6. Confidential + Proprietary
Bulgaria has more screens than ever
{
There are 2,2 devices
connected to the internet
per person in Bulgaria in
2015.
This is a 30% growth from
2013.
2,2devices per
person
7. Confidential + Proprietary
Search is mobile
4 out of 10 are using
search engines
via smartphones at
least weekly
…making it crucial for businesses to think mobile.
8. Confidential + Proprietary
The online customer journey
7 out of 10 are
watching online video
on their smartphones
every week
12. Confidential + Proprietary
per day
At bus stop, listen
to new music playlist
8:30am
Buy new tote to
take to Coachella
11:15am
Browse festival
styles on YouTube
7:15pm
On bus, check email
for sales this weekend
5:29pm
At lunch, play Scrabble
while waiting in line
1:33pm
Use flashlight app to
find dropped earring
11:09pm
Use maps to get
directions to
Creole food truck
1:13pm
At work, book
Coachella tickets
11:36am
Wake up and
read news online
6:50am
On the bus, read articles
about Coachella
8:42am
150x
16. Confidential + Proprietary
I-want-to-know
moments
66%
of smartphone users turn
to their phones to look up
something they saw in a
TV commercial
65%
of online consumers
look up more information
online now versus a
few years ago
I-want-to-go
moments
82%
of smartphone users use a
search engine when
looking for a local business
I-want-to-do
moments
100M+
hours of “how-to” content
have been watched on
YouTube so far this year
I-want-to-buy
moments
29%
increase in mobile
conversion rates in
the past year
2X
increase in “near me”
search interest in the
past year
91%
of smartphone users turn
to their phones for ideas
while doing a task
82%
of smartphone users
consult their phones
while in a store deciding
what to buy
20. Confidential + Proprietary
You get a shot at your
competitor's customers
Many consumers aren’t
brand committed
Being there drives
brand awareness
Be There
Showing up gets your brand in the game to be
chosen, not just seen
Showing up in
mobile search ad
results can
increase unaided
brand awareness
by an impressive
6.9 percentage
points, or 46%
of smartphone users
have discovered a
new company or
product when
conducting a search
on their smartphones
smartphone users have
purchased from a company
or brand other than the one
they were seeking because
of information provided in
the moment they needed it
23. Confidential + Proprietary
of consumers say that regularly
getting useful information from an
advertiser is the most important
attribute when selecting a brand
of smartphone users have
bought from a brand other than
their intended one because the
information provided was useful
of smartphone users say they're
more likely to buy from companies
who customize mobile information to
their location
Without utility in the moment, not only will
consumers move on, they actually might not
ever come back
Be Useful
25. Confidential + Proprietary
I-Want-to-Go Moments
Be Useful
Action: Use location signals to highlight relevant
locations, store inventory, and driving directions
71%
of smartphone users
say they’ve used a store
locator to find a shop
location
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Insert Home
Depot “how to”
collection
YouTube Screen
Shot
I-WANT-TO-DO
MOMENTS
Home Depot created a how-to video series on YouTube that
helped consumers get things done around the house.
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I-Want-to-Buy Moments
Be Useful
Action: Empower purchases in-store, on mobile, via
a call center, or across devices
58%of smartphone users are
more likely to buy from
companies whose mobile
sites or apps allow them to
make purchases quickly
29. Confidential + Proprietary
of smartphone users will immediately
switch to another site or app if it’s too
slow or not user-friendly enough
of customers will abandon a retail
or travel site that takes over
3 seconds to load
Dissatisfied visitors will never
return to a website where
problems have occurred
If speed thrills, friction kills
Be Quick
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Provide alternatives to
finish the transaction
Implement one-click
functionality
Design efficient
forms
Action: Eliminate Steps
Be Quick
67%
of smartphone users who
switch to another site or app
will do so because it takes
too many steps to purchase
or get desired information
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Put calls-to-action for
primary activities in a
prominent spot
Be Quick
61%
of smartphone users are
more likely to buy from
mobile sites and apps that
customize information to
their location
Use customers’
past behavior
Take advantage of
built-in GPS capabilities
Action: Anticipate Needs
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Be Quick
47%
of consumers expect a page to
