The way in which your customers or clients access information and communicate with you (and one another) is undergoing a change as radical as when the internet first came into our lives. No longer can we think of the internet as something one uses a computer to access, as the dominant form of usage is already a mobile device. So radical is this transformation, it is important for individuals running any type of business, from a one-person consultancy to a 100-employee construction firm, to be aware of how the internet has not stopped finding new ways to change the nature of work. One way to begin to grasp this change is to review some recent research from Google’s marketing resource, Think With Google.  

We live in a cross-device world where mobile comes first

People expect answers at their fingertips. They turn to the nearest device to make a decision, learn something new, or get something accomplished. Connecting the dots across these micro-moments is necessary for marketers to tell a single story across devices, channels, and formats.

Percentage of internet users who…

80% | Use a smartphone during an average day
27% | Use a smartphone only for internet usage during an average day
67% | Use a computer for internet searching during an average day
14% | Use a computer only for internet searching during an average day
16% | Use a table (iPad) during an average day

57% | Use more than one type of device for internet searching during an average day
21% | Use a second device (i.e., smartphone) while concurrently using a computer.

The top three places people use their smartphones

| Home

| Work

| Store

Things that are most likely to be searched for on mobile

Bottom Line

No longer can a business depend solely on a website designed for a desktop computer to reach customers. Make use of a responsive design that adapts to the device a customer is using. More importantly, think like a customer thinks. At work or play, how does your customer use various devices to make decisions that should involve your business? Be there at the “micro-moment” such decisions are made.

VIA (and more) | Google.com | How People Use Their Devices (PDF)

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