Your friends from abroad are coming over in a few hours. Tasmania brews great beer but you don’t know exactly where to take them.
Do you drive around looking for bars that serve craft beers in the area?
Or do you pull out your smartphone, go to Google, and search for “Best craft beers in Tasmania?”
If you do the latter, then you are not alone. Research shows that 91% of people use their smartphones to look up information while doing something else. What may appear as a 5-second act can have profound effects if added together with other small moments — so great are the implications that companies are now spending over $100 billion just to reach that person (and millions like him/her) who are looking for best craft beers in Tasmania at this very moment.
Google calls these small moments “micro-moments” and they are about to change the way you market your business online.
So What Are Micro-Moments?
A micro-moment refers to that instant when you pull out your smartphone to learn, discover, watch, buy, or do something. It’s almost like an involuntary reflex triggered by our need to learn, discover, watch, buy, or do something.
These micro-moments are full of intent and often effect a person’s buying decision. For instance, the same study shows that 69% of travellers look for ideas when they are waiting in line. About 50% of those travellers then go on and book their choices using a different medium (e.g. a laptop).
If you own a hotel or Airbnb and your business does not appear on the top five search results, do you think your business will have a shot in thatmicro moment?
Let’s look at retail.
In the same publication, Google reports that 82% of smartphone users check their phones about a certain product while standing inside a store, deciding what to get. And 10% of those end up buying a different product because of the information they found online. In this day and age, a rollercoaster approach to marketing no longer works.
Micro-moments are divided into four categories:
- I-want-to-know
- I-want-to-do
- I-want-to-buy
- I-want-to-go
The 4 Golden Rules of Micro-Moment Marketing
To win, you have to be there whenever your prospects’ needs arise. And then you must be able to deliver quality information and an experience that satisfies their needs in that moment.
Be There
One out of three smartphone users purchase from a company or brand other than the one they originally planned to, because of the information they’re given in the moment they needed it.
Want to capture more buyers by being there when your customers need you? To achieve this, make sure that your business appears first in mobile search results. You can easily check where your business sits right now. Simply pick up your phone and do a quick search using the most searched topics for your business. If you don’t appear first, in the top five, or worse, below the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), then you need to re-evaluate your SEO marketing strategy.
Be Useful
51% of smartphone users have bought a product from a brand other than the one they planned to because they received useful information.
When creating your mobile marketing strategy, it’s important to consider the four micro-moment categories.
I-Want-to-Know-Moments
Create bite-sized content that offers valuable information instead of a 5-page report. Avoid pushing a sale, too!
I-Want-to-Go-Moments
If consumers search for “best hotels in Tasmania”, make sure you’re nearby. This means listing your business in Google Maps and providing as much information as you can.
I-Want-to-Do-Moments
Leverage the power of YouTube. Create how-to content that relates to your product or service.
I-Want-to-Buy-Moments
Analyse consumer data. Use location and device clues to help your prospects seal the deal wherever and however they like. This means giving consumers the ability to buy your product or service using an app, in a nearby brick and mortar store, or through an online store.
Be Quick
40% of shoppers will wait no more than three seconds before moving on to another website or app.
We live in an instant world. If your app or website is too slow or there are too many extra steps before completing a sale, you’ll lose. Eliminate extra steps by adding one-click functionality on your website — one-click sign in, one-click buy, etc.
It’s also vital that your website loads lighting fast! Use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights to analyse your site speed along with Google’s suggestions to improve your site further.
For more information about how you can take advantage of micro-moments for your business, download this free guide from Google.
Be in the Moment
Micro-moments have become the new battleground for marketers. It’s no longer just about winning hearts and minds. It’s now winning hearts and minds with a deadline. And that deadline is now. In the moment.
If you need help creating a marketing strategy that takes advantage of micro-moments, get in touch with us now.