load in 2 seconds or less
Evaluate mobile site load time
Action: Load like Lightning
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of consumers do
research before
entering a store
of people say they use
multiple screens for
everyday activities, such
as booking a hotel or
shopping for electronics
of smartphone
users turn to their
devices to help
them make a
product decision
when in stores
Digital drives people
in store
Mobile is the new
shopping assistant
People purchase across
screens
Micro-moments have fragmented the
consumer journey
Connect the Dots
38. Confidential + Proprietary
Proprietary + Confidential
Gain insight in the
research behaviour of
today’s online shopper
42%
64%
online shoppers use video as part
of their pre-purchase research
use YouTube to find products
32%
of people that watch video on their
phones report visiting YouTube to
help with a purchase while in store
or on a brand’s website
Sources: Think With Google 2014, Google/IPSOS Brand Building on Mobile Survey, February 2015
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UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
BUILD INCREMENTAL INSIGHTS FROM DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS
ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE
ACROSS DEVICES
Conversion
Generic
Search
Brand
Search
WITHIN CHANNELS
Display Conversion
ACROSS CHANNELS
Mobile
Search
Conversion
Desktop
Search
Desktop
Search
Store
Visit
Conversion
Search
40. Confidential + Proprietary
An adaptation of Avinash Kaushik’s
See/Think/Do audience-centric business framework to drive your thinking
about gaining a better understanding of today’s shopper journey
SEE/THINK/DO/CARE FRAMEWORK
Broadest addressable
users
Goal:
see and know
my brand
Users thinking about
purchasing
Goal:
consider my brand’s
offerings
Users ready to
purchase now
Goal:
purchase my brand’s
products/services
SEE THINK DO
CARE
Users who have
purchased twice
Goal:
purchase again,
become loyal to my brand
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CERTAIN MEDIA REACHES CERTAIN AUDIENCES ONLY AT CERTAIN STAGES
D I S P L A Y
S E O S E O
S E M
STANDARD ASSUMPTIONS OF MEDIA
A F F I L I A T E S
SEE THINK DO
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BREAKING DOWN ASSUMPTIONS
MAKE THE OMNICHANNEL SHIFT
SEE THINK DO
S O C IA LS O C I A L
S E O S E O S E O
D I S P L A Y D I S P L A Y D I S P L A Y
Y O U T U B E Y O U T U B E Y T
S E M S E MS E M
A F F I L I A T E S
E M A I LE M A I L
43. Confidential + Proprietary
PAID MEDIA PLAYS MANY ROLES
WIDE SCOPE OF TARGETING & OBJECTIVES
DEMO / PSYCHO / SOCIAL
IN MARKET / SIMILAR AUDIENCES /
TOPICS / AFFINITY / REMARKETING
REMARKETING / CONTEXTUAL
PRODUCT-DRIVEN / OFFERS
YOUTUBE / FIRST WATCH
DEMO/PSYCHO/SOCIAL/INTEREST CATEGORY
IN MARKET / SIMILAR AUDIENCES /
TOPICS / AFFINITY / REMARKETING
PRODUCT
VIDEO
BRAND / PRODUCT
LOWER FUNNEL
GENERIC
INDUSTRY
YOUTUBE SEARCH / CATEGORY GENERIC /
MID FUNNEL
SEE THINK DO
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Ratios tell us the role of the channel
Assist
Ratios 5.015.0 0.30.5
Organic
Search
Direct
0.8 0.63.1
More likely to be assist touchpoint
9.0
Email
Brand Paid
Search
Display & Video:
Upper Funnel
Display & Video:
Mid-Funnel Paid Search:
Generic
0.7
Referral
Display & Video:
Lower Funnel
47. Confidential + Proprietary
5.015.0 0.30.5
Organic
Search
Direct
0.8 0.63.19.0
Email
Brand Paid
Search
Display & Video:
Upper Funnel
Display & Video:
Mid-Funnel Paid Search:
Generic
0.7
Referral
Display & Video:
Lower Funnel
More likely to be last touchpoint
Assist
Ratios
Ratios tell us the role of the channel
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Measure more
than just app
installs
Account for multi-
device behavior
Make sure
mobile gets
credit for call
conversions
Connect the Dots
40%
of smartphone users
who research on their
mobile device go on to
purchase on a desktop
Action: Measure Across Screens
49. Confidential + Proprietary
Connect the Dots
57%
of people are more likely to
visit a store when they use
mobile search to help make
a decision
Measure how digital influences
offline behaviors
Action: Measure Across Channels
50. Confidential + Proprietary
Be There
Be Useful
Connect the Dots
Be Quick
❑ Tap into Your Audience’s Passions
❑ Create Snackable, Educational Content
❑ Use Location Signals
❑ Provide How-To Video Content
❑ Empower Purchases on All Channels and Devices
❑ Identify your Moments
❑ Understand your Share of Intent
❑ Eliminate Steps
❑ Anticipate Needs
❑ Load like Lightening
❑ Measure Across Screens
❑ Measure Across Channels
Micro-Moments Checklist
Editor's Notes
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
We would begin with an overview of Online Consumer Trends.
