4 Key Moments in the Digital Journey of Consumers: How to Optimize Them for Your Brand

For many people in Asia, their first, and sometimes only, contact with the Internet was through their mobile devices. Asia is a mobile-first region, and Southeast Asia is the world's fastest-growing internet region with 3.8 million additional people coming online every month, according to a recent research report by Google and Temasek. The report also estimated that the Southeast Asian internet economy (eCommerce, online media, online travel) will be worth $200 billion by 2025.

According to a Google study called the "Consumer Barometer", Singapore has a smartphone penetration rate of 88% and, with this, consumers are not just going online – they are actually living online. Going mobile has also changed the nature of how we act and react in life. Mobile disruption has raised the bar by raising our expectations for immediacy and relevance. It has also enabled us to find out all we want to know about a product before buying it; in fact, 70% of Singaporeans do online research before purchasing a product, the study showed.

This speeds up the action and purchase decisions of consumers. In such an environment, businesses looking to reach their target audiences must be aware of four "moments" in the digital life of a consumer in order to craft an appropriate strategy:

* I-want-to-know moments – 66% of smartphone users turn to their phones to look up something they saw in a TV commercial

* I-want-to-go moments – 82% of smartphone users use a search engine when looking for a local business

* I-want-to-do moments – 91% of smartphone users turn to their phones for ideas while doing a task

* I-want-to-buy moments – 82% of smartphone users consult their phones while in a store deciding what to buy

These are the moments that matter to consumers and to brands too because they are where preferences are shaped and decisions are made. Having identified them, brands then need to to optimise these moments.  Here are some ways to do just that:

Be There – Anticipate the micro-moments for users in your industry then commit to being there to help when these moments occur.

Be Useful - This is key because it only works if you're relevant to consumers' needs in the moment and are able to connect people to the answers they're looking for.

Be Quick – They are called micro-moments for a reason. Mobile users want to know, go and buy swiftly so your mobile experience has to be fast and without friction.

You can start on your journey to winning over these moments with three simple steps.

Get online: Make sure that your online presence is mobile friendly.

Get found: Invest in paid search, own keywords that matter and drive relevant goals (calls, store visits, online sales, enquiries).

Measure your results: This will allow you to know what your ROI is.

It's also important to recognise the power of intent and context. Consumer intent has always been a critical topic for marketers and it's essential to find out what the customer is trying to do. Once this is determined, it'll allow you to focus on more specific consumer needs that you could address within each moment type.

Context then provides critical insights into consumer behaviour, which help to identify more specific micro-moments to go after, as well as encourage ideas for how to be most useful with your content, ad messages as well as app functionality when you are there.