketing strategy advice to clients worldwide. We have had a fantastic year as the search landscape has become a lot more difficult to compete in and more and more companies are seeking professional advice.

Joe: What kind of phone do you have?
Dave: I just got myself a brand new Nokia N95. I have always been a fan of Nokia phones as I feel they have put a lot of work into their usability. Also, I come from a text message centric culture so I SMS a lot. In my opinion Nokia have got the most usable SMS functions available.

Joe: When you are performing mobile search what do you normally search for?
Dave: Usually, my mobile search needs are local and very socially orientated. When I am out socializing, I may want to look up cinema times or listings to see what’s on when I am already out. I have also found myself settling arguments in the pub with friends by using mobile search as a dictionary and I have even used mobile search to prove an answer to a pub quiz was correct!

Joe: Do you see any of your clients looking for any type of mobile search optimization?
Dave: We have only had one client specifically request mobile search optimization and it was great to get the request! They are a medium sized retailer locally and it worked out really well. The mobile search space is not by any means saturated at the moment and now is the right time to start optimizing for mobile search. Mobile search is not for every industry, but we have been advising current clients and offering it as part of our existing offering to clients when we feel it may benefit them.

Joe: For the clients that do look for mobile search optimization what sets your approach apart from your competitors?
Dave: Well, for a start, there does not seem to be many companies offering mobile search optimization at the moment. This is probably because the “rules” have still not been defined and the volume of traffic it can drive is a drop in the overall search marketing ocean. We have had to pioneer the mobile search optimization space for ourselves and “write our own rules”. We have found that mobile search has been working really well for clients running branding campaigns and also for clients wishing to drive conversions on their main site later.

Joe: In your opinion, how can mobile search help the smaller companies.
Dave: As I mentioned already, mobile search is great for branding and it can help smaller companies who optimize now get the visibility they need.

Joe: What opportunities do you see for American companies to utilize mobile foreign search?
Dave: We have seen so many American companies neglecting the international market. In some cases, we have seen them fall too far behind their competition that do pay attention. Mobile penetration is MUCH higher in Europe and Asia than in America. As soon as American companies understand this and acknowledges this the better off they will be. There are a lot o mobile users out there!

Joe: How would you implement a foreign mobile search campaign and measure success?
Dave: The jury is still out on this one, however, Google AdWords offer some great tracking via their “click to call” feature and I have seen this work really well. Standard tracking methods can still be used but some adaptations need to be made. It really depends on the type of conversion a business is expecting from mobile traffic.

Joe: What are some of the hurdles you see mobile search facing today and what will it take to overcome these hurdles?
Dave: The biggest hurdle I think is adoption rate. There are so many mobile users, yet people are still hesitant to transact online using their mobile. I think we will see a huge shift in the next two years as people see a more “familiar” Internet on their mobiles as a result of better mobile access. I think the phone will be a big influence in this shift.

Thanks dave, You really put in some great forward thinking mobile search marketing. To see more of dave’s posts check out his blog at RedFly.

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