Afterwards, Aleks will introduce you to the concept of what we, at Google, call Micro-Moments.
We would then finish off with two case studies.
To begin, I would like you to think about a business owner that you know. Think of someone who is really passionate about what they are doing. For this person, understanding consumers and their online behaviors would be a crucial task in today’s fast changing online environment.
This understanding rarely come as an epiphany - it is normally a time-consuming process that can cost your business precious resources.
This puts Google in the unique position to be the much needed partner business owners are looking for, in order to be able to focus on what really matters - running their businesses.
Insights can help you create more effective business solutions, using strategies informed by real consumer truths - whether they’re brand strategies, creative ideas, product innovations, or media plans.
The trouble is: Insights are notoriously hard to pin down. Ask 100 people and you’ll get 100 different definitions of an “insight”. What’s clear is that when brands look to Google for help with insights, they’re not just looking for our data.
Insights are based on data, but are novel, credible and actionable enough for them to unlock new opportunities. A great insight is UNEXPECTED YET OBVIOUS too, and tying it to a clear “so what?” An insight must be able to inspire action.
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
Google & YouTube have become the biggest database ever built on consumers intention. They provide us with a unique source of aggregated data to learn about consumers’ feelings, emotions, and passions.
Digital has changed that paradigm; Google in particular has exploded the scale, shrunk the time and provided a window into observed behavioral truths instead of self-reported answers.
We are now in the position to glean insights from people without ever asking a single question. We’ve never had so much visibility into humanity’s collective consciousness.
Your guide to winning the shift to mobile
Take the often quoted stat that most people check their phones 150 times a day. Pair it with another that says users spend 177 minutes on their phones per day, and you get a pretty fascinating reality: mobile sessions that average a mere one minute and 10 seconds long, dozens and dozens of times per day.
It’s hard to believe there’s time for anything else. The underlying driver of this change is the smartphone.
So what are consumers doing on their smartphone?
Behind these mobile bursts are countless interactions, like texting a spouse with a carpool update, dropping a quick work email while waiting in the ATM line, or posting a Bermuda vacation photo to make friends jealous. These types of moments have personal value, but they’re not necessarily moments when we’re looking to engage with brands.
And if a brand tries to butt in with a distracting or irrelevant message? Swipe.
Because consumers are in control it’s easy for them to ignore brands that try to interrupt their experience.
But in other moments, we’re very open to the influence of brands. These are the moments when we want help informing our choices or making decisions. For marketers, these moments are an open invitation to engage. And they’re the moments marketers have to be ready for.
At Google, we call these micro-moments. They're the moments when you turn to a device—often your smartphone—to take action on whatever you need or want right now. They’re the I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-buy, and I-want-to-do moments that are loaded with intent, context, and immediacy.
Let me give you an overview of the four different types of micro moments
Later, we are going to come back to them.
Sources:
Stat #1 in I want to watch moment (53%): Source: The Consumer Barometer Survey 2014 / 2015. Base: Internet users (accessing via computer, tablet or smartphone) and watched online video in the past week. Answer is based on a recent online video session
Stat #2 in I want to watch moment (YouTube is #1 platform): https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/youtube-insights-stats-data-trends-vol4_research-studies.pdf
Rest of the stats: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/infographics/4-new-moments-every-marketer-should-know.html
Okay - you’re ready to be there in the micro-moments that matter to your brand. But how do you get started, since there are millions of potential moments? A good guiding principle is this: be there across all stages of the consumer journey, not just when someone is ready to buy.
To accomplish this, consider five key moments types that represent the full range of needs people have.
I-want-to-watch-what-I’m-into moments: this is the moment when someone is looking to explore their passions and be entertained through engaging content.
I-want-to-know-moments: this is the moment when someone is exploring or researching, but not yet in purchase mode. They want useful information and maybe even inspiration, not the hard sell.
I-want-to-go-moments: this is the moment when people are looking for a local business or are considering buying a product at a local store. Being there means getting your physical business in their consideration set in that moment.
