Unlocking the Micro-Moments: Winning Consumer Attention in a Mobile-First World with Google Ads

Introduction

In today's world mobile phones are most common, people search everything over the internet using their phones, tablets or laptops. Most of the searches are made via cell phones. They can find different brands, different service providers and what not, you name it and you will find it over the internet. In a recent study it was discovered around 60% of search queries world wide are made using mobile phones. There are common queries like How to do xyz?Where to buy xyz products? And where to get xyz service? These are the most common queries over the internet. With this evolution Google Ads have also evolved and with every search you will find some Google Ads relevant to your search query. In this blog we will talk about all the micro moments, how marketers can win consumer attention in this mobile first world. 

What exactly are Micro Moments? 

Micro moments are basically when a person turns to their mobile phone to find an answer right away for their query, no matter if you wish to get a service, buy a product or even if you just want to know something about a certain product. 

What happens when people search for a certain query? Let's say you want to buy a Dry-fit t-shirt for the gym, you will search for gym suits, track suits or t-shirts for the gym. You will then see some ads on top related to the product you are looking for. User clicks on the ad and buys the product. This is how google ads work in such micro moments and benefit both the buyer and the seller. 

What is Google Ads? 

Google Ads is basically online advertisements of certain products or services online. Google Ads have basic headlines which usually have keywords that have the highest volume. They have all the basic information that a buyer needs to purchase a product. Google Ads have a header image or a short video to promote the product or service and capture customer attention. And they have proper Call to action as well which means if its is for a product you can find a button to click to buy the product which might say “Buy Now” or “Shop Now” and if it is for a service you might see a button like “Visit Website” or “Contact Us”.

What are the Key Features of Google Ads?

Google Ads is Target Based

Google Ads allow marketers to reach their desired customers as they are location based as well like you search for Dry-Fit t-shirt for men in Germany, you will then find sellers from Germany.

Customer Match

Another strategy of google ads is to find similar customers that are intersecting with the website to get more views and more sales. Google customers are the backbone of any business and finding more such similar customers is a key to good business. Customer match basically lets marketers use the first party data to attract and find more similar customers.

Different Ad Formats

Google Ads are of different types and users can post different types of ads for different audiences. For example marketers can post call ads for services which require calls, text ads which might capture the audience who are interested in reading, Image or video ads for customers who require visuals before clicking buy now or contact us.  

Bidding Strategies

What is Bidding?

Bidding is basically the cost marketers pay or are willing to pay per click, this means when a  person clicks on the ad a certain fixed amount is paid by the advertiser or brand and that is known as bidding. 

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There are multiple bidding strategies when it comes to google ads. Advertisers can use Cost Per click (CPC) which is the amount paid per click. Advertisers can also select cost per thousand clicks (CPM) which is the cost paid for every thousand clicks. 

Google Ads allow Ad Extension

Google Ads allow advertisers to add additional information like contact number. Link to the website, location details and more CTA’s like options to sign up now or buy now. This option makes it helpful for potential customers to buy your product and to promote your business. 

Analytics and Ranking Data

Google Ads also offer data about Ad and site ranking, users impressions, users interest in the product, Product visitors, category visitors, Visitors that abandon their cart and visitors that have been converted, How many times a person visited the website or certain page, visited via generic keyword, time spent on the website or page and amount spent. 

Importance of Google Ads in Micro-Moment Marketing

Allows Precise Targeting:

Google Ads allow precise targeting as it ensures that the ads will be shown to the right audience at the right time. It matches the keywords during the micro moments of user searches and shows ads accordingly. 

Allows Instant Visibility:

Google Ads now appear at the top when users search for any product or service. This allows user attention and users also find what they are looking for with ease and it helps in decision making as well. 

Increased Engagement

Google ads allow marketers to deliver relevant ads at the right time. And they have engaging images, videos, audios and different buttons like “Buy Now”, “Shop Now”, “Get Quote”, "Sign Up”, “Contact us” and many more. This allows users to convert easily. 

How do Google Ads work in the mobile first world?

According to research, around 79% of people use their phones to find information about certain products. This is why Google ads is very common now, as these ads help marketers to promote their product and business and the product reaches the desired audience easily. Here is how Google Ads work:

• First of all it is very important to do proper keyword research. These keywords are usually the words and sentences used by people to search for your product or service. There are a lot of tools which can help in this context like Google keyword planner etc. 
• Then marketers set up a campaign based on keywords they have found. 
• An appropriate ad format is designed which can have a small heading, an interesting image related to the product or they even add a video along with other targeting options.
• Then marketers decide on the bid and bidding strategy like CPC. 
• A fixed amount is then decided on which marketers are willing to pay Cost per click and when a user searches for your product or something related to the service you are offering, Google has an auction between the ads, its rates the ads from 1-10 based on their relevance. The ad with the highest score wins the auction and appears on the SERP. 
• In order to win these auctions marketers use relevant keywords.
• Google ranks ads which are relevant and have proper keywords. 
• It also ranks websites that are mobile friendly, Google ranks the ads that are properly designed and have proper CTAs and well designed landing pages.    

How can you optimise the Google Ads campaigns?

Optimization of google ads strategies is basically for the ads to reach the right kind of audience at the right time. Fully optimised google ads generate best ROI as compared to other ads which are not fully optimised. Here are some strategies which you can follow to fully optimise your google ads:

Keyword Optimization

It is recommended to do proper keyword research with tools like google keyword planner to capture the most relevant keywords. It is also recommended to implement negative keywords to prevent irrelevant clicks and searches, this prevents budget wasting, and now most of the marketers use keyword phrases which are commonly used by customers to attract the right audience. 

Ad Copy Optimization

It is recommended to create and check different ad copies to find out which one is performing the best in terms of click through rate and conversion rate. It is also recommended to add additional information to the ad like location, contact details to increase visibility and to reach and encourage desired call to action.  

Targeting Refinement

In order to focus and target the right audience, fully optimised ads are properly targeted according to the demographics like age, gender and income. Marketers target their ads according to the users preference and target them in the area where demand is high. And it is also recommended to ensure that ads perform well on all devices like smartphones, tablets and desktop.

Landing Page Optimization

This is the most important part of every ad campaign. The landing page should be fully optimised with keywords, providing seamless user experience on any device like mobile phone, laptops and tablets. It is recommended to work on the page load speed to reduce the customer bounce rate and enhance user experience. 

Conversion Tracking

It is important to track conversions to analyse which keyword is driving more conversions and more traffic. It is recommended to set up conversion tracking properly to check these details regularly. 

Ad Scheduling

It is also recommended to schedule ads in peak hours when your desired customers are more active so that they are most likely to convert and this practice prevents your budget as well.  

Remarketing

Use remarketing strategies to target users which previously interacted with your website to keep your brand in their mind and encourage them to make the purchase. 

Conclusion

Lastly, Micro moments and mobile searches have created lots of opportunities for marketers to market their products or services and reach wider audiences easily. It is a very common practice that when people want to buy something they do not know from which brand they are going to buy it, they just do a random search and find relevant ads from various brands and then they choose products according to their needs, this is how Google ads help in the mobile first world. Google ads help to precisely target consumers that need the product you are offering with ease. By following these strategies marketers can capture more customer attention and turn these micro moments like mobile searches into opportunities.