Google has just released data showing the recent shifts in mobile search trends, and these shifts have major implications for marketers. Even accounting for the fact that study participants already personally owned a computer and a mobile device, the trend is clear — more searches are happening on smartphones than on computers. Here are some key findings.
Search Has Gone Mobile
- Some 40 percent of respondents used only their smartphones for daily Internet searches.
- 57 percent of smartphone users use more than one type of device.
Location, Location, Location
- The top three places people use their smartphones are home, work and in a store.
- When at home, one-fifth of people use mobile devices at the same time they're using their computer.
People Really Like the Internet
- More than 7 in 10 users browse the web on their phones or computers every day.
- Participants spend almost three hours a day on smartphones.
People Especially Like Choice
- Over half of the 11,964 respondents used more than one type of device in an average day.
- Of those who browse the web in an average day, almost half do so on multiple devices.
What It's All About
It doesn't take a particularly savvy marketer to understand that these mobile search trends need to be factored into your company's marketing strategy. Another Google study showed that 91 percent of consumers used their phones for instruction, inspiration and knowledge while in the middle of a task. Consider your own behavior and this probably makes complete sense.
The trick for small- or medium-sized businesses will be to figure out how they can adapt their marketing strategies to this trend. More touchpoints, for instance, can mean more confusion. When a customer is in a car looking for pizza, you don't want to deliver information about the pizza-shop owner's family sauce recipe. You want to make the pizza shop easily visible on a map, provide a one-touch click-to-call button, and deliver a coupon just for today. Your new customer can feel good about their decision by reading up on grandpa's sauce while waiting for his or her food.
Simple as these ideas are to grasp, getting them right in the marketplace can be a challenge. Working with a trusted media partner can bring fresh, outside perspective while you work toward realizing the opportunities mobile technology brings.