I-want-to-do-moments: These moments may come before or after the purchase. Either way, these are “how to” moments when people want help with getting things done or trying something new. Being there with the right content is key.
I-want-to-buy-moments: These are huge, of course. Someone is ready to make a purchase and may need help deciding what or how to buy. You can’t assume they’ll seek you out; you have to be there with the right information to seal the deal.
Marketers obsess over “being there” for their consumers. Whether it’s share at the store shelf or share of voice on TV, these are metrics used to judge how present a brand actually is. But what about on mobile, where there are billions of micro-moments happening every day? Are you devoting the same amount of thought to your mobile marketing strategy and being there whenever consumers' needs arise?
When someone picks up their mobile device, chances are they want to learn, do, find, or buy something right now. Whether in the form of searches, app interactions, mobile site visits, or even YouTube video views, these micro-moments happen constantly. You need to be there for them.
Sources:
51%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
1 in 3: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
46%: Google/Ipsos MediaCT, Search for Brands Industry Research Meta-analysis, 2013–2015
Being there on mobile can drive big results and build a competitive edge for your brand. Here’s why:
Many consumers aren’t brand-committed. 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new brand or product when conducting a search on their smartphones
You get a shot at your competitor’s customers. One in three smartphone users has purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because of information provided in the moment they needed it.
Your presence can drive brand awareness goals. Studies have shown that you can increase unaided brand awareness by 46% (or 6.9 percentage points) simply by showing up in mobile search ad results.
Ultimately, showing up gets your brand in the game to be chosen, not just seen.
By being there, your brand has the chance to address consumer needs in the moment, help move someone along their decision journey, and deepen their loyalty. That’s how brands earn their stripes with mobile.
There are two important steps brands need to take to be there.
First you need to identify the key micro-moments for your brand
Second, you need to know and grow your share of intent
Fiat Case Study
Fiat did a great job identifying the exact micro-moment they could be there when they reintroduced the brand to the American Market after a 28 year hiatus.
They brought with them the Fiat 500, a small city car that was already a runaway success in Europe. But, they had a big challenge. After a 27-year absence, the FIAT brand was not recognized in the world's largest automobile market with a new generation of consumers, and they needed to drive awareness for the all-new Fiat 500 without spending big on mass media.
At the time, though, gas prices were spiraling and the world was in recession. Americans' interest in small, efficient, city cars was at an all-time high.
FIAT saw the trend, and any of its perceived disadvantages quickly became a strength. They deployed Search ads on category terms like 'small car' and 'city car' - to reach people at their micro-moments. It was brilliant: a large audience who wanted exactly what they were selling, reached at exactly their moments of interest.
FIAT did something else smart: their ads took advantage of people's context. On desktop, they took people to their car configurator. The Fiat 500 is available in literally a half million exciting color combinations, and customizing it was part of the fun. On mobile, they pointed people to the nearest dealership, and made the sale in person.
The results were tremendous. FIAT saw a 127% increase in unaided recall and the Fiat 500 became a huge success in North America. Most importantly, the brand is back.
We’ve discussed strategies on how to Be There but if you want to win the hearts and minds... and dollars of consumers in their I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do and I-want-to-buy moments, you'll need to do more than just show up.
You need to be useful and meet their needs in those moments. That means connecting people to what they’re looking for in real time and providing relevant information when they need it.
And with mobile, doing so is both more critical and more achievable than ever. Why? With mobile we’re able to add a rich understanding of context to consumers’ underlying intent. That context provides critical insights into consumer behavior – and therefore powerful clues for how you can be truly relevant and useful for people in their moments of need.
Sources:
73%: When Path to Purchase becomes Path to Purpose, Google/TNS/Ogilvy, US, June 2014.
51%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
61%: Google / Ipsos MediaCT, August 2015, N=1291 Online smartphone users 18+
Being useful in micro-moments moments matters. Especially on mobile, where people have virtually no patience. Being Useful helps you win customers and move your bottom line.
Take the fact that 73% of consumers say that regularly getting useful information from an advertiser is the most important attribute when selecting a brand.
Or the fact that 51% of smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because the information provided was useful.
Or that 61% of smartphone users say they’re more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps customize information to their location.
And the consequences of not being useful are serious too. Without utility, consumers will not only move on in the moment, they actually might not ever come back. Only 9% of users say that they will stay on a mobile site or app if it doesn’t satisfy their needs (e.g., to find information or navigate quickly).
