APAC Marketers Seize The Micro-Moment

Brands have a tighter window for engaging consumers when they turn to their devices to learn, act, watch, or buy something. How can marketers leverage these instances effectively, reach consumers in ways that speak to them, and not take up too much of their time?

This article is part of our February 2019 series about mobile. Click here for more.

In 2018, more than 61% of Web page views were generated via a mobile device—a stat no marketer can afford to ignore.

Mobile browsing has unique characteristics that marketers must consider in their planning. In particular, mobile sessions are typically “bite-sized” in that users go online many times a day, at unpredictable times, and for short periods of time. That means brands have a tighter window for engaging consumers when they turn to their devices to learn, act, watch, or buy something.

Google coined the term “micro-moments” to describe this new “snacking” behaviour of mobile consumers. These moments are rich in intent, and they are the place where decisions are made and preferences are shaped.

According to Saurabh Mathur, head of strategy planning at VMLY&R, a global marketing agency, micro-moments fall into four categories: “I want to know, I want to go, I want to do, and I want to buy,” he told CMO.com.

How can marketers leverage these instances effectively, reach consumers in ways that speak to them, and not take up too much of their time or attention?

Adara, a global travel services company, has integrated micro-moments into its campaigns. It did this by incorporating micro-targeting into its ads, personalising search results, and supplying customers with information relevant to their searches.

“Travel companies are recognising that these moments take place within the plan, shop, book, experience and relive stages for travellers,” said Jonathan Hardy, Adara’s managing director, APAC.

Adara has data partnerships with 200 travel organisations in order to harvest real-time search and booking data, he said. This provides insight into travellers’ behaviours, intentions, and propensities, which then allows the company to enhance the customer experience with directed campaigns and personalisation.

“These micro-moments offer an opportunity for companies to engage with a traveller to offer ancillary services or to provide information,” Hardy told CMO.com. Done correctly, these interactions boost brand engagement and revenue, he added.

In The Moment

Data is critical for companies that want to engage in the micro-moment. Location data, for example, can be harnessed to understand what consumers are doing at the exact time they are having a micro-moment and interacting with the company.

Banking giant Citibank has used location in its APAC campaigns. To help its mobile-connected customers bank on their own terms, it created location-based services in its banking app. Its experience building this app, and having around 30% of all banking conducted on mobileCQ, convinced the company that by focusing on the customer’s context as shown by their location, it could offer more relevant services. For example, if a customer was searching for a local bank, it would recommend a nearby branch, as well as services available at that branch.

With mobile penetration around 60% in APAC,LINK and many of those users also on social media, platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter are vital avenues for brands wanting to deliver micro-moment content. For example, short moments of interaction lend themselves to the “stories” features built into the platforms. Stories are easily consumed and, if targeted correctly, relevant to the user. They also provide the impetus for users to further engage with brands through likes and sharing of content.

Snacking Away

Adara has seen its client travel organisations significantly boostCQ bookings by leveraging the rich data it has about consumers, and then feeding that data into micro-campaigns that capitalise on their intent to visit a destination, add to their trip, or relive the experience once they get home, Hardy said.

“Ideally, the interactions designed by the brand are also tightly aligned with the brand’s image and point of differentiation,” he said .

Citibank also realised that the “I want to go” moment was relevant to its customers, and leaned on location-based services as a way to get more customers in-store.

Snacking on content is the new normal for APAC consumers, and micro-moments represent a key avenue for marketers to reach those customers with content that is relevant, timely, and appropriate. No matter the kind of moment in their day, consumers are relying on brands to feed them the information they want–when they want it.