Source – forbes.com
Smartphones have forever changed the way businesses reach out to us and have given rise to an inbound marketing movement. What does this new technology mean for the consumer? Well, it’s all good news, to be honest. Let’s take a look at how the evolution of smartphone artificial intelligence (AI) will change the lives of consumers.
Businesses Intelligence Needs To Match Smartphone AI
A few years ago, ordering online was like ordering through a catalog. You would see something online you like, then most likely try to find it in an actual storefront somewhere. Now, the shifts in procurement and delivery have made online buying easier than going to the store.
Shipping charges are now lower and that small fee is worth it for the convenience of not having to trek all over town to find the item you’re looking for. It’s here on your screen now, so you pull the trigger.
The Battle For Longtail Keywords
Today, longtail keywords being asked to Siri or Google are the most buy-ready and intent-based product inquiries we’ve ever seen. Businesses are now in an all-out war to come up with the solutions that customers need when they are asking these questions.
The businesses that are succeeding today are building their entire approach around these keywords. They’re using longtail- focused search engine optimization (SEO) practices to show up in search engines and creating a user experience that guides the customer from information to purchasing as quickly as possible. They’re also investing in conversion rate optimization (CRO) to make sure they’re converting the highest number of customers possible and re-marketing campaigns to try to win back leads they have “leaked.”
A Mobile-First World
Advances in smartphone AI have pushed the global traffic over to a now predominantly mobile world. Worldwide mobile traffic is now higher than desktop traffic. This led Google to announce that they will now be moving towards mobile-first indexing. This means your mobile presence will now drive your SEO and CRO success, as well as your bottom line.
Your mobile site has to impress Google, but then it has to impress the user. A Google study revealed that 61% of your customer will leave your mobile site if there are any problems or delay, and 40% said their next stop will be your competition’s site.
Businesses who adopt a mobile-first and user experience driven mentality will win the war. The rest won’t survive.
Intent-Based Marketing
Intent-based marketing is a major trend in the world of digital marketing being pushed forward by smartphone AI. Ask yourself, do you really know what your customers want? Most specifically, do you know what they want to see and find when they land on your mobile site? Probably not. Most businesses think they know, but they’re wrong.
Their conversion rate suffers because they have yet to figure out their target audience’s true intent when they load a page. Then the user leaves, unfulfilled and disappointed. The competition now gets that lead, and maybe the sale.
Demographics are good, but they don’t tell you the whole story. You need to understand the intent to see the big picture. In fact, Google has said that marketers who rely only on demographics to reach consumers risk missing more than 70% of potential mobile shoppers.
It’s such a simple concept: Give the people the exact thing that they want, at the exact second when they’re looking at their phone to buy it. However, understanding that intent is incredibly complex.
Master Micromoments
How many leads are you losing to micromoments? Probably way more than you know. A micromoment is the brief half a second where a user has an intent to pull the trigger on a purchase from their phone. They can either feel compelled to hit “buy” or be dissuaded by one of two major things: their own objections (now isn’t really the time, I can’t really afford this) or a breakdown in user experience (the page isn’t clear, takes too long to load or has too many steps).
How do you make sure you don’t lose these leads? Pay attention to the little things.
Microcopy Preserves The Micromoment
You have a very small screen and a limited amount of space to work with, so make every word count. Focus on microscopy. These are the little tiny words and phrases on your page that most businesses don’t give a second thought to.
In a world of increasing smartphone AI, you need to use this space to address and handle any possible objections that your would-be buyer has in that split second.
You can send your conversion rates skyward by using some variation of these phrases right above or below your “buy” button.
• You don’t need a credit card to buy/register
• You don’t need to create an account to buy/ register
• You can cancel at any time
Businesses should also use this space to add a bit of social proof,or reassurance that this buyer is about to make a great decision. Some little bits of microcopy can help sell this. If you have an endorsement, testimonial or award, now is the best time to make that clear to the customer.
Also, be very mindful of the words you put on the button itself. Avoid the word “submit” altogether. People hate it and it kills conversions. Also avoid words like “register” that may come off as too much of a commitment, if your user just wants to make a simple buy.
Matching business intelligence to smartphone AI is key to business growth. This means that you must understand your customer and also get to them at that very moment when they want to purchase something. Achieving these goals is complex. If you understand how AI plays a pivotal role in the process, however, you will understand the need to integrate it into your business sooner rather than later.