Tag Archives: Micro-Moments

Global Spotlight: India presents big opportunities for publishers

More and more users from all over the world are gaining access to information online. For current AdSense publishers, this presents an opportunity to grow your audience globally. Our Global Spotlight series is designed to help educate, inspire, and provide you with insights into how you can grow your business and share your content in emerging markets.

Our last spotlight shared insights on how to capture the opportunity in Indonesia. This week, we turn our lens on India, a nation with a population of over 1 billion people and 22 official languages (not including English). Check out our last post on how and why you should create content in Hindi. 


Expanding your content strategy to India may spice up your earnings. Not only does India deliciously produce over 70% of all the world’s spices, but according to eMarketer, it’s on pace to add more new mobile phone users than any other country in the world. Projections say that India will have 570M users online by 20201, and more than half of those users will be accessing the internet via a smartphone.

This explosion in online user growth has been estimated by eMarketer to result in more than a 3x growth in online ad spend in India ($700M in 2015 and forecasted to be $2.5bn by 2020)2.  What does this mean for you?  A big opportunity to expand your business into India.


In our next few blog posts, we’ll be sharing with you a 3-step strategy to start expanding your business to India, or building a new site for an Indian audience. The first step has 3 tips to get started. 
  1. Use Google’s research tools to create relevant content. 
  2. Learn the demographics of India’s population. 
  3. Apply Google’s micro-moments to your strategy. 
If you’re new to monetization, sign up for AdSense and start turning your #PassionIntoProfit by adding AdSense ads to your site so you can focus on your content. After all, content is king. 

The first tip we’d like to look at is how and why you as publisher should do research.

When you know what users are talking about, you can participate in the conversation. But the online world moves quickly, so if you want to keep the crowds coming back to your site, your content needs to move with it.

First, use Google’s research tools to create relevant content. Start with Google Trends. You can pinpoint hot topics based on user search trends.

Second, think with Google, literally. This article will help interpret the demographics of India’s population. 

Third, learn about Google’s micro-moments and apply them to your strategy. Don’t let another moment pass. 


What do you think?

Are you ready to grow your business in India? If so, why stop there? Around the world, people are using AdSense to help them do more of what they love. Turn your #PassionIntoProfit today and sign up for Google AdSense.

Do you want to hear more from us about successfully monetizing your content in India? We regularly host live Hangout on Air sessions to talk through best practices and ways to grow your business. Be sure to register for our next live session on November 17th, 2016.

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing the second part of our 3-step strategy on how to start expanding your business to India, so stay tuned and check out the other posts from our Global Spotlight series!

Posted by Jay Castro, from the AdSense team

Footnotes:

  1. eMarketer, Worldwide Internet and Mobile Users: eMarketer’s Updated Estimates and Forecast for 2015–2020, October 11, 2016
  2. eMarketer, Digital Ad Spending in Asia-Pacific, by Country, 2015-2020 (billions),  September 12, 2016


    Source: Inside AdSense


    Amplify your content with social

    Social media is more than just vacation photos and stories about babies, it’s about sharing experiences and creating interactions with people.

    Content on social media can instantly reach millions of users and create thousands of online stories. Do you remember the social media storm that Ellen DeGeneres created with a single photo? Her selfie from the 2014 Oscars started a global conversation and has since been added to Google’s 2014 web culture guide. Her content holds the win for the most retweeted tweet with more than 3M retweets, 6.8M site embeds, and even temporarily led to Twitter going down.

    Big events like the Oscars create opportunities for publishers to interact with users through both original content and viral content. This summer, users will be searching, sharing, and consuming content like never before. Be sure to examine your content strategy, and find ways to spark conversations on social channels or, contribute to an existing digital conversation.



    How can AdSense Publishers participate in big events? If you're new to AdSense, you can sign up now and turn your passion into profit.

    1. Include editorial coverage around topical events.
    2. Make sure your content is easy to consume and share.
    3. Create a social media strategy around a big event.


    Here are four tips to help jumpstart your social media strategy:

    1. Know your audience. Trigger an emotional response from your viewers by humanizing your brand.
    2. Be social to win on social by creating relationships with your users.
    3. Don’t be afraid to follow the leaders and the trends. If there’s social proof behind it, do it.
    4. Use tools to help you create great content.