Let’s dig into the 5 moments we introduced in the beginning and explore how brands can use contextual signals like device, time of day and location to meet consumers with useful content that matches their moment.
Consumers who don't find you helpful will move on, pronto
Consider that 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store, and 91% of of them turn to their phones for ideas in the middle of a task. These micro-moments are critical touchpoints within today’s consumer journey, and when added together, they ultimately determine how that journey ends.
Since we can take action on any need or curiosity at any time, the consumer decision journey has been fractured into hundreds of tiny decision-making moments at every stage of the “funnel” — from inspiring vacation plans to buying a new blender to learning how to install that new shelf.
Realtor.com’s marketing team realized that searching for home listings is only one step in a long - and often confusing - homebuying journey so they recently revamped their content strategy by introducing a helpful video series for new home buyers.
Using a series of short, snackable videos, they have Elizabeth Banks explain how to buy a home in “plain-english.”
The two-minute videos resonated with consumers, driving 400k YouTube views in the first three weeks.
What I love about this campaign is the Realtor team didn’t start with their home listings and try and build a campaign around them. Instead, they started with a consumer need, and asked themselves how could be useful.
Source:
71%: Google/Nielsen Mobile Path to Purchase, Nov 2013
In the case of I-want-to-go moments, consumers are looking for a connection to the physical world.
As mentioned earlier, 61% of smartphone users say they’re more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps customize information to their location. That could mean, for example, showing a nearby store where a particular searched-for product is in stock. Even more, 71% of smartphone users say they’ve used a store locator to find a shop location.
Give them what they want by using location signals to highlight relevant locations, store inventory and driving directions in your ads and mobile site, and also within your app content.
Proximity matters to these mobile consumers, and winning the I-want-to-go moments drives real results for both your bottom line and brand.
Lets look at examples of how brands have been useful across the I want to go moment.
Take Home Depot, which recently launched a video series to help consumers get things done around the house.
Home Depot marketers were ahead of the curve in figuring out years ago that do-it-yourselfers were turning to their phones to learn everything from “how to paint interior walls” to “how to build an outdoor fire pit.”
They’re right: Over 100M hours of how-to content has been watched on YouTube in North America alone in the past few months. In fact, 1 in 3 bought something based on a how-to video on YouTube.
And that’s how Home Depot’s found their sweet spot. To be more useful in these I-want-to-do moments, Home Depot began launched a video series to help consumers get things done around the house and built out a better content marketing strategy by creating a “how-to” collection on YouTube.
Today, the collection has hundreds of videos, with the top 10 videos each reaching a million views or more. The full Home Depot “how-to” collection has received more than 43 million views.
Source:
58%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
This is "I need to buy cough syrup for my 5-year-old." "I want the same shade of lipstick I got last time." Thanks to mobile, I-want-to-buy moments can happen anytime and anywhere: in the makeup aisle, in the kitchen, and on the street. That means how a consumer wants to buy from you will vary depending on their context and intent.
Clues like location, time, and device will help you be useful in the moment and give consumers the information they need to make the purchase. Then it’s about making it seamless and easy to complete the sale.
Your customer should be empowered to purchase in whatever way suits their needs, whether in-store, on mobile, via call center, or across devices.
In I-want-to-buy moments, speed counts. 58% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps allow them to make purchases quickly.
“I want it NOW.”
That sounds like something a 2 year old toddler would say, but it's also what today’s consumers are saying. They want immediate gratification, and they’re making decisions faster than ever before.
People's patience for a cumbersome and clumsy mobile site or app is extremely low. They expect to move through a brand’s mobile experience at the speed of light.
Sources:
29%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
If speed thrills, friction kills. 29% of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site or app if it doesn't satisfy their needs (e.g., they can't find information or it's too slow). In fact, of those who switch, 70% do so because it takes too long to load.
How long is too long? It is enough to say that 40% of shoppers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a retail or travel site. And what’s worse, being slow can have a negative impact where 1 in 5 dissatisfied visitors will never return to a website where problems have occurred.
Source:
67%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, U.S., August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
The first step is to Eliminate Steps in your consumer’s experience with your mobile site or app
Consider this: 67% will switch if if takes too many steps to purchase or get desired information.
Think about the goal of your mobile site or app: Are you trying to drive engagement, mobile commerce, registrations, calls or visits? Start with that goal and think of how you can cut the number of steps a user must take to reach it.
