How Consumers Use Multiple Screens to Get What They Need

In our “always on the go” lifestyles, consumers have evolved their digital consumption behaviors to reflect our current multi-screen worlds.

As a result, it’s imperative that you understand consumers’ behaviors across the multiple platforms. In Google’s new report, The New Multi-screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer Behavior, they provide the statistic that 90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal, whether that’s on smartphones, PCs, tablets or TV.

What does the multi-screen approach mean exactly? Say for example that you need to book a dinner reservation for a big meeting. You start searching on your smartphone for the best hot spots in town to get a better idea of where to host the meeting. Later on in the morning, you continue the search on your laptop now that you are in the office. And finally, once you have the perfect restaurant in mind, you book the reservation on your PC later on that night. The multi-screen approach proved to be more convenient in your search for the ideal restaurant.

The importance of structuring your online presence for mobile, tablets and multiple screens becomes more of a necessity every day. It’s crucial that you understand how consumers want to interact with your brand and adapt to those needs.

Google’s full research report explains further useful statistics and findings on the topic.

How is your business accommodating this behavior?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image Credit: lorisflickr

The Intersection of Search and Social Media

Last night I attended the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association's monthly meeting event. The speaker was Brett Tabke who is the founder and CEO of Webmaster World and Chairman of PubCon. What a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand commentary from one of the web's most well-respected contributors. Here are just a few snippets I found interesting:

Google Places: With the resurgence of small to medium sized business investing in online marketing, a Google Places listing is carrying more weight in SEO. Location data is important to Google.

Sentiment: Positive sentiment has meaning. Earlier this year Google purchased sentiment analysis start-up fflick and we're seeing the results on the SERP. Popular sites with positive sentiment are reaping the rewards.

Purchase Data: 90% of all purchases are made within a 90-mile radius of the consumer's home. This means only 10% of all purchases are made online. If we're researching online and buying in brick and mortar stores then as online marketers, we've only scratched the surface with a 10% market penetration.

Google Factoid: The search engine knows A LOT about you. Consider that over 70% of business are using Google Analytics and you know the Google data collection is incredible. How incredible? Google can even detect your level of education just by the typing speed of your search query says Tabke.

Social Graph: We've seen the launch of Google+1 and we know Klout scores have an impact. Targeting your results to your personal social graph is smart since 78% of us trust recommendations from friends vs advertisers.

Tablet Boom: 1 in 3 people use a tablet more than they watch TV. No wonder Time-Warner is launching an app to make it easier to watch TV on your iPad. Tabke reports that 28% of people say their tablet is their primary computer. They are so easy to use they are making huge strides in the senior market. The power of tablets lies in the apps. Tabke's prediction? Look for tablet apps to encroach on web use and users to search for information within the walls of an app. How does that impact YOUR search strategy?

This is only a small sample of Tabke's presentation. I think I just may need to attend Pubcon this year.