5 Cross-Device Segmentation Tips for PPC
Cross-device segmentation is crucial for managing PPC campaigns effectively in today’s multi-device world. Users often start their journey on one device (like a mobile), continue on another (e.g., a desktop), and complete it on a third (such as a tablet). Without connecting these interactions, your ad performance data can become misleading, leading to poor budget allocation and missed opportunities.
Here’s how to optimise your PPC campaigns for cross-device behaviour:
- Connect cross-device data: Use tools like Google Ads or Facebook to track signed-in users, and complement this with first-party data (e.g., emails or CRM systems) for better accuracy.
- Group audiences by device usage: Understand how users behave differently on mobile, desktop, or tablet to tailor your approach.
- Maintain consistent messaging: Ensure your ads deliver the same message across devices to avoid confusing users.
- Leverage platform-specific tools: Use features like Google’s cross-device reports or Facebook’s Custom Audiences to track and target users effectively.
- Analyse performance reports: Use analytics tools like Google Analytics 4 to understand how each device contributes to conversions and refine your strategy.
1. Connect Cross-Device Data for Complete Customer Tracking
Linking Data Across Devices
To truly understand your customers, you need to connect their interactions across all devices. Imagine a user clicking on a mobile ad but completing their purchase on a desktop. Without the right tools, these actions might look like two separate events instead of one seamless journey.
Many advertising platforms now offer cross-device tracking through user logins. For instance, Google Ads links devices when users are signed into their Google accounts, and Facebook tracks users through their social media logins. But here’s the catch – these methods only cover users who are signed in. A significant chunk of your audience might browse anonymously, leaving gaps in your data.
This is where first-party data becomes invaluable. Information like email addresses, phone numbers, and customer account details allows you to connect the dots more effectively than relying on cookies alone. For example, when a user signs up for your newsletter or creates an account, you can track their actions across smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are the backbone of this process. By consolidating mobile clicks, desktop visits, and email interactions into unified profiles, CRMs can provide a detailed view of user behaviour. These profiles can reveal trends, such as customers who research on mobile but prefer to complete purchases on desktop, or those who engage with email campaigns before converting through paid ads. Such insights allow you to make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Using Analytics to Optimise and Report
Attribution modelling is key to understanding how different devices contribute to a customer’s journey. Instead of giving all credit to the final click before a conversion, data-driven attribution highlights the role each device plays. For example, mobile ads might not always lead directly to sales but could play a crucial role in sparking interest.
Tools like Google Analytics 4 make cross-device tracking more manageable. When users are signed in, GA4 can follow their interactions across devices, helping you see how various touchpoints contribute to conversions. This data can show you which devices are better at initiating interest and which are more likely to close sales.
Analysing audience overlap can also uncover opportunities for segmentation. For instance, you might notice that tablet users tend to spend more per order or that mobile users who later switch to desktop have a higher lifetime value. Such insights can guide your bidding strategies and influence the creative direction of your campaigns.
Lastly, regular cross-device reporting ensures your strategies stay aligned with user behaviour. You might discover trends like increased mobile activity during commutes or a spike in desktop sales during lunch hours. Keeping an eye on these patterns helps you adapt your segmentation and stay relevant as customer habits change.
2. Group Audiences by How They Use Different Devices
Understanding Device-Specific Behaviour
To effectively segment your audience, start by looking at how they use different devices in their daily lives. Each device plays a unique role, and understanding these patterns can help you tailor your approach.
For example, mobile users often fall into two categories: those looking for quick, bite-sized content while on the go, and those who spend longer periods engaging with in-depth information. Desktop users, on the other hand, tend to focus on more detailed research and decision-making, often making larger purchases. Tablets sit somewhere in between – users might browse casually during downtime but may spend more time per session than mobile users, with their purchasing habits differing from desktop users.
It’s also worth noting that a single person may behave differently depending on the device they’re using. Take a business executive, for instance: they might use their mobile for quick research while travelling but switch to a desktop later for a more thorough evaluation before making a purchase.
Using tools and data to segment audiences based on these behaviours can unlock new opportunities for personalisation.
Tools for Device-Based Segmentation
Modern advertising platforms come equipped with features designed to help you understand and segment audiences by their device usage. These tools allow you to create custom audience groups based on how users interact across multiple devices or stick to a single one.
For instance, Facebook’s audience insights can reveal whether your target demographics prefer mobile, desktop, or tablet. This information can guide your messaging and bidding strategies, ensuring you’re targeting users in the most effective way.
Cross-device frequency capping is another essential feature to consider. Without it, the same user might encounter your ad repeatedly across different devices, leading to ad fatigue and wasted budget. By recognising cross-device behaviour, you can fine-tune your ad frequency to maintain user interest without overloading them.
