Micro Moments, “Near Me” Searches, and Local Marketing

Are you reading this article on your mobile device? Chances are, the answer is yes. According to the most recent data 56% of internet traffic is now coming from mobile devices.

Translation: your customers are searching for your business on mobile devices!

The use of smartphones is changing the way that consumers search for and interact with business on the web. Recently, Google described how smartphones now “allow us to act on any impulse at any time. We take immediate action whenever we want to learn, find, do or buy something.” Google describes these “micro moments” as a mobile moment that requires only a glance to identify and deliver quick information that you can either consume, or act on immediately.

So, how does this rising trend effect the local market? Let’s take a look at a few stats presented in a recent searchenginewatch article about micro moments:

91% of smartphone users turn to their phones for ideas when in the middle of a task
90% are not certain of the brand they want to buy from
82% use their phones to check on prospective in-store purchases
65% look for the most relevant information to their query, regardless of the company that provides the answer
51% have discovered a new company or product when searching on their phone
33% have purchased from a different brand than the one they had in mind, because of the information provided

Let’s frame these statistics; imagine you are visiting family out of town. You are looking for a gas station and a restaurant to stop and grab a meal on the road. How will you find these locations? If you are like the growing number of internet users, you may have typed “gas stations near me” or “restaurants nearby” into your mobile device’s internet browser. If you were using google, something like this would have popped up:

What’s important to note here is that google is tuned-in automatically to my location, so it’s able to provide me with exactly what I searched for: local businesses that offer the service I’m looking for.

Some other important things to note about these search results:

A while back, Google moved away from delivering their traditional “7-pack” to providing only 3 targeted, local search results in google.com.
While it has become a more competitive market because of the smaller number of local listings displayed, the keys to finding success with local marketing haven’t changed. See “On-Page, Link Signals the Most Important Local Ranking Factors” for tips on how to improve local rankings:
Reviews are displayed prominently in the Google search results. Looking for a relatively easy and low-cost way to boost your business? FOCUS ON GETTING GOOD REVIEWS. See “Local Businesses: How To Get Good Online Reviews That Build Business”: http://searchengineland.com/local-businesses-get-good-online-reviews-build-business-214939

In its article on micro moments, Google says “when we act on our needs in-the-moment, our expectations are high and our patience is low. This makes the quality, relevance, and usefulness of marketing more important than ever.” Today’s local search marketing needs to evolve with the consumer by providing concise, accurate, and relevant information.

For more information on eVisisonSEM’s local search marketing, contact us here: http://www.evisionsem.com/contact.htm