“You have left something in your cart. Do you want to checkout now?”
Another familiar statement yet again? This means you are one of the many consumers who fall in the era of mobile marketing. Quick definition, Megan Mars define mobile marketing as the concept of marketing products/services to mobile device users. It is a system which provides personalized, time and location-sensitive information to facilitate what consumers need, even on the go.
Fun question! If you could only pick three items to bring along with you to a deserted island, what would you bring? I would guess majority of you would have a mobile phone as one of your items, right?
According to Hootsuite, the total number of active mobile internet users in Singapore amounted to 4.58 million people as of 2019. Think about it, that is close to 80% of the population. Hence, if you are not implementing some form of mobile marketing for your business (if you have one), you are already lagging behind!
Not convincing enough? Take a look at these statistics, again from Hootsuite. 54% of internet users made an online purchase via a mobile device, and 89% searched online for a product/service to buy. Ha! Convinced yet?
As we move forward to a more digitalized world, I believe these numbers would only increase. Hence, simply ignoring the rise of mobile just isn’t an option.
“Okay Rocket Marketeer, let’s get down to business. How do we make use of mobile marketing for our business then?”
I was about to get there… Alright, the focus for this post would be micro-moments. In the words of Sridhar Ramaswamy, “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.”
Google suggested that the four game-changing moments that really matter are:
As mentioned by Google, “In these moments, consumers want what they want, when they need it – and they’re drawn to brands that deliver on their need.”
How do we win micro-moments then? Here are 3 simple steps to consider:
#1 BE THERE
They key to being there for your consumers is to identify their “moments” as mentioned earlier. Identify when, where, and how they are doing their researches and understand their purchase behavior. Once you figured all that out, create a strategy across various digital channels such as social media platforms and search engines.
A good example of how “being there” for your customers worked positively, is how Red Roof Inn targeted stranded customers at airports using flight-tracking technology in order to reel in customers to their hotel.
#2 BE USEFUL
Meeting consumers in their moments of need is important, but how you meet them is equally important. Being useful refers to delivering content which are relevant to consumers. Take this opportunity to focus on teaching them something new about what you have to offer, and how will your product/service solve their pain points.
Also, make use of resources such as infographics, videos or short blog posts to guide consumers to your product/service. The key is to make your content easy to consume as consumers want information and they want it fast.
Sephora’s YouTube channel is a very good example of delivering relevant content. There are tons of “how-to” videos on their channels which targets consumer’s “I-want-to-know” moments. Till date, they have over 1.27 million subscribers.
#3 BE ACCOUNTABLE
Being accountable is about evolving your measurement practices for the current mobile world. Find out new tools and build new ways to connect the dots of every customer interaction and analyze how different channels work together to support your customers.
Take Shutterfly for instance, the company measured cross-device conversions in AdWords, and managed to learnt how often mobile played a part in its consumers’ buying behaviors. That led the company to enable 100% of its keywords for mobile. This optimization boosted their overall digital conversions by 15% in under a year.
The idea of mobile marketing may seem daunting to some but really, it is about marketing from a different perspective. However, when done right, it can produce tremendous results for your business. Like what I have mentioned in the title, “Mobile is the Future, and the Future is Now”.
After knowing about micro-moments, have you ever experience any? & do you think it is a good approach for mobile marketing? Share with me your thoughts below!
Cheers.
THE ROCKET MARKETER 
Hello, first thing first yes you got it right I would definitely bring a mobile phone with me wherever I go!! And I couldn’t agree any further I am one of them whose a mobile phone addict! I think the 3 micro-moments you shared earlier really got me! I’ve encountered many of such moments and I think it is a great approach for mobile marketing as people get to experience for instance as you mentioned, delivering content that is useful to consumers. I believe many of us has experienced this and it’s slowly becoming a norm for many that they do not realise how convenient all these is with just a single device, our mobile phone. So thanks a lot for making me realise it is a small, yet powerful device!
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Hi Cheryl, thanks for the reply. Yes, I agree how such a small device plays such a huge part in our lives in terms of marketing. I also find it interesting how these micro-moments can make such a huge impact on businesses. It’s such a smart yet under-used form of marketing.
Thinking back, I can say I’ve experienced such moments so many times, yet didn’t even notice it. & many of those times, I converted these moments into purchasing products. Being trapped on my side, but a win for businesses I would say.
