Our mobile life allows us to tap into the collective knowledge of the world with ease and efficiency.  It’s become part of our daily lives giving us our answers quickly to make the best decisions. We may not even notice our inquisitive routine happening throughout the day. Google calls these instants, micro-moments.

Google has provided four main categories for each of these moments, giving opportunity to businesses to help support and educate their customers and prospects:

  • I want to do
    What to know how to do the Harlem Shake? Or fix your law more engine? Or get over a hangover? YouTube most likely has the answer. In fact 9 out of 10 people turn to their smartphone for ideas on how to do many tasks
    This gives businesses a unique opportunity to create trusted relationships with potential customers. As an example, family-wined Mirabeau Wine used a shoe and a wine bottle to create one of the most successful videos in YouTube History to transform his winery.  What type of “how to” information can you share with the world?
  • I want to go
    Now introducing location to your relevant search results. Semantic search terms such as “Near me” have doubled since the last year.

    Many people want quick access and relevance. Restaurants have benefited from this for many years. Thanks Yelp. And now Google has rolled out local inventory for stores with shows products available in local stores. Search for “Road Bike Near Me” [link], and you’ll like see a test listed from REI that shows the product In Store.

    For people in-market, the opportunities are growing. Hotels should know what’s “near me” in their search. Restaurants and cafes should be focused on increasing their local rankings and ratings. And destination marketing organizations should be providing more localized content for Google to give to in-market travelers the right answers for things to do “near me”.

  • I want to know
    Large purchases often take time from the dreaming stage to the final purchase. The mobile experience can initiate the first impression. During down time or waiting in a line, we tend to use our phones to explore ideas. Where should I go on my next vacation? What do houses cost around here?

    The key is to anticipate the needs of your customers through the various stages of the purchase cycle. What are the key moments that customers want to know? Understanding this can help drive your content and video strategy to fill in the gaps.

    Today consumers look up more information 65% more than just a few years ago. They “gravitate toward brands with snackable, educational content”, and avoid the hard sell.  So, give customers what they’re looking for, and build that initial trust. The reciprocity factor to providing answer leads to more customers.

  • I want to buy
    A mobile devices is a tethered shopping companion, giving us price comparisons, ratings, and other information to help make the final decision. And some of this is out of our control. YouTube has become a top source for ratings. Whether it be first impressions or toddlers giving personal feedback on toys, millions of review channels exist. But the unbiased feedback goes a long way with customers. The same goes for Amazon reviews.

    For the organization, the final purchase should be as painless as possible. What information can you provide to seal the deal? Focus on ease of use to find the right product, review ratings, and purchase. Sephora [https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/micromoments-guide-to-winning-shift-to-mobile-download.pdf] discovered that their customers tend to look at reviews while in-store, so the optimized the mobile experience to serve these needs, which grew their sales.

    Additionally, attracting the right people in this moment provides great opportunity with mobile. For brick-and-mortar stores, hyperlocal marketing can target the right audience within specific cities and zip codes. For service companies, click-to-text ads give people a direct line to call. Paid mobile can be more targeted, creative, and efficient than other channels.

With phones becoming our ongoing know-it-all companion, it’s up to each business to find how they can better fill the gaps of their customers’ unique needs. Many opportunities exist. It’s up to us to figure out how the intended mobile experience can be useful to our customers and prospects as we move them towards a final purchase.