Regularly use performance data from these tools to refine your segments and keep your PPC campaigns sharp and effective.
Using Analytics to Fine-Tune Your Strategy
Your segmentation efforts shouldn’t stop at creating audience groups – use analytics to continuously optimise your approach. Performance data can reveal how users respond to your messaging at different stages. For example, mobile ads could focus on grabbing attention, while desktop retargeting campaigns might offer detailed product information and clear calls-to-action.
Time-based data is another valuable resource. Analysing when users are most active on specific devices can help you schedule ads more effectively and tailor your messaging to fit their routines. Combining this with geographic insights can highlight location-specific trends, allowing you to allocate your budget more strategically.
Don’t forget to review cross-device performance regularly. Trends can shift with seasonal changes, new product launches, or broader market developments. Staying on top of these shifts ensures your strategy remains relevant and impactful.
3. Keep Your Message Consistent Across All Devices
Consistency in Messaging and Retargeting
Once you’ve nailed effective cross-device tracking, the next step is to ensure your message remains consistent. Why? Because users interact with brands on multiple devices throughout their day. For example, someone might see your ad on their smartphone during their morning commute and later revisit it on their desktop at work. The core message and value proposition they encounter should stay the same.
In the UK, people commonly switch between devices daily. This "device-hopping" behaviour makes it critical to keep your messaging clear and coherent. A lack of consistency can confuse potential customers and disrupt their journey.
Retargeting works best when your messaging aligns across devices. For instance, if a customer abandons their cart on mobile, they should see a desktop ad referencing the same product and offer. This approach builds trust and increases the likelihood of conversion.
To maintain this consistency, use tools like unified audience lists that sync across platforms and implement cross-device tracking pixels. Ensure your creative assets and offers are aligned across campaigns so that no matter the device, users experience a seamless journey. This unified approach also helps you adapt your strategy to match how users behave on specific devices.
Behavioural Segmentation Techniques
Consistent messaging is just the start. To take things further, behavioural segmentation can help you tailor your campaigns based on how users interact across devices. Analysing behavioural data reveals patterns in how people switch contexts, enabling you to fine-tune your messaging.
For example, you might use a mobile ad to grab attention with a punchy headline, then follow up on desktop with more detailed product information – all while keeping your branding consistent.
Another opportunity lies in second screening. Did you know that 82% of TV viewers in the UK use their smartphones while watching television? This opens the door to reinforce your brand across multiple screens simultaneously. However, it’s vital to coordinate these ads carefully so they complement rather than compete with each other.
The trick is to adapt your message to fit the typical use of each device while staying true to your brand’s voice.
Analytics-Driven Optimisation and Reporting
Analytics play a crucial role in keeping your cross-device messaging on track. Monitor metrics like cross-device conversion rates, click-through rates for each device, and engagement duration to gauge how well your strategy is working. These insights can also inform your segmentation and help refine your campaigns.
Here’s a real-world example: In July 2023, Semetrical collaborated with OnTheMarket.com to launch a hyper-localised PPC and display campaign targeting property buyers and renters across the UK. By aligning messaging across mobile, desktop, and tablet, they managed to reduce cost per view by 35% during peak spending periods and lower cost per acquisition by an average of 33% each month.
Regular audits of your cross-device performance can help identify gaps and ensure your messaging stays aligned.
The PPC Team specialises in creating unified strategies by leveraging advanced audience segmentation and detailed reporting, helping you maximise conversions across all devices.
4. Use Built-In Platform Segmentation Features
Platform-Specific Segmentation Features
Most major advertising platforms come equipped with built-in tools designed to handle cross-device segmentation seamlessly. These native tools often outperform third-party options because they have direct access to user data.
Take Google Ads, for example. Its cross-device reporting feature provides a detailed view of user activity across mobiles, tablets, and desktops. The platform’s similar audiences feature identifies users with behaviours resembling those of your existing customers, regardless of the device they’re using. Combine this with demographic targeting and device-specific bid adjustments, and you have a powerful way to reach the right audience at just the right moment.
Microsoft Advertising also shines in this area, offering cross-device conversion tracking that connects user actions across Windows devices, Xbox, and mobile platforms. Its in-market audiences feature is particularly useful, segmenting users based on recent purchase behaviours. This makes it easier to target people actively researching products.
Then there’s Facebook, with its Custom Audiences tool. Thanks to its vast user login data, Facebook excels at matching behaviour across devices. When users log in on multiple devices, the platform connects these patterns, making its lookalike audiences a valuable resource for finding new customers who mirror your most engaged cross-device users.
