U.S. consumers have the web at their fingertips, and marketers often think they need to reinvent the wheel to create content that impacts mobile users searching in stores. Sure, content that considers on-the-move users is important, and Americans own multiple devices that connect to the internet, but it’s important to consider mobile user behavior before throwing out a content marketing campaign. In a recent Microsoft study entitled, “Cross-Screen Engagement,” researchers evaluated connected consumers and identified four kinds of unique behaviors: Content grazing, investigative spider-webbing, quantum journey and social spider-webbing. Brafton has broken down the various audience segments below.
- Content grazing – Sixty-eight percent of consumers use two or more screens simultaneously to access unrelated web content. For example, checking email while watching a television show.
- Investigative spider-webbing – Fifty-seven percent of consumers use a single device to find information related to an activity they’re performing on another machine. For example, watching a hockey game while looking up the history of the sport.
- Quantum journey – Forty-six percent of consumers use multiple devices to perform one task. For example, Instagraming a photo of a band, buying the album on iTunes and then heading to a store to pick up a branded shirt.
- Social spider-webbing – Thirty-nine percent of consumers share their activities on other devices. For example, Tweeting a video game score.
While Microsoft’s study clearly shows that Americans enjoy using multiple devices throughout the day, a study from Google and Nielsen suggests the idea of smartphone users being “on-the-go” consumers isn’t entirely true. The group’s “Mobile Search Moments” study found 77 percent of mobile searches take place at home or at work. People find it easier to pick up their smartphones rather than their tablets or PCs, signifying that proliferation of mobile phones in today’s culture.
77 percent of mobile searches take place at home or at work.
More, Google and Nielsen found that, while most mobile searches occur in the home, these actions triggered additional actions. Thirty-six percent of surveyed searchers performed additional research, 25 percent visited a website and 17 percent navigated to a brick-and-mortar store. Overall, 28 percent of mobile searches result in conversions.The biggest obstacle to conversion is that 55 percent of transactions happen within one hour of initial research. The small window can put restraints on how marketers get custom content in front of their audiences, unless brands take into account most mobile searches take place at home.
Marketers who see this trend as an opportunity to take advantage of multi-device behaviors will thrive, and content that converts web users might hit home with mobile searchers sitting on sofas, too. Responsive design is a necessary first step. Then, as with any content campaign, brands must tell smart stories and use internal links to compel mobile searchers to pick up their tablets or turn on their PCs to perform additional research.
