Mobile technology is here to stay. In fact, if leading studies are to be believed, then the number of smartphone users is expected to be more than 5 billion, come 2020. In a world of 7 billion (and a little more) people, that is a staggering number indeed.
Along with the rise of smartphone users all over the globe, the need to revise marketing strategies that focus more on mobile marketing comes into the picture. As consumer behavior gradually changes to focus more on mobile-based buying trends, the time has come to cash in on the newest kid on the block – micro-moments.
What are the micro-moments?
It is a rainy evening in your town, and you suddenly find yourself craving for hot cocoa shakes. You turn to your smartphone and take refuge of the ever-knowledgeable Google to find out great cafes those sell hot cocoa nearby. That is a micro-moment right there. The same applies to when we look for cabs or a gym near you, or any moment when our fingers hover above Google to make a choice for what we need right then.
According to studies on consumer behavior, micro-moments matter a lot when it comes to decision-making. Nowadays, more than two-thirds of smartphone users admit to having the habit of checking their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. That points to a significant portion of your consumers being glued to their phones. What is the better way to increase your brand value than making your brand available at their fingertips right when they need you?
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Know your micro-moments
The leading marketing analytics minds at Google came up with data that says most smartphone users check their phone almost 150 times in a day. Imagine what you could do by cashing in on those times that they checked their phones to find things that they were looking for. It really does open up a world of possibilities, right?
That is precisely what micro-moments are all about. These are moments when consumers at the threshold of making a choice. These bursts of mobile usage allow mobile marketers to identify four vital categories of micro-moments. All of the following thus have oodles of intent, context and a sense of urgency.
1. I-Want-to-Know Moments
When consumers turn to their smartphones out of curiosity rather than with the intent of purchasing, it results in these kinds of micro-moments. They are mostly looking for some information on something they saw in a commercial. They might also be mildly interested in looking up the prices of the next gadget that they have a mind to buy.
2. I-Want-to-Go Moments
These take shape in the form when consumers are looking up the Internet with the intent of locating where they can go to buy something. Be it a product or a service, location-based searches form the crux of these micro-moments for consumers. In fact, Google search data reveals that “near me” searches have increased two-fold in the last two years.
3. I-Want-to-Buy Moments
With around 82% of consumers, cross-checking products and services online while at a store, these micro-moments have enormous potential. If you can provide them with exactly what they are looking for, chances are that they will choose your brand above anything else just for promptness and relevance factors.
4. I-want-to-do Moments
All the “how to” searches on Google lead up to form these kinds of micro-moments. These are the moments when consumers are looking for instructions to help them with doing something. For example, they might be looking for videos that teach them how to frost a muffin or use a stencil to paint their bedroom wall. Making sure that they reach your content in times like these can ensure that you leverage on these micro-moments successfully.
Marketing for micro-moments
The “right now” moments or micro-moments have come to define the way that customers choose between brands, and none other than Google itself supports this with data. A recent study by ThinkWithGoogle says that one out of three smartphone users ends up purchasing from a brand different from the one intended when conducting a search. Digging a little deeper into this, they found out that the brands that scored brownie points with consumers did readily provide what the smartphone users were looking for, especially in terms of content and specificity.
Leveraging on micro-moments is all about being at the right place at the right time with the right type of content. A catchy ad of your all-purpose flour is thus a total misfit if the smartphone user is looking for online medicine stores. Similarly, interrupting an origami how-to blog with an advertisement of tough SUVs on rugged terrain is likely to cause annoyance more than a Eureka moment.
Smart content marketers of the current times are thus all about making their presence felt online at strategic locations, timing their appearance with an equally well-planned initiative. Here are the best ways to craft content marketing strategies for cashing in on micro-moments.
1. Focus on visual content
Infographics and videos are the real deal now. Make sure you have plenty of them when curating content for your consumers. Livening up a beauty blog with makeup tutorials using the newest range of blush that you recently launched can thus be a great idea to capture an “I-want-to-do” micro-moment successfully.
2. List your business locally
Making your presence felt online starts with having a verifiable presence online in the first place. Enlist your business on the local online directories such as Google My Business and Bing Places, to name a few. Once the smartphone users find your business located near them during an “I-want-to-go” micro-moment, you can gear up for some heavy footfall indeed.
3. Take an integrated approach
Smartphones bridge the gap between offline and online these days. Studies say that millennial users have their phone by their side at all times 24*7. Integrating the offline and online by creating quite a splash through content marketing can thus come to help for your business. Increase your visibility across channels and screens, and try your hand at integrating types of content too.
4. Always provide solutions
There’s a reason that the consumers are searching the Internet: they want solutions, and they want them fast. That is the primary objective of all content that you create for leveraging on the micro-moments. Make sure that it provides the exact solutions that your target audience is looking for, and that ensures they will be more likely to choose you over any other brand.
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Final Words
Decoding consumer behavior stats, studies say that 90% of them don’t have a specific brand in mind when they start looking for information online. You can fill that gap with well-timed content placed strategically to make sure that you are a lucky one that gets picked. Focus on content made for making use of micro-moments, and you will be raking in revenue like never before!
This article is written by Joanne Criss. She is the founder of a leading marketing firm in Aberdeen, is also associated with MyAssignmenthelp.co.uk as a custom assignment expert. When not closing deals with her international clients, she provides top-notch assignment help for United Kingdom students. She also enjoys traveling and binge watching her favorite shows on Netflix.