These native tools provide a strong foundation for effective cross-device tracking, setting the stage for deeper data integration and analysis.
Cross-Device Data Tracking and Integration
Using platform-native tracking offers a distinct advantage over manual cross-device setups. These systems automatically link user accounts across devices, delivering far more accurate attribution than cookie-based methods.
For instance, Google Ads’ cross-device reports give a complete picture of the customer journey. This insight helps you fine-tune budget allocations and optimise bidding strategies across various devices.
Similarly, Facebook’s Conversions API works alongside its pixel to capture cross-device actions, even as privacy standards evolve. This server-side tracking ensures you maintain visibility into customer behaviour, even when browser-based tracking methods face limitations.
Another significant benefit of these native tools is their ability to adapt automatically. As privacy regulations shift or new devices enter the market, these systems update themselves, saving you from manual adjustments.
This seamless tracking feeds directly into advanced analytics, which can drive smarter decision-making.
Analytics-Driven Optimisation and Reporting
The automatic tracking provided by native tools directly supports actionable analytics. These built-in analytics tools offer insights that external solutions often miss, helping you understand performance across every touchpoint. For example, they can reveal which devices are driving initial engagement and which are responsible for final conversions, allowing you to allocate budgets more effectively.
Reports like Google Ads’ path length insights let you quickly adjust bidding strategies based on device-specific behaviours. This helps you fine-tune the timing and frequency of your messaging for each device type.
On the other hand, Microsoft Advertising’s audience insights break down demographics within your cross-device segments. For instance, you can see how different age groups interact on mobiles versus desktops – valuable information for improving your creative strategy.
As highlighted by The PPC Team, using these platform-native features can significantly enhance campaign performance. By leveraging built-in reporting tools, they identify optimisation opportunities and create strategies that improve results across every customer touchpoint.
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5. Track Performance with Cross-Device Reports
Cross-Device Data Tracking and Integration
To truly understand how each device contributes to conversions, it’s essential to track the entire customer journey across multiple devices. This means creating a unified view of user behaviour, no matter where or how they interact with your brand.
Google Analytics 4 makes this possible by linking signed-in user sessions across devices, giving you a complete picture of the customer journey. Similarly, Microsoft Clarity offers tools like heatmaps and session recordings to capture how users interact with your site on different devices.
For even greater accuracy, consider combining methods like server-side tracking through Google Tag Manager, which can help bypass browser restrictions. By integrating these tracking tools, you can ensure your data remains reliable and actionable. Next, we’ll look at how analytics can transform this data into meaningful strategies.
Analytics-Driven Reporting and Insights
Once you’ve gathered robust cross-device data, the next step is turning that information into actionable insights. Cross-device reports can reveal patterns that might be invisible when looking at single-device data alone. For instance, device path analysis shows the typical routes users take before converting, helping you allocate budgets more effectively across various touchpoints.
Tools like Google Ads attribution reports break down conversion journeys by device type, highlighting which devices play a role at different stages. Time-lag reports, for example, can shed light on how long it takes for users to convert on different devices. An e-commerce business might find that mobile users research quickly but prefer completing purchases on desktops. These insights are invaluable for fine-tuning ad scheduling and budget distribution throughout the customer journey.
Another critical area is analysing assisted conversions. Rather than focusing solely on last-click attribution, these reports provide a broader view of campaign performance. For example, you might discover that mobile ads help drive desktop conversions or that social media engagement on tablets leads to direct website visits on smartphones. This expanded perspective ensures you don’t mistakenly cut budgets for channels that play a key supporting role.
Regular performance reviews are also essential. Examining cross-device conversion rates by audience segment can uncover important trends. Different demographics often show unique device preferences. For example, younger users might complete their entire purchase journey on mobile, while older audiences may research on tablets and finalise purchases on desktops. Adapting your campaigns to align with these preferences can significantly improve your results.
The PPC Team highlights the importance of setting up cross-device measurement from the very beginning of a campaign. Their detailed reporting approach identifies which devices attract the highest-value customers, enabling smarter budget allocation and sharper audience targeting across all stages of the customer journey. By leveraging these insights, you can ensure your campaigns are as effective and efficient as possible.
Cross-Platform Conversion Tracking on Google & Facebook Ads
Platform Comparison Table
When deciding on a platform for cross-device segmentation in the UK, understanding the specific features of each option is key to making smart choices about where to allocate your PPC budget. Each platform offers distinct tools and capabilities that can align with different campaign needs.
