Cashing in on Micro-Moments Part 2: Google Shopping Becomes Mobile Friendly
In my last blog post, I covered Google’s emphasis on micro-moments. You should be using mobile to grow your business. Last week, Google released even more ways for you to capture those micro-moments, specifically with Google Shopping Campaigns on mobile.
According to Google, mobile devices used before or during shopping trips influenced just under one-trillion dollars worth of in-store sales. That’s 28% of all sales in the United States.
These new features from Google (which I’m about to explain below) will allow companies to better reach shoppers on mobile devices.
Expandable Shopping Ads
1 in 5 people interact with Google Shopping ads on mobile. So Google is giving them an even bigger reason to interact with ads that expand to give the user more information about the product, such as product ratings and availability near them. This feature is rolling out to Chrome on Android first, followed by iOS in later months.
New Shopping Ads
Google is also releasing new types of shopping ads that reflect what the user is searching for. Depending on the user’s search query, such as “best running shoe,” product reviews, or specific questions about an item, the shopping ad will reflect the exact information that the user is searching for.
Local Inventory Ad Prioritization
While Local Inventory Ads are nothing new for Google, the way they will be served to users is changing. When users show local intent, LIAs will now take priority over shopping ads. If you have actual stores near your users, these ads will help you reach users who are showing more interest in purchasing than someone searching for a product only.
Google Now In-Store Card
This is the coolest new feature Google is offering! (In my humble opinion.)
It may not work as well as the others, but I like the full integration between device and store. Overall, I’m a big fan of Google Now and I find myself using it a lot more than I ever thought I would.
When a user is near a store, Google Now will display information, such as sales, closing hours, and other important information. It is also possible to search the store’s inventory and get information on recent price drops on items that have recently been searched.
Deep Linking from Shopping Ads
This feature is not available to all retailers, but is an interesting way for Google to drive traffic to apps. They are working with retailers such as eBay, Flipkart, and Zalando to add deep links from their Shopping Ads to drive users straight to their apps instead of their website. Like I said, this is not available to everyone, but Google will be rolling it out to a larger audience in the coming months.
Buy Now Button
For months, it was speculated that Google was working on a way for users to buy products straight from shopping ads. It was confirmed in late May. This could be a game changer for the way that retailers use shopping ads.
Instead of being taken to the retailer’s site, the user is taken to a product page hosted by Google. This allows users to easily complete the purchase from their mobile device. This is not available to all retailers as it is still in a very early experimentation phase.
Like I said in the last blog post, mobile is too important to ignore and Google continues to reinforce this. I can see the Buy Now button becoming an integral part of all shopping campaigns when it is released to all users.
Are there any features that you are looking forward to more than others?
Interested in reading more about how to leverage micro moments as part of your digital marketing strategy? Check out Part 1 of my series on “cashing in on micro moments” or check out these micro moments examples for B2B campaigns.
To get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as a Google Premier Partner before you reach out.