    More on the fourth tip, here are a few tools to help you #drawthecrowds through social channels:

    • Buffer is a well-known tool used by social media marketers. It helps streamline your social media management.
    • Pablo is a tool created by Buffer that is “the simplest way to create beautiful images that fit every social network perfectly”.
    • Canva is another image creating tool that can help you create visual content on a budget.
    • Feedly can help you organize and read relevant content in your industry to help fuel your content creation.
    • Google Trends is a widely used tool to help you identify key trends happening around the world.
    • IFTTT is a popular tool used to streamline many tasks. For example, here’s a pre-built recipe that will automate the process of tweeting each new wordpress blog post.


    According to the New York Times, 68% of users share [online content] to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about. To amplify your content this summer, be sure to create content that resonates with your audience.


    New to AdSense? Sign up now and turn your passion into profit. Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @AdSense.

    Posted by Barbara Sarti and Jay Castro from the AdSense team

    Source: Inside AdSense


    4 steps to build a strong brand experience

    Exposing your audience to a rock solid brand leaves a lasting impression on your site’s visitors, and helps separate you from your competitors. To establish brand consistency across multiple touch points, it’s important to create and stick to guidelines unique to your brand.

    Building a strong brand experience comes down to four things:



    1. Find your voice



    A brand’s voice means more than just the tone you use in your content and communications. It also applies to style, colors, and graphics. Is your brand bubbly, bright, and fun? Or is it straight to the point with clean lines and a matter-of-fact tone? Often times, the type of product or services you're selling as well as your company philosophy can help you determine an appropriate tone. There’s no secret for determining what an audience will respond best to, as all styles can be effective in their own way. So choose what works for you and your creative vision.



    2. Be consistent



    Once you’ve laid the groundwork for what defines your brand, it’s important to stick to these principles. This applies to your website, emails, social media posts, and any other place users come into contact with your brand. Taking the time to stick to an easy to read font, finding a color scheme that draws the eye and guides your readers, or having consistent verbiage can do wonders to further cement your brand’s presence and make it memorable.




    3. Know your audience



    While it’s important to decide what your brand is, it’s also important to know your audience, their interests, and how they prefer to communicate. For example, if you’re targeting busy, high-level decision makers, they may prefer something short and sweet—perhaps bullet points are the way to go. If you’re targeting creative individuals, it may be worth investing in a personalized logo and site. Highly visual assets such as videos would also be a great way to go. The more you know and cater to your intended audience, the more successful your brand will be.


    To understand your users’ interests, use Google Analytics to view your bounce rates, time on pages, and pageviews—three indicators of user engagement. Understand where you stand in comparison to other sites and, if needed, improve on these rates by creating a stronger connection between your site and your audience, i.e. creating content relevant to your audience’s interests.



    4. Prove your Worth



    Having a particular value that you provide to your customers (not to be mistaken for price) can help separate your brand from competitors. For instance, what do you provide to your customers that is different or special? This can include everything from innovative products to great customer service and can also be an emotional value (think Kleenex being associated with comfort and support). Just make sure to deliver on any and all promises made on your site.

    To learn more about how to develop your user experience, check out the AdSense Guide to Audience Engagement.





    Posted by Jay Castro
    From the AdSense team
    @jayciro

    Source: Inside AdSense


    Acting On Your Moments: Five ways to go from knowing your users’ moments to winning them

    This is the third in our series of posts about micro- and macro-moments. In parts one and two we talked about how to think about these moments of intent and find out what they are for your audience. Today let's talk about what to do about it.

    1) A good place to start is with a moments map. This is where you identify the set of moments you absolutely want to win or can't afford to lose. Examine all phases of the consumer journey for your business, and look for the moments when people want to find inspiration, learn about something you’re reporting, make a social statement, or anything in between.


    Breaking news stories are an
    example of moments you
    can’t afford to lose


    Suppose you have a news site and a user visits your review of a restaurant as they walk through town. They may just want to know if you gave it two or four stars… or they may want to know your reviewer's in-depth thoughts and recommendations for each course. How you deliver this information will make a big difference. (And remember, they're impatient!) 

    2)  Next up: try to understand customer needs in the moment. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes for each moment you want to win. Ask yourself, “What would make this easier or faster? What content or features would be most helpful for this moment?” Again, ask yourself: Is your user looking for a quick moment or are they there for the long haul?

    In a story or photo feature about fashion, for instance, you could add a widget showing locations of the stores that sell each dress or pair of shoes you feature, or video of the fashion shows where they were revealed.

