Apple’s launch of iOS 9 has sparked renewed attention on Apple Search, including the way Apple places more importance on app content in search results on iPhones.
In an iOS 9 world, the more you interact with an app on your iPhone, the more likely it is for that app to appear higher in iOS Spotlight, Siri and Safari search results on your iPhone. So how should brands think about Apple Search? The answer hinges on how you use search to acquire and service customers.
Recovery Search With iOS 9
With iOS 9, Apple Search has become a far more powerful tool for “recovery search” by drawing upon a number of local data sources, including app content. Author John Battelle introduced the concept of recovery search in his book, “The Search.”
When consumers conduct recovery searches, they already know about your brand, are more likely to be doing business with you and seek to recover information such as your street address to contact or visit you. “Janet Smith, Chicago cardiologist” or “Burger King, Western Avenue” would be considered recovery searches.
Battelle contrasted recovery search with “discovery search,” which consists of initial searches for businesses in a category, such as “cardiologist near me” or “restaurants near me.” Discovery searches are more likely to be conducted by someone who is not yet a customer of a particular establishment.
To help customers find the location of a company they’ve done business with, it is important that enterprises improve the recovery search experience by making their location data accurate and easily findable.
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