Micro-moments are the new battleground in mobile marketing for brands. Those moments are times when smartphone users turn to their phones for help and information. Consumers use their phones to find a restaurant, learn how to install a faucet, or purchase a new jacket. These micro-moments are open invitations for brands to engage, Google states in its report, Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile.
Successful marketers will be ready to seize the micro-moment.
People are attached to their smartphones, especially young people: 68% say they check their phone within 15 minutes of waking in the morning, and 30% admit they become anxious if they don’t have their phone on them, 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases in a store.
In the past year alone, websites in the U.S. have seen a 20% increase in mobile’s share of online sessions, 18% decrease in time spent per visit, and a 29% increase in mobile conversion rates. Few smartphone users care which brand provides their solution. They just want results quickly.
Essential Mobile Marketing Ingredients
Google offers three main points for winning micro-moments.
Be there. Anticipate the micro-moments for users in your industry, and then commit to being there to help when those moments occur.
Be useful. Be relevant to consumers’ needs in the moment and give them the answers they seek.
Be quick. They’re called micro-moments for a reason. A mobile experience must be fast and frictionless. Slow load times and multiple steps can destroy the customer’s experience.
Case Studies of Successful Mobile Marketing
Case studies exemplify what Google means. After Red Roof Inn learned that flight cancellations were leaving 90,000 passengers stranded every day, its marketing team developed a way to track flight delays in real time and trigger targeted search ads for its hotels near airports. Ads stated messages along the lines of “Stranded at the airport? Come stay with us!” The results: a 60% increase in bookings across non-branded search campaigns.
Home Depot realized that many people turned to YouTube videos to learn how to complete home improvement projects. They are more likely to watch the videos on smartphones than desktop computers. Therefore, the retailer published hundreds of do-it-yourself videos on YouTube. The result: Home Depot videos have received 43 million views. Its top 10 videos have reached a million views or more each.
In fall of 2014, visitors to Walmart’s mobile site saw a blank screen for 7.2 seconds before content was loaded. Walmart.com removed JavaScript blocking, slow custom fonts and unoptimized image files that had to be downloaded. It reduced page load time to 2.9 seconds within a year. For every one second of improvement, conversions increase by up to 2%.
The Many “Moments of Truth”
According to Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group, the customer journey includes a series of micro-moments of truth: when consumers first research a topic; when they form an impression after researching the product; the complete consumer experience over time (not really a micro-moment); and when they post reviews and share their experiences with the product. The review is the ultimate micro-moment of truth, Solis says, encapsulating all previous moments.
Bottom Line: As more people access the Internet with smartphones, mobile marketing has become a priority for brands. When smartphone users seek answers and solutions on the Web during micro-moments, marketers have an opportunity to present their products to them. Brands that seize those micro-moments and provide a frictionless customer experience will win the mobile marketing battle.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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