Business Plan Templates
Use Google Trends to identify new customers interests
Use Google Trends data to identify what customers are interested in right now. Tweak and update your products accordingly.
Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice president of ads, predicts that ‘micro moments’ will change advertising, in particular advertising on mobile devices.
Usually I ignore marketing predictions. But this time I agree.
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On the Think with Google newsletter, Mr. Ramaswamy gives an example:
“Let’s say you have guests coming over any minute and you want to whip up a quick bowl of guacamole. Do you go to a bookshelf and look for a recipe somewhere in the stacks? Do you call your mom on the phone or, do you pull out your phone, hit a few buttons, and quickly pull up a how-to video? Well, assuming you do the latter, you’re far from alone.
Google’s research found that 91% of smartphone users look up information on their smartphone while right in the middle of a task.
Getting guacamole tips from your phone may seem like a very small moment, but add all these small moments together and you’ve got a major shift, with profound implications for people who are trying to reach that harried cook and the billions more like her.”
Their research uncovered another change in the way people consume media:
Predictable, periodic media sessions have been replaced by numerous short bursts of digital activity throughout the day.
Sound familiar? Isn’t that what we’re all doing?
“The old model was a four-course meal in the same restaurant – today’s is a series of constant bite sized snacks all over town.”
What are micro-moments?
Micro-moments occur when people reflexively turn to a device—increasingly a smartphone—to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something.
Here’s what the research identified:
- Of leisure travelers with smartphone, 69% search for travel ideas during down time, such as waiting for the subway. Almost 50% go on to book their choices through an entirely separate channel.
- Of smartphone users, 91% search for info on their smartphones while in the middle of a task.
- Of smartphone users, 82% use their phones while standing in a store deciding which product to buy. 10% buy a different product than they had planned.
- Of online consumers, 69% agree that the timing of a company’s message influences their perception of a brand.
- 33% of consumers use a mobile phone in a store instead of asking for assistance.
The bottom line is this: Micro-moments create greater consumer expectations.
Read more at: blogs.wsj.com
How can you create micro-moments?
What does it mean for you?
It means the way your customers and potential customers behave is changing.
Remember, when you started to say, “I’ll Google that.” Google became a verb.
Something similar is going to happen with mobile business, mobile content, and mobile opportunities.
I’m not sure what the phrase or slogan will be, but using our phone will become the default, the norm.
For your company, it might mean creating short Q&As or FAQs that answer their questions, or videos, or maps, or snippets of audio.
If you’re a freelancer, it means showing others how to develop micro-moment content.
And if clients don’t buy into it, that’s fine. Others will. I know stats and research can be manipulated, but in this case, I think he’s right. Let me know how you plan to develop micro-moments. I’m learning too.
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