    3)  Third, make sure you use context to deliver the right experience. Contextual signals like location and time of day will help you deliver experiences and messages that feel tailor-made for the moment.

    For example, if a soccer fan is having a micro-moment, they probably just want the top highlights and the final score from the match last night. This could be your spot for a social media update or a 30-second video. But if they're in a macro-moment, they'll want in-depth match analysis, team lineups and analysis of how the final score will affect the league. That's your moment for the long-form article or podcast.


    What contextual signals can 
    you gather from your users?


    4)  Be sure to optimize across all aspects of the journey. People move seamlessly across screens and channels. Does your brand deliver seamlessly in return? Don’t let competing internal objectives or departmental silos stand in the way; anchor your action to the consumer and organize around their moments.

    Ask: "Is our journey optimized for search?" How do consumers across all the different social channels interact with your sites? Are they optimized correctly?

    5)  Now keep the momentum rolling: measure every moment that matters and iterate. Keep improving your content based on what you find; then measure and iterate again.

    You can't afford to under-serve your customers while you deal with measurement gaps. Even if the return on investment (ROI) for certain moments may not be directly measurable (yet), train your team to use credible estimates to ensure nothing’s falling through the cracks. 

    We’ll leave you with these questions:

    1. Are you ready for the moments ahead? 
    2. Can users consume your content (or a form of it) in the queue at Starbucks?
    3. How are you capitalizing on seasonal macro-moments like the Rugby World Cup or the upcoming Summer Olympic games?

    If you take the time to think about your customers, find their micro- and macro-moments, and then fill their needs in those moments, you'll be well on your way. And in fact, you'll likely be getting a leg up on the competition.

    Think with Google recently published a research study that takes a deep dive into micro-moments, it's a great follow up to this blog series. Download your copy today, and win the shift to mobile.

    Posted By: Chris Jones, Audience Development Specialist


    Are you on Twitter? Follow us for more insights and tips.



    Source: Inside AdSense


    From Micro to Macro: How to find your audience in all the moments that matter

    In the last post we talked about the rise of micro-moments. But what about macro-moments?

    According to this great response to micro-moments and our own interpretations, the three most important types of macro-moments are:

    • Affinity Moments, when fans act in unison in support of their favorite team or musician. 


    • Buddy Moments, when friends connect and bond everything they see, hear or read -- whether that's a live concert or a funny cat video on YouTube.




    • Deep Knowledge Moments, when someone wants to learn deeply about a topic (maybe political issues or financial news) so they can share that knowledge later.


    In essence, micro-moments happen on the go and with intent, while macro-moments are more tribal or community-based. They're deep-dive media experiences that impact individuals in ways micro-moments can’t.

    Publishers should remember that preferences and loyalty are shaped by both micro and macro moments. The brands that do the best job of addressing our needs in each moment will gain the greater share of our attention, and they'll be the publishers we start with next time. They will, in short, win.

    Where to begin? 

    Determining the right macro moment to target a user is no easy feat, but here are some Google tools that can help you discover what your audience is looking for, set your strategy and start taking action.

    Google Trends 
    What are the biggest events coming up this year? When do searches spike for football or flowers? The Google Trends tool uses real-time search data to help you gauge consumer search behaviors over time. Find out more »

    YouTube Trends 
    The world's largest video site has a lot of content and a lot of users. The YouTube Dashboard lets you track what's being viewed and shared all over. Compare trending videos by age, gender and location, and see what the world's watching. Find out more »

    Google Consumer Surveys 
    This fast and affordable market research tool lets you ask questions to Internet and mobile users on high-quality content around the Web. Users who answer the survey gain access to content or get credits they can use for music, apps and more. Google aggregates and analyzes their responses, so you can make more informed business decisions. Find out more »

    Marketer's Almanac
    From the Super Bowl kickoff to holiday gift giving, each year has trends and events that create huge opportunities to connect with consumers. The Google Marketer's Almanac offers data and insights for these key moments to help you get a jump on planning. Find out more »

    And as always, some of your best insights can come from good old-fashioned methods like talking to and engaging with your audience.

    Once you have the insights, it's time for action. We'll cover that in our next post.

    Posted by:

    Chris Jones
    Global Audience Development Specialist

    Source: Inside AdSense


    Micro-Moments for Publishers: Reach your users in their moments of intent

    For a long time, we've all heard that we're perched on the edge of a new golden age of digital, like divers on a cliff.