Google Ads provides three types of reports – Devices, Assisting Devices, and Device Paths – that map user journeys across devices. However, these reports don’t cover mobile app installs, goals imported from Google Analytics, or conversion import data. For UK advertisers, Google Ads supports transactions in GBP and offers multi-currency reporting in manager accounts, using average monthly exchange rates to calculate converted amounts.
LinkedIn Ads, on the other hand, uses on-device conversion tracking, sending anonymised data directly to LinkedIn’s servers. This approach combines observed conversions with predictive modelling to offer a more complete picture. However, LinkedIn’s reporting can take up to three days to reflect iOS conversion data due to delays. Additionally, unlike Google Ads, LinkedIn requires you to set GBP as the currency when the account is created, and this cannot be changed later.
| Feature | Google Ads | LinkedIn Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-Device Reports | Devices, Assisting Devices, Device Paths | On-device conversion tracking with predictive modelling |
| Attribution Processing | Server-side with detailed journey mapping | Client-side processing directly on user devices |
| GBP Currency Support | Full support with multi-currency reporting | Supported, but currency is locked at account creation |
| Reporting Delay | Real-time to 24 hours | Up to 3 days for iOS conversions |
| Coverage | Search, Display, YouTube (excludes app installs) | All LinkedIn ad formats with privacy-focused tracking |
Google Ads has recently introduced new AI-powered measurement solutions, including tools like Google’s tag gateway and improved first-party data strategies. As of mid-July 2023, the platform has moved away from older attribution models – such as first click, linear, time decay, and position-based attribution – shifting entirely to data-driven approaches.
When choosing a platform, consider your audience and campaign goals. Google Ads is ideal for campaigns requiring detailed cross-device journey tracking and diverse traffic sources. In contrast, LinkedIn Ads is better suited for B2B campaigns targeting professional audiences who value privacy-focused tracking, even if it comes with longer reporting delays. By understanding these differences, you can fine-tune your budgeting and messaging strategies, ensuring your cross-device segmentation efforts lead to better PPC performance.
Conclusion
Cross-device segmentation allows you to track and understand user behaviour across smartphones, tablets, and desktops. The five strategies discussed – connecting cross-device data, grouping audiences by device usage, maintaining consistent messaging, using platform-specific features, and analysing performance reports – work together to create campaigns that engage users wherever they are. When applied effectively, these strategies can lead to noticeable improvements in campaign outcomes.
In the UK, advertisers have reported a 12% increase in conversions by implementing cross-device strategies effectively. This aligns with the fact that 82% of TV viewers in the UK use their smartphones while watching TV, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts across devices.
By treating all devices as part of a unified journey rather than separate entities, you can deliver a seamless experience for users. This approach often results in higher click-through rates, enhanced user experience, and increased conversions.
That said, managing cross-device segmentation comes with its challenges, from tracking user data to optimising campaigns. This is where The PPC Team steps in, offering expertise in PPC management, detailed reporting, and highly targeted advertising to ensure your investment delivers results across multiple devices.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to fine-tune your cross-device strategies, conducting a thorough performance audit is a smart first step. It provides the insights needed to build a strong foundation for future success.
FAQs
How does first-party data improve cross-device tracking in PPC campaigns?
First-party data plays a crucial role in improving cross-device tracking for PPC campaigns. With users’ explicit consent, advertisers can link interactions across various devices, making it easier to identify and segment audiences with precision. This results in a smoother, more cohesive customer experience.
When businesses gather data directly from their audience, they can create comprehensive customer profiles, ensure more accurate attribution, and serve ads that are highly relevant across different devices. The result? Better retargeting, enhanced campaign performance, and a stronger return on investment.
How can I ensure consistent messaging across all devices in my PPC campaigns?
To keep your PPC campaign messaging consistent across devices, prioritise cross-device tracking and retargeting. Cross-device tracking helps you monitor users as they move between devices, ensuring your ads remain relevant and aligned with their journey. Meanwhile, retargeting allows you to serve customised messages to users, reinforcing your brand and nudging them closer to conversion.
When you bring these two strategies together, you create a smooth, personalised experience that boosts your campaign’s effectiveness while maintaining consistent messaging across every touchpoint.
Why should you use platform-specific tools for cross-device segmentation in PPC campaigns?
Understanding how users interact with your ads across multiple devices is crucial, and platform-specific tools for cross-device segmentation make this possible. These tools offer detailed insights into user behaviour, allowing you to deliver consistent, personalised messaging throughout their journey.
By using these tools, you can fine-tune your PPC campaigns for more precise targeting. This helps reduce unnecessary ad spend while boosting your chances of securing conversions. The result? A more efficient campaign that provides a smoother, more engaging experience for your audience.