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To be honest, with 4.58 million active mobile internet users, I am quite surprised that only 54% have made an online purchase via a mobile device, a number lower than what i have expected. But as we move forward into the digital age, I do agree that winning micro-moments are crucial in retaining customers and get them to patronise your online store again. For example, when an online store is able to provide a solution to a customer’s problem, they will have already met their expectations. This means that the store would have a greater chance of retaining their customers. Thanks for the insight on how we can leverage on mobile marketing for our businesses! Good read!
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Hi Koalamii, thanks for the reply! Good point you’ve made there actually. I chose to see it in a way where 2.2 million people is still considerably a large amount of people. But yes, in terms of percentage, it’s not that high.
Yes, I agree with you on the point of meeting expectations. I believe capturing those “moments” and meeting their expectations goes hand-in-hand in order to retain your customers. You can be very good at identifying those “moments’ but with a bad/irrelevant product/service, your initial efforts will all go to waste.
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Hi there, this is an interesting read and I do agree that mobile marketing is now the new method on how marketing should be done.
Although mobile marketing may be the new thing in town, in your opinion, is mobile marketing a perfect substitute for traditional marketing?
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Hi Brian, thanks for the reply! Great question, in my opinion, it isn’t a perfect substitute. While mobile marketing is indeed effective, traditional marketing still play an important role in today’s society. Take for instance, the older generation might not be as savvy in terms of mobile usage. Hence, the opportunity cost of not using traditional marketing would be losing these group of people, which for some businesses could pose a huge problem.
On the other hand, I once heard a saying that goes, “businesses and marketers do not need a mobile marketing strategy, instead their strategies should be mobile”, which implies that mobile marketing should be second nature for businesses and marketers when it comes to implementing digital marketing strategies.
In all, I feel that again mobile marketing isn’t a perfect substitute, but more importantly is for businesses to know clearly who their consumers are and what kind of platforms they use, and utilize the right strategies to target them, be it mobile or traditional marketing.
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Hey there, great read! What you talked about in your post absolutely resonated with me as I myself have been in numerous micro-moments as well! Most common is when I am looking for a place to eat in an unfamiliar place and more often than not, I end up choosing the restaurant that appears first in my search.
While I agree that micro-moments is a good approach for mobile marketing, especially in this digital age, do you think that brands should still put emphasis on other methods such as SMS marketing or even E-mail marketing?
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Hi Wei Han, thanks for the reply! In my opinion, I think it would be beneficial for brands and businesses to diversify their digital marketing strategies. Going mobile alone could and might sustain, but again not everyone uses mobile especially the older generation where consumers of that age group are not as savvy. Hence, by diversifying their strategies, it allows organizations to gain a broader reach. Of course, what’s most important is the business objectives, and implementing strategies that aligns with those objectives.
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Hey there! Awesome stuff! I am very convinced by the statistics of micro-moments given! However, what would you suggest for smaller companies to do to make use of this information?
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Hi Marvin, thanks for reply! Well, according to NGDATA, 90% of consumers don’t have a specific brand in mind when they set out to make a purchase. Hence, smaller companies can attract more businesses if they take the right steps to be noticeable and accessible to buyers. This means using a mobile-first approach.
A quick example can be to make the website easy to follow and navigate; key is to allow the user experience to be seamless. You can’t afford not to prioritize the modern consumer’s demand for immediacy. Adding triggers to prompt users to take specific actions can also be a way to facilitate engagement. End of the day, the idea is to keep users coming your way micro-moment after micro-moment, and these are steps even small companies are able to fulfill.
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Our mobile phones have been integrated into our lives, whether we want to admit it or not. I personally have it by my side all the time. If people ask you, “what do you spend the most time on?”. I guess we all know the answer. I use my mobile phone for everything. E.g. Playing games, viewing information, watching shows. Hence, marketing would apply greatly to mobile as well. I agree with your point that we must use visuals like videos to guide our consumers to make content easier for comprehension. Who would want to read a long winded text, just to get information? Videos and illustrations will aid us in better understanding for sure. Have you ever come across any marketing advertisements that make you pause your activity and read them?
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Hi there, thanks for the reply! I totally feel you, I’m definitely a victim of anything mobile. To add on, I believe one of the underlying reason for the success of mobile (or at least for me) would be the convenience it has brought to everyone. Nowadays, even mobile devices are able to operate most functions of what laptops and computers can do such as, like you’ve mentioned, playing games, searching for information and watching shows. It’s incredible how far the boundaries of technology has been pushed, to allow such devices to perform what it can do today.
To answer your question, I definitely have came across ads that caught my attention, especially those that relate to me emotionally. I always find myself drawn to emotional ads and the message behind them, which is why (on a side note) I also feel strongly that emotions play a huge part in creating a marketing campaign.
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