    By now it seems clear that we have well and truly jumped off that edge and are swimming, frolicking (and sometimes drowning) in that futuristic sea of digital, connectivity, cams, drones, the Internet of Things… and especially mobile.

    Today, we'd like to kick off a three-part blog series that will look at how publishers can do more frolicking and less failing in this digital sea. In particular, we'll look at what we call digital moments that matter, and the best ways for publishers to think about those moments. Part one today is Micro-Moments for Publishers, to be followed by From Micro to Macro and then part 3, Acting On Your Moments.

    Where to start? In an age where people create and consume their very own newsrooms on a daily basis, expectations for content are growing higher and higher. Just a few examples:


    So the publishing business has changed tremendously over the last two decades, but the big questions are still very much the same:
    • How do I reach the right audience?
    • How do I make sure I stand out?
    • How do I drive enough views and revenue to grow my business?

    Today you have more choice than ever in how to approach these questions, thanks in large part to huge changes in mobile consumer behavior.

    We don’t 'go online' 
    anymore – we
    live online

    There's no such thing as sitting down for an “online session” anymore. Mobile is not just a hand-held device; it is a human and consumer behavior. It's why we no longer have those empty spaces in our day -- at the bus stop, in line at a store, or even at night in bed.


    As a publisher, you don't always have to be there for those moments when users browse their friends' photos and status updates, or find out that they need to pick up milk on the way home from work. In fact, if you try to insert your content when people aren’t receptive, it can do more harm than good.

    But certain moments really do matter for publishers: Moments when consumers turn to their phones to seek information or ideas. In those moments they have an intent: a need that can be met, a curiosity fulfilled, or a decision made.

    These countless moments are full of intent signals that publishers can capitalize on. A "time for a new one" moment with a worn-out hairdryer can be satisfied with a product review. An "I can fix it" moment is perfect for do-it-yourself articles from publishers. (Over 100 million hours of “how-to” content have been watched on YouTube so far this year.) What about “I want to watch” moments? Can you give those users short and easy-to-watch content?


    "How do I reach my audience?" "How do I make sure I stand out?" The answer lies in creating the content for these micro-moments. And in the next post, we'll talk about an opportunity that's similar and yet different: macro moments.

    Want to learn more about micro-moments? Check out the Think with Google Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile.

    Chris Jones
    Global Audience Development Specialist


    Source: Inside AdSense


    Designing for Mobile Micro-Moments

    Mobile has shaped the way users interact with businesses and brands alike. Nowadays, businesses cannot simply replicate their desktop strategy on mobile; they need to re-think how to build mobile experiences that are useful for clients in their moments of need - those I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, and I-want-to-buy moments throughout the day.

    To help app and mobile site developers learn what comprises a best-in-class mobile experience, we’re launching a new mobile design hub on Think with Google: Designing for Mobile Micro-Moments. The new hub features in-depth research on exactly what people expect from a mobile experience.

    Learn what makes a best in class mobile experience 

    We partnered with AnswerLab to run user studies with more than 100 people, where we tested user's behavior on more than 100 different apps and mobile sites to uncover what led to a seamless experience and what design experiences were problematic or caused frustration to users. The results are two new sets of UX principles with specific recommendations to help you improve your mobile experience and drive conversions:


    Start building better mobile sites and apps today

    After you’ve identified how to improve your mobile experience, you can find tools and resources to start making improvements. Here are just a few of the resources that are available on the hub:

    • For mobile sites, consider using the latest technologies to create an Accelerated Mobile Page. This dramatically improves the performance of the mobile web and allows rich content to load instantaneously for a speedy, delightful experience. 
    • Research shows that the bounce rate can be as high as 58% for web pages that take nearly ten seconds to load.1 Check Pagespeed Insights to gauge your mobile site’s speed. 
    • Building a native app? Take advantage of Google API and Services to simplify development, grow and engage your user base, and earn money. 
    • Improve the look and feel of your mobile site and app with Material Design.
    Learn More

    Visit the Designing for Mobile Micro-Moments hub on Think with Google to view the studies and get additional resources to start developing and marketing great mobile sites and apps.

    Posted by Jenny Gove, UX Research Lead, Google
    1 “Case study: Mobile pages that are 1 second faster experience up to 27% increase in conversion rate” https://www.soasta.com/blog/mobile-web-performance-monitoring-conversion-rate/

    Source: Inside AdWords