Micro-moments are the hottest conversation in today’s mobile-dominated shopping environment. These intent-driven searches are responsible for determining purchase decisions and shaping consumer preferences, which makes them the holy grail of marketing.
The nation’s largest brands have marketing teams analyzing micro-moments and crafting strategies to convert them into sales across all consumer segments. But the micro-moment conversation isn’t just reserved for board rooms – it’s also accessible to small local businesses.
In fact, with their centralized competition, local businesses are even better suited to take advantage of key moments when shoppers do research and make decisions on-the-go!
The nation’s largest brands have marketing teams analyzing micro-moments and crafting strategies to convert them into sales across all consumer segments. But the micro-moment conversation isn’t just reserved for board rooms – it’s also accessible to small local businesses.
In fact, with their centralized competition, local businesses are even better suited to take advantage of key moments when shoppers do research and make decisions on-the-go!
Local businesses can win micro-moments using a simple three-pronged approach:
Claiming a Map Listing
As a local business it’s essential to have a Google map listing to make it easy for consumers on smartphones and other mobile devices to get walking or driving directions. Claiming a Google map listing also provides the opportunity to list business hours and earn public reviews that can persuade shoppers to visit.
While getting listed on Google maps isn’t necessarily a quick process, it’s a fairly simple process. This is an important first step to getting found by local searchers.
In the moments where shoppers realize a want or need and are ready to act on it, the local businesses that appear close-by will take precedence over ones that are further away or have an incomplete online presence.
Targeting Local Consumers with Online Advertising
Online advertising is the best way for a local business to get its name in front of searchers at the exact moment when they’re nearby looking for the products or services that it offers. Unlike offline forms of advertising that aim to build brand awareness and then entice consumers to visit, paid search advertising targets searchers when they’re close enough to easily come in and make a purchase.
Hyper local online advertising allows local businesses to target exact areas where they want their ads to appear for searchers. Furthermore, location bid modifications allow advertisers to bid more for searches that are closer to their location, which are more likely to produce conversions.
Advanced options like time-triggered ad extensions and in-ad countdowns allow local businesses to customize ads even further by offering deals, specials, or promotions based on the time of the day. Utilizing these elements gives consumers that are close-by increased incentive to visit.
Creating a Mobile-Friendly Website
It’s counterintuitive for a local business to invest in attracting local traffic if its website doesn’t help bring shoppers in or encourage purchases. Using a responsive template ensures that the website will render correctly on a variety of devices. This is important so that users across different platforms and on differently size devices will all have the same functionality when interacting with the site. It also creates brand consistency across the omni-channel consumer experience.
Integrating other mobile-friendly elements is essential as well.
Maintaining complete, updated information is crucial! Mobile searchers want to get the information (business hours, pricing, current specials/promotions, inventory, etc.) that’s relevant to their searches immediately without having to invest much time or effort, since those are at a premium when they’re on-the-go.
Providing click-to-call functionality is also helpful for shoppers on mobile devices because it allows an easy way for them to contact the business directly.
Is your local business ready to win the micro-moments game? We’ve helped local businesses across West Michigan bring in more traffic and increase sales through online advertising. Find out how we can take your business to the next level!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Business Blogging and Web Copywriting. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and son and enjoys cooking, watching sports, and spending time together as a family. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about current marketing trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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