Here are some ways to eliminate steps:
Implement one-click functionality. One-click functionality is the fastest way to streamline mobile sales or registration.
Help the user fill in forms. Use analytics data to optimize form fills, use features like drop down menus and contextual keyboards to eliminate extensive typing.
Provide alternatives to finish the transaction. Cut steps using the native functionality of the phone: make product pages or videos easy to share across devices, offer GPS-powered driving directions, and display click-to-call buttons.
[example of “Provide Alternative to Finish Transaction” tip]
Fashion discount retailer Beyond the Rack was faced with low mobile conversion rates for its online store. To address this issue, the brand switched the primary goal of its mobile site from a full transaction to a simpler aim: an email capture. Now customers who register on mobile, but buy on desktop after receiving an email, are credited as mobile buyers. By facilitating this kind of organic cross-device shopping behavior, Beyond the Rack grew its mobile-driven revenues to 50% of total revenues.
Source:
61%: Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Wave 3, Google/Ipsos, US, August 2015, n=1291 online smartphone users 18+
Along with Eliminating Steps, being quick also means knowing what your customer wants before they want it.
First, check out your top mobile content and searches in analytics. What are your customers doing on your mobile site? Then try the following tips.
Put the big stuff first. The calls-to-action for the primary activities on your site or app should be in a prominent spot on your homepage, with secondary actions hidden behind menus.
Be location-aware. 61% of smartphone users say they're more likely to buy from mobile sites and apps that customize information to their location. Take advantage of the built-in GPS capabilities of smartphones by showing customers stores near them where a product of their interest is in stock.
Look at past behavior. If a consumer has already been to your company’s website, made a purchase or left items in their shopping cart, you know a lot about their needs. Segment your customers by their past behavior, and you can present them with right messaging, direct them to your call center or store, and make their experience frictionless.
[Example of “Put the Big Stuff First” tip]
Virgin America recently Anticipated needs by redesigning their website to focus on what mattered most to their customers. They focused their mobile experience on one simple call to action: “book a flight”.
They made room for a single call to action by steering away from offers or distractions that clutter the booking process so their consumers on the go could quickly and easily book travel.
Today, their mobile customers can book a flight twice as fast.
Source:
47%: Akamai Technologies - 2014 Consumer Web Performance Expectations Survey
The most thoughtful mobile UI in the world will still fall short if your mobile site takes too long to load.
How long is too long? As mentioned earlier, 40% of shoppers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a retail or travel site. And 47% of consumers expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less.
Meet these high expectations by keeping your technical backend up to snuff. You can check out the PageSpeed Insights tool to rate your site’s load time and generate custom recommendations to increase your site’s speed.
Analyze the mobile performance of your site compared to your desktop site too. Share this report with your technical team to help them with ideas and concrete steps on what to improve.
Walmart is a great example of how a company improved mobile performance with faster load times. In fall of 2014, visitors to Walmart’s mobile site were confronted with a blank screen for 7.2 seconds before content was loaded. A year later, the company had reduced page load time to 2.9 seconds.
Walmart.com shaved more than four seconds from its load time by removing several barriers that had been impeding the page from rendering: JavaScript blocking, slow custom fonts, and unoptimized image files that had to be downloaded.
In the end, for every one second of improvement, Walmart.com saw conversions increase by up to 2%.
Source: State of the Union Page Speed & Performance,” Radware, Spring 2015.
Brands win micro-moments by being there, being useful, and being quick. Make sure your marketing strategy is up for the challenge by reframing how you measure and breaking down silos.
While all channels matter, mobile drives the digital bus today. It has become the connective tissue across the online and offline world, driving valuable actions like store visits and phone calls that directly impact your bottom line.
Consider this: When people use mobile search to help make a decision, they are:
57% more likely to visit a store
40% more likely to make a phone call
51% more likely to make a purchase
Source:
90%: Google/IPSOS, The New Multi-Screen World,” August 2012
87%: Google/IPSOS, “Digital Impact on in-store shopping”, US October 2014
82%: Google/Ipsos, "Consumers in the Micro-Moment" study, March 2015, United States
And it doesn’t stop there. Micro-moments have fragmented the consumer journey. 90% of people say they use multiple screens for everyday activities, 87% of consumers do research before entering a store and 82% of smartphone users turn to their devices to help them make a product decision when in stores.
