Micro-Moments Really Matter
Google recently introduced micro-moments, a new marketing moment that’s reshaping the marketing funnel and ultimately alter how companies market and sell. These can shift marketing strategies and consumer behavior. A micro-moment is defined as a mobile moment that requires only a glance to identify and deliver quick information that you can act on immediately. They are broken down into four actions and are changing how we order and perceive products.
These moments naturally occur when we turn on a device, such as our smartphones, to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. And these moments happen every day, all the time. For example, let’s say you have a date, and you were supposed to cook. Life happens and truthfully you are not a chef. So you grab your phone, and search for something like “best carry out near me”. In that short time, you were able to get a list of nearby restaurants that provide carryout, all in time to impress your date. These searches are vital because it’s when decisions are made and preferences are shaped.
Four Key Moments to be There
According to Google, it’s important for customers to be part of all stages of the consumer journey, not just when someone is ready to buy. To accomplish this, evaluate the four key moments to be there that represent the full range of user needs.
Why It Matters?
90% of smartphone users are not absolutely certain of the specific brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online. Your online presence can drive brand awareness goals and ultimately, showing up in search gets your brand in the game to be chosen, not just seen. Just by being in the search, your brand has a higher chance to address consumer needs at the moment.d In turn, this will help with consumers decision making and deepen their loyalty within a company.
How To Succeed in a Micro-Moment World
Nowadays you have to earn the customer’s consideration and action, moment after moment. People are more loyal to their need in the moment than to any particular brand. That is why it makes micro-moments the new battleground for brands. There are three vital strategies that can help you with micro-moments.
Be There
Anticipate the micro-moments for users in your industry. Then commit to being there to help when those moments occur. When someone picks up their mobile device, chances are they want to learn, do, find, or buy something right now. Whether in the form of searches, app interactions, mobile site visits, or even YouTube video views, these micro-moments happen constantly. You need to be there for them.
A share of intent is how many times a brand was there as a fraction of all category-relevant searches. In each case, there are lots of category-relevant micro-moments happening in search at any given time, but brands are missing opportunities to engage because they’re not showing up in search. And as consumers continue to lean on mobile, it’s even more imperative to close the presence gap. We suggest that you work with your agency or account team to obtain your brand’s own share of intent metric. Create a plan to close those gaps over time by boosting your ad coverage across a greater number of micro-moments and growing your share of intent. When you fail to be there, you are simply handing opportunities over to your competitors. So find those moments when you should be present.
Be Quick
Micro-moments aren’t just a clever name. Mobile users want to know, go, and buy swiftly. Your mobile experience has to be fast and frictionless. According to Google, 60% of online users say that thanks to online research, they make purchase decisions more quickly than they did a few years ago. Mobile created and enables this behavior change. Whether smartphone users are looking for local businesses, researching a product or service, or looking for instructions, not only do they have heightened expectations for speed in general, they also are in a hurry to accomplish their tasks. That’s why consumers expect your mobile site and app to indulge their need for speed by being quick and easy.
Be Useful
You have to be relevant to consumers’ needs in the moment and connect people to the answers they’re looking for. If you want to win the hearts and minds (and dollars) of consumers in their I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, and I-want-to-buy moments, you’ll need to do more than just show up. You need to be useful and meet their needs in those moments. That means connecting people to what they’re looking for in real time and providing relevant information when they need it.
Micro-moments are happening around us all the time and you have to be able to react to them quickly. It’s important to show up in search and to have the ability to anticipate what the consumer might want to search. Contact us today to learn more about how Color Fire can help you not miss any moments.
References
- Google Consumer Surveys, U.S., May 2015
- Google Trends, U.S., March 2015 vs March 2014
- Consumers in the Micro-Moment, Google/Ipsos, U.S., March 2015
- Google Data, U.S., Q1 2015, Q1 2014
