Why People Search & The Key Take-Aways for Your Marketing

Question: Why do your customers and prospects search on their smartphones and why should you care?

Answer:

When one of your prospects experiences a momentary impulse to conduct a search on their smartphone, you want to be ready. The impulse can be based on a whim, a half-baked idea, a fleeting desire, or a carefully-planned action. A thirst to know. A want, a need that comes and goes. These moments are what Google calls micro moments.

According to Google researchers, there are four reasons people conduct searches via their smartphones, as follows:

1. Want-to-know:The searcher seeks information to satisfy curiosity or as a precursor to one of the other three reasons below.

Fact:?66% of smartphone users use their phones to find information on something they saw in a TV commercial

Key Take-Away for Your Marketing:?For your articles, blogs and other online content, take the long view. Educate your prospects. Sometimes you don’t need to immediately try for the sale. By informing them in a useful or entertaining way, they’ll be back to your site soon. Pro tip: Always include a “call to action” to entice them to learn more from you directly.

2. Want-to-go:They are ready to walk, ride or drive to another location – maybe yours!

Fact:?There has been a significant increase in “near me” searches over the past few years

Key Take-Away for Your Marketing:?With the exception of pure e-commerce businesses, all companies should capitalize on the local factor. Be local, be available. Let your geographically-close prospects know how to physically reach you. Your contact page should clearly list your address, directions and/or a map.

3. Want-to-do:The user wants to get active, get involved, and participate in some aspect of life more directly.

Fact:?91% of smartphone users turn to their phones for ideas while engaged in some activity

Key Take-Away for Your Marketing:?We humans are action-oriented creatures. We love cat videos, we enjoy action movies, we like to people-watch. Think about what kinds of content you can add to your website, ads, and non-digital assets alike that encourage action. Pro tip: Add more videos to your site.

4. Want-to-buy:The Holy Grail of online marketing is when the user wants to buy right now. This is potentially the most valuable type of search if you offer the goods and services they seek at the right price.

Fact:?82% of smartphone users look at their phones while in a store, deciding what to buy

Key Take-Away for Your Marketing:?Make sure that your website’s “conversion path” is clear. This means that your users should be able to immediately navigate to the part of your site that gets them where they can make informed buying decisions. Pro tip: Send Web traffic from ads for specific products directly to a product-centric landing page rather than to a general page.

The best marketing is the most targeted marketing. The better that your brand, your message, and your creative match up with the thoughts and motivations of your prospects, the better your chance of a conversion (i.e., sale, inquiry, download, donation, etc.). It benefits you to know why your prospects do what they do.

You can find research references for the “facts” and more info on micro moments from Google here -?4-new-moments-every-marketer-should-know

Ready to take the next steps? Contact MindEcology?or call us at 512-572-0535.