As micro-moments, especially on mobile, fragment the consumer journey and create new forms of engagement, they also challenge our assumptions about the value of “touchpoints” across media.
Consumers move seamlessly across many devices en route to conversion, so credit can’t just be given to the device in use when the "buy" button was clicked. That undervalues mobile’s role in the big picture.
Mobile calls for a more ambitious goal: to actually connect the dots between all screens, channels, and media types.
The point is, You don’t have mobile customers and desktop customers. You just have customers.
To rebuild your strategy, reframe your measurements. Here’s how you can connect the dots of micro-moments in three ways:
Measure Across Screens
Measure Across Channels
Source:
40%: Google/IAB “Our Mobile Planet”, May 2013
Most businesses still measure conversions and cost per acquisition separately for mobile devices and desktop. A full 40% of enterprises still go by first-touch/last-touch attribution when measuring marketing and media performance. When viewed in isolation, these metrics won’t show you the larger role mobile
plays in your business.
Don't let these traditional metrics distract you from what's really important: sales, revenues, and the bottom line. Your KPIs should measure the sum of all of your digital marketing inputs against profit contribution. In fact, 40% of smartphone users who research on their mobile device go on to purchase on a desktop.
Don't just measure the immediate response to the last campaign seen before making a purchase. For example, if you test an increase in your mobile bids, look at how your account performs overall as a result of this change. The key point is to stop viewing your mobile and desktop conversions separately.
Here are three ways to start connecting the dots across screens.
1) Account for multi-device behavior. As mentioned earlier, 90% of people say they use multiple screens for everyday activities such as booking a hotel or shopping for electronics.
It’s critical to include this multi-device behavior in your attribution strategy. If you don’t, you risk overinvesting in the device where the final conversion occurred or missing out on opportunities to win the sale.
Advertisers around the world have seen conversions rise when they pay attention to cross-device results. For example, U.S. retailers see 16% more search ad conversions when cross-device data is included.
2) Phone calls are important―don’t hang up on them. Mobile search will generate 73 billion calls to businesses in 2018, up from 30 billion in 2013, according to estimates from BIA/Kelsey. Mobile phone calls typically convert at higher rates than website visits, especially for businesses with complex products, like insurance or credit cards. Make sure that mobile gets full or partial credit for those call conversions. That includes those from clicks that led the customer to your website and then on to a call from a mobile phone. Simply put, a mobile call is a mobile conversion.
3) Measure more than just app installs. Even if their purchases don't happen on your app, your brand’s app users are high-value customers, so treat them that way. Don't just count installs and pat yourself on the back. Ask yourself how you can provide useful content and functionality to engage this user base to drive incremental transactions and sales.
Even if the sale itself doesn’t happen on a mobile device, that doesn’t mean mobile didn’t play a role. Think about all the ways consumers use mobile to connect with your brand. They tend to look for prices, sizes, or reviews. Or they look to get store directions, download an app, or call a business directly.
These are critical micro-moments to measure—and win—because they can ultimately contribute to a consumer’s decision to buy. Almost one trillion dollars in U.S. retail sales were influenced by mobile last year alone.
To begin measuring more types of mobile conversions, start with your Estimated Total Conversions report in AdWords. It helps you measure the full impact of your digital spend across mobile and desktop, on sites and in apps, and even in stores.
Source:
57%: Google/Nielsen Life360 Mobile Search Moments Q4 2012
Foot traffic in retail stores continues to decline. This past year alone it’s decreased by over 7%. Yet during that same period, retailers have seen in-store purchases rise. Why? Consumers visited less, but they knew more about what they wanted when entering the store, because 87% of consumers do research before entering a store.
In fact, 57% of people are more likely to visit a store when they use mobile search to help make a decision.
Measuring how digital influences offline behaviors can reveal insights about your valuable customers and how they purchase.
Mobile is our moment of truth as marketers.
It’s fundamentally changed consumer behavior, raising our expectations for speed and relevance to new highs. Mobile has become our most important screen, and in the process, it’s helped open up millions of moments to connect with people in meaningful ways - at the exact moments when they need us most.
Our mission is to help you win these moments that matter.
Here is a checklist summarizing all the steps you can take to identify and succeed in micro-moments.
We only succeed when you do, so I hope you'll use Google data to identify your moments, follow our Be There, Be Useful, Be Quick and Connect the Dots guidelines, ask us for help and let us know where we can do more.
