Matt Lawson, senior Googler
Many of us still think of online behaviour in terms of “sessions.” When a user goes online, which sites do they visit, and how much time do they spend there? What does their online journey look like from start to finish?
Matt Lawson says this kind of thinking is broken in one important way: users don’t “go online” anymore. Thanks to ubiquitous mobile devices, they’re always connected. The online journey is one continuous session, with peaks and troughs of activity.
“Browsers may still have sessions, but people have moments,” he said. “We need to rethink how marketing is related to digital — instead of building web experiences that are meant for long browsing sessions, and instead of using analytics and KPIs that measure sessions.”
Lawson is director of performance ads marketing for Google, where he oversees a range of acquisition and conversion-focused products like Google Display Network and Google AdWords. Thursday at IAB Engage 2015 in Toronto, he’ll be speaking about how mobile, and particularly mobile search, has changed how consumers behave and how marketers need to think about reaching them in the mobile age.
Google recently hired Nielsen to conduct a survey on the habits of Canadian mobile users. The study looked at 5,000 recent mobile searches through January and February, and followed up with users about the motivations behind them.
It found that search on mobile tends to be extremely focused on short-term goals. Of all mobile searches in Canada, 75% trigger a followup action like further research, a phone call, in-store visit, purchase or word-of-mouth conversation about the results. Brand-related reactions like purchases and store visits tend to be immediate — 75% of mobile search conversions happens within an hour of the search activity.
Lawson said mobile has created a new “digital reflex,” that consumers feel whenever they have a question they need answered or a task they need to complete. Those are the kind of “moments” that marketers need to attach their messaging to.
“Some moments are more important than others. There are the ones where you’re emailing or texting your friends, or sharing something from the weekend. But then there are the ones where you’re trying to act on a need, whether it’s a need to do something, buy something or learn something. Those are the ones that represent the greatest opportunity for marketers.”
Knowing which of those behaviours to hone in on with targeted messaging depends on the brand and its audience, he said.
“Marketing is still marketing. For an advertiser or marketer, the first thing you have to do is really understand your customer, identify their needs, and identify types of moments they have where they reach out for information about your category and brand. Most marketers intuitively get this, because they understand their customers, but they need to rethink it for mobile.”
Once those behaviours have been identified, it’s down to having the right technology to determine when they’re happening and tailor the user’s experience. With tools like search, programmatic display and online experience personalization, brands can tie their messaging to the user’s immediate need, based on their location, device or search term.
On Thursday at Engage 2015, Lawson plans to give more detail and concrete examples of how brands have based their online strategy around moments.
