By Alvaro Bravo

It is no secret that brands and agencies are on the hunt for more effective ways to engage mobile consumers.

The mobile experience is complex and marketers need an engagement strategy that embraces that complexity and, even better, turns it into an advantage. That is the driving force behind mobile moments: When you approach mobile users not simply based on their age, income or even location, but rather based on their psychological mindset at a given moment, you are more likely to engage them.

This is particularly true for consumer packaged goods, where the differentiation of products in a brand portfolio or the broader competitive landscape is based on not only demographics but specific customer needs.

But how does the mobile moment opportunity specifically translate to action and impact for CPG marketers? Here are five practical applications of mobile moments for CPG:

1. Targeting by mobile moment
Mobile moments provide a greater path to relevancy in advertising.

By using the full set of mobile data signals, you can more effectively interpret not just who you are targeting, but also get insight into the nature of their experience to gauge their receptivity to your ad message.

For example, it is not difficult to target a new line of beverages to 18-to-35-year-olds in mobile, but how do you develop a campaign strategy that underscores the difference between, for example, your tryptophan-infused drink versus the caffeinated water?

Mobile moments allow you to target the sleep aid to your customers during late night or “Insomnia Moments” while directing the caffeine alternative toward more fitting moments like “Coffee Break.”

2. Using mobile moments to inform ad format
Moments provide critical insight to inform the creative experience as well.

As an example, consider the “Shopping at the Store” moment. A consumer is killing few idle minutes while waiting at the deli counter of a grocery store. While they may be receptive to an advertisement for a new line of Greek yogurt, a 30-second video ad may prove too demanding for their level of receptivity in that moment.

Mobile moments allow advertisers to react to this insight dynamically by delivering a simple display unit that better serves the limited time frame and receptivity.

3. Using mobile moments to inform creative message
By understanding the mobile moment, the advertiser can opt to deliver a message tailored to the consumer’s current mindset.

For example, the “Happy Hour” moment presents a solid opportunity for a beer brand, but the message can be further tailored to that particular moment. Is it snowing outside? The creative can speak to the winter weather. Has a local sports team recently won a big game? A congratulatory message can help build an emotional connection with the consumer to drive deeper engagement.

4. Building a better-qualified audience
Moment insights can also be leveraged to build audiences based on moments they have experienced in the past.

Consider a beverage designed to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover. The advertiser could target the Saturday morning or afternoon moments to reach their suffering target audience, but why limit the campaign to weekend revelers?

Through mobile moments, the advertiser can target consumers who had experienced the “Happy Hour” Moment within a specific time frame. In this way, mobile moments allow advertisers to expand reach without sacrificing relevancy.

5. Mobile moments inform optimization
By giving advertisers the opportunity to reach consumers when they are most receptive, mobile moments can make a significant influence on key performance indicators.

For example, the best-performing audience segment for a leading CPG brand’s recent mobile moment-targeted campaign delivered a 0.8 percent engagement rate.

However, the best-performing moment delivered 2x the engagement rate, giving the advertiser a better opportunity for optimization.

6. Mobile moments for strategic insights
Mobile moments also provide CPG advertisers with critical insight into their specific audience’s mobile behavior.

By understanding the mobile moments that comprise a given audiences’ day-to-day, CPG marketers can gain a better understanding of that audience, when they will respond to a given message and long-term how their mobile behavior may influence their needs.

MOBILE IS COMPLEX, but that complexity can be turned into an advantage with the right approach.

As we speed forward into a hyper-connected world, CPG advertisers – and all advertisers – that understand and respond to the mindset of consumers stand to see greater engagement in the short term, while also gaining key insight into the evolving behavior of mobile consumers.

Alvaro Bravo is cofounder/president of Aki Technologies, San Francisco. Reach him at [email protected].