The stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19 have us reaching for our mobiles a lot more often. There are two reasons why this is the case. First, we’re suddenly faced with a lot more challenges that need answering - like how can I entertain my child in exchange for a few moments of quiet. Second, as real life experiences are curtailed, we need a way to keep ourselves engaged and entertained virtually. Our phones are our oracles to help find solutions for both.
What’s more, these new behaviors will have two enduring impacts. First, people will continue to use the cool new things they’ve come across and downloaded while in quarantine, and second, they’ll continue to view their mobile devices as their go-to solution to meet their immediate challenges and desires.
These impacts will be permanent, in my opinion, which is great news for a host of marketers. A recent research shows that this new consumer behavior has already created awesome opportunities for plenty of categories, such as role playing games and social networking apps. In Europe, the coronavirus has driven a 72% increase in fin-tech apps.
While people may have first discovered these apps during the quarantine, it’s likely they’ll keep using them once they return to their normal routines. As with most of our mobile guilty pleasures, they tend to stick with us. But beyond the uptick in entertainment categories, something more profound has occurred. We also have shopped more, streamed more, and ordered delivery more online than usual.
Our mobile devices have proven to be a reliable and effective tool for navigating the challenges we face daily - whether in quarantine or not - and that opens up a world of opportunities for brand marketers.
Leaning back, not in
For a long time conventional wisdom said that when consumers picked up their mobile devices it was for a specific purpose: to send a text, play a game, request a car, order food, check in with social media.
But more recent research shows that 88% of consumers show “appnostic” behavior, meaning they commonly pick up their smartphones with no particular app in mind. The goal in these lean-back moments is to find gratification with whatever happens to catch our eyes, turning our phones into a virtual content catalog. We’ll browse through our content options until we find a satisfactory option.
These moments present interesting opportunities for marketers. People are inherently relaxed, and consequently more open to new ideas and messages. During the quarantine, our lean-back moments have multiplied, which many marketers have used to their advantage, as evidenced by the above spikes in conversion.
None of this should come as a surprise, as people upped their social media and news consumption in order to keep tabs on their friends and family, or find new entertainment options to placate the kids while in Zoom meetings. Additional data shows that meditation apps are spiking as people seek to quell their anxiety over the virus (or just need a way to relax). And perhaps least surprising of all, Android Police notes how COVID-19 has apps like Google Classroom making appearances in Top 10 apps lists.
How marketers can thrive post-pandemic
Discovery is an invitation for the consumer to explore a new world of ideas without a lot of noise. It recognizes that consumers don’t always convert programmatically, which thrives when users are actively looking to make a decision. The lean-back moment is much more upper funnel. It recognizes appnostic behavior and that users don’t always have a specific purpose when they reach for their phones.
The stay-at-home orders have reinforced our lean-back behavior. Reaching for a mobile device to discover solutions - a new game to cure our boredom or a recipe that suits the items in our pantries - is now second nature to us. And because m-commerce has delivered solutions so consistently, it’s hard to see consumer behavior reverting back to pre-pandemic behavior once it’s safe to go back to work and school.
Going forward, brands seeking to expand their customer base should focus mobile campaigns on the upper funnel. They’ll succeed best by presenting their messages in quiet environments where the customer isn’t bombarded with messages and competing offers. Those environments may be available through programmatic channels, or they may be the result of tactics like pre-loading apps on a mobile device. Regardless of the tactic, the goal is to invite consumers to consider new ideas via a device they now view as a conduit to new worlds.
