Going (Creatively) Digital

How To Identify The ‘Micro Moments’ That Matter To Your Brand

Embracing Google’s Micro Moments for connecting with consumers on mobile devices makes perfect sense. But exactly which Moments are worth pursuing? Google offers a five-point road map: Find the top mobile-centric searches; Most popular questions; Consumer surveys; Team brainstorms; and In-store interviews. With regard to the last category, Google reports that beauty retail brand Sephora managers noticed more and more shoppers were searching on their phones while in stores. When questioned, shoppers said they were looking for product reviews or trying to remember which lipstick shade they bought last time. Sephora created new app functions useful for consumers in these moments. You can view and download the report here.

In Wake Of Microsoft Acquisition, LinkedIn Makes Display Ads Programmatic

 On the heels of its deal to be acquired by Microsoft and amid softening display ad sales, LinkedIn is making its inventory available programmatically via private and open exchanges. The move allows marketers to buy banner ads on the right-hand side of LinkedIn’s desktop site, Advertising Age reports. Display ad revenue declined 30% in the first quarter of 2016, representing about 10% of LinkedIn’s ad business revenue. Most of its ad business comes from sponsored content.

Snapchat Gets Aggressive With Pricing Of Ads Sold Through New API

 Earlier this month, we reported about Snapchat’s launch of Snapchat Partners, its long awaited API that facilitates ads on the social platform being sold by third parties. Now Digiday says Snapchat is lowering the price of entry in response to feedback from advertisers. Citing sources (Snapchat declined to comment), Digiday says the minimum spend for the ads API could be $100,000. This compares with Instagram’s $500,000 minimum when it first opened its platform to ads, according to Digiday. In 2015, Snapchat reduced the price for video ads to two cents a view, or $20 for 1,000 views.

Study: More than One-Third Of U.S. Shoppers’ Budgets Spent Online

What is more important to U.S. consumers than smartphone GPS and streaming media? Online shopping, according to a survey reported by Women’s Wear Daily. With a panel of 1,000 respondents, the survey from Bigcommerce and Kelton Global shows that 96% of Americans shop online to the tune of an average five hours weekly. Approximately 36% of their overall shopping budget goes to e-commerce. Millennials spend half of their shopping budget online, and 67% of them prefer to search and purchase on e-commerce sites rather than in-store.

The Internet Of Things: What’s That Again?

While tech developers are excited about the boundless potential of so-called “smart” home products (think The Internet Of Everything), consumers are a bit behind the curve. MediaPost examines a study by Parks Associates showing that fewer than one-third of U.S. households are familiar with where to buy smart home products or services. Of those, fewer than half (40%) prefer to buy the smart products at retail outlets. Among those in the know about smart home products, 31% prefer to get them from a home security provider, 23% from an Internet service provider and 12% from pay TV companies.