People are looking for information the moment they desire it. We are living in the age of the mobile consumer, and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is more important than ever. This should be a familiar experience to all of us. Looking for a coffee shop in a new location, your first instinct is to look around and see if anything is available right there. If that fails to produce results, no worries! Just search for a nearby location with that phone technology (probably already in hand.)

“Coffee near me,” that’s what I want, and I want it now. I’m ready to act on my purchasing desires, and that requires no planning. Now what company is web savvy enough to relay nearby location information to me quickly? If you’re SEM is optimized, you’ll be one of the first listings. I’m only giving away about ten to fifteen seconds of my time on a web page before I look to the next offer. Whoever has the combination of highest listing and smoothest web presence is primed to get that business. This is the case for most purchasable, not just consumables. Knowing you can search, and then immediately act has changed the game for consumers.

We sell ourselves on what we want before we even get to the store, a smooth web presence is a company’s best sales associate. Google has provided data supporting this consumer trend, the mobile data shows that half of all consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone will visit a store same day, and 18% of those searches will result in a purchase. 88% of “near me” searches are trafficked from mobile devices, and those mobile searches are growing at a rate of 146% a year.

The consumer journey is very much in the customer’s hands, figuratively and literally. Your company’s highest concern should be optimizing your SEM for mobile, and crafting a smooth road map to your location. Pair that with an easily searchable inventory guide, and you have given the consumer the tools to do the rest of the work for you. Are you ready to give them what they want, or will they have to look somewhere else?

-With these tips in mind you will go a long way to making your marketing efforts measure up and pay off. Need more help? We specialize in working on marketing strategies specifically for your industry. Give us a call at 503-477-4355, or visit us online @ www.spotcolormarketing.com.