Cashing In On Micro-Moments

Yes, it’s that important. I’m sure a few of you are wondering why you should continue listening to me ramble on about mobile and how important it is. Well, truth be told, I’m a Guru. Google agrees. They even gave me a shirt that says so!

Here’s why you should be paying attention to Mobile: People are using it more than desktop. In 2014 alone, mobile search query growth grew by 47%, while desktop and tablet searches fell by 8%.

mobile…Mobile…MOBILE!

Still don’t think mobile is important? Mobile-only users have grown by 47%, while PC only users decreased by 45%. As of October 2014, 64% of American adults own a smartphone.

In the past few months, Google has started placing a lot of emphasis on “micro-moments.”

Micro-moments are what happens when a user needs to know something and goes to their mobile device to find an answer. I was recently at an event in Google’s NYC offices and one thing that I heard really stuck with me: “Browsers have sessions, people have moments.”

I like that way of thinking when it comes to targeting your audience. They’re people, not machines. Market to them like a person. Know that they may not always be planning on searching for your product, but be there when they need you.

People searching on their mobile devices are full of intent. They are searching because they need something, whether it is a change in life, a replacement for something that is broken, or simply need to learn how to do something.

The important thing is for you to identify the micro-moments that matter to your company or client. What can you offer to someone? Are you selling something or just trying to raise awareness about something in particular? You can’t target those specific moments without knowing what you offer to people and when to offer it.

Now, you may be asking what you can do to reach people who are in those micro-moments. I have some, but not all, of those answers. I may a Guru, but I’m not perfect.

The simple answer is to be visible on mobile devices. Easier said than done, right?

One of the first things to do is get your ads near the first position, or even in it. The top ad position on mobile gets 75% of clicks. You can do this with a combination of bids and mobile bid adjustments.

How do you know what your mobile bid adjustment should be? I know the answer, but I can’t give away all of my Guru knowledge in one blog post!

The next more important thing you can do is make sure all of your ad extensions are active, especially call extensions. Call and location extensions are by far the most important ad extensions for mobile.

Also, if you’re not using call extensions, how are you supposed to use Call-Only Ads, which Google released in February? 70% of mobile searchers have used call buttons, and 57% of all searchers prefer to talk to real people. If you’re not making calling your business easy for your customers, look at how much traffic you’re missing out on.

There are many other ways to reach customers on mobile such as using retargeting audiences but I don’t want to take up too much of your time today. You’ll see another blog post in the future from me about mobile retargeting and the things you can do with that.

For now, I leave you with a stat:

Mobile usage grew 7 times between 2010-2014.

Still think mobile isn’t important to your company?