By now, if you work in marketing – especially digital marketing, are involved with mobile, or run your own company, chances are you have heard about micro-moments. Google has the stats and data to back-up how important being present in these moments, and addressing the consumer’s needs, are in shaping and influencing consumer decision-making. And the major driver behind micro-moments’ critical role in consumer decision-making is the access to real-time information that mobile has provided consumers.
To illustrate, consider these insights from Google on consumer behavior and mobile:
- 82% of smartphone users turn to their phone to influence a purchase decision while in a store
- 62% of smartphone users are more likely to take action right away toward solving an unexpected problem or new task because they have a smartphone
- 90% of smartphone users have used their phone to make progress toward a long term goal or multi-step process while “out and about”
- 91% of smartphone users turn to their phone for ideas while doing a given task
And with mobile searches having surpassed computers in 2015, these types are of trends are expected to continue to grow.
Given the above, it’s fairly easy to understand the importance of micro-moments and why brands and businesses should consider these moments when thinking about their overall marketing mix.
The bigger question most people involved in those decisions are asking, though, is “Okay, that’s all great, but how do I identify, and more importantly execute, on the micro-moments that apply to my business?”
That’s a great question! For all of the data and insights Google provides into the importance of micro-moments, the solutions they provide for acting on them is mostly top line and generic. Luckily, this is an area Lever Interactive is experienced in, and we will look to provide some guidance here. Below are some action-steps that anyone involved in marketing decisions for any business can utilize to help start uncovering the micro-moments that matter for your business, and how you can ensure you are there for those moments with relevant content.
Getting Ready
Embrace the Power of Consumer Intent
One of the first steps in identifying how to capitalize on micro-moments is to shift focus from consumer identity to consumer intent. A 2015 Millward Brown study found that marketers who focus on consumer demographics risk missing more than 70% of potential mobile shoppers. This is because demographics don’t provide insight into what consumers are looking for in that exact micro-moment or where they are looking to find it. Keeping focus on intent will help to start identifying micro-moments that will then connect with the consumer.
Get Mobile Ready
Consumers are searching on their smartphones in these micro-moments. Marketers must be present in mobile search for these moments, with relevant content that answers their need. Optimizing mobile search campaigns and developing engaging content, within a mobile-optimized framework, are must haves that marketers must prepare for to influence consumers in these micro-moments.
Identifying Your Consumers’ Micro-Moments
Harness the Insights of Google Trends
Marketers can use Google Trends to identify trends and queries within their business category that can help understand the intent of what consumers are looking for. This includes helpful data points including:
- Overall amount of searches over time within a category, or for a particular keyword or company to help identify if interest is increasing or decreasing and if it’s valuable to allocate resources to be there for consumers moving forward.
- Identify where, geographically, consumers are searching for the above information in those Micro-Moments
- Identify the Top and Rising queries associated with a category, keyword, or company to identify new ways in which consumers are searching
Now, the fair question is “how does any of the above help me identify and reach consumers in micro-moments?”
To answer this, let’s use the above screenshots as an example. So, pretend for a moment that you own a furniture repair shop. And that you have been using search to help drive business for the last few years. But recently, new business coming from search has been flat to declining.
If you utilize Google Trends to help identify the problem you would find (per the above screenshot) that searches for ‘furniture repair’ have been flat or declining since 2011.
However, you can see searches around ‘leather furniture’ have now become the top and top-rising searches. Consumers are now searching more specifically in their moments of furniture repair need.
To take this a step further towards true micro-moments, take a look at the two screenshots below. Google Trends helped identify two quickly rising, mobile-centric, in-the-moment searches around ‘how to’ and ‘near me’.
Taking these insights gained from Google Trends, you – as a furniture repair shop owner – can revitalize your paid search campaigns centered around leather, how-to, and near me keywords with a strong mobile presence.
Predictive Search
Building upon the ‘how-to’ and ‘near me’ insights above. Google has identified four key moment types (how-to and near me fit within these four moments):
- I-Want-To-Know Moments
- I-Want-To-Go Moments
- I-Want-To-Buy Moments
- I-Want-To-Do Moments
This is an excellent framework to keep in mind when looking to identify the micro-moments relevant to your category. The question remains, “how do I identify the actual queries consumers are searching within these moment types?”
Luckily, Google has the solution available within a tool you are already using – the Google search bar. Marketers can utilize the four key moment types within Google Predictive Search to identify these impactful queries within their business category. Sticking with the furniture repair example, you can see below how a simple “how to” category search displays multiple relevant query possibilities that can turned into impactful search keywords.
Search Query Performance
The final tactic we will cover should be nothing new to any marketer who is familiar with paid search. But hopefully we can bring a fresh perspective on a familiar paid search element – Search Term Reports.
If you have been running paid search, you probably already know you have insight into what your consumers are searching to find your business. Now is the time to start looking at this data from the perspective of consumer intent and micro-moments.
Let’s take a look at an example, again using furniture repair. This example account was not actively bidding on ‘near me’ searches at the time of the below screenshot. But a simple filter within the Search Term Report shows the impact these searches were having on the account anyway.
Search Term Reports are typically used to ensure advertisers are not matching to unwanted searches. But take the time to review these reports with a micro-moment lens, and you may find relevant consumers you did not know you had.
Putting Your Micro-Moment Strategy into Action
Once you have gone through the above and identified the micro-moment searches that matter to consumers in your category, it’s time to put to those searches to work for your business.
Mobile!
Always be thinking mobile as you begin to build these micro-moment searches into your paid search campaigns.
Develop Micro-Moment Keywords
Turn your newly discovered searches into keywords. Drive efficiency utilizing Exact Match since you know these are actual intent-based searches. Test and expand through the use of Broad Match Modifiers. (And remember to continue to check those Search Term Reports).
Mobile-Specific Ad Copy
Keep consumer intent and mobile in mind when developing ad copy. Your ad copy should not just be a branded carry-over from your desktop campaigns. But rather speak to the intent behind these searches, and how your business can meet the needs of those consumers.
Realizing the Pay-Off
Adopting a micro-moment strategy takes time, effort and dedication. But the stats at the beginning of this article highlight the importance for any business to get their marketing efforts to be there for their consumers in the right place, right time and with the right message and content.
Luckily, Lever is here to help you get started!
Contact Lever Interactive to discuss micro-moments today!