Experiencing a Micro-Moment
Google recently broadcasted a live stream via YouTube on a digital trend they are calling “Micro-Moments”. As mobile becomes even more of an indispensable part of our everyday lives, Google is noticing a way in which people are using search to making purchasing decisions, especially on their smartphones.
There are thousands of moments in a day that typically start the minute you wake up and check your phone, that is when your micro-moment journey begins. Whether it’s checking the time, the weather, sending a text, scrolling through Instagram or quickly looking something up online each of these interactions with our phone are mini-moments where we are choosing to turn to our devices and act on something.
Capturing Micro-Moments
These moments have the potential to become “game changers” for marketers, but they have to be quick. Research suggests that consumers in their moments are more loyal to their own needs than to a specific brand. That being said it is even more crucial for brands to be following SEO best practices on their websites and taking Google AdAwords seriously. Consumers are making decisions faster than ever and are finding information to their needs in even shorter spurts. Long gone are the days when a consumer would wait to get home to research a specific topic, they are living in the moment so to speak and turning to their smartphones for results. Will your brand be among the top search results when a potential customer is having a moment? This is now something you should be thinking about and planning for in your marketing strategy.
The purchase journey of customers has become fragmented into micro-moments. People’s expectations are higher than ever and expect immediate results on the things they want right away. Recent research shows that “Of smartphone users, 82% consult their phones while they’re standing in a store deciding which product to buy. One in 10 of those end up buying a different product than they had planned.” (via Think With Google)
Optimizing Micro-Moments
So how can marketers stay ahead of their consumers and capture their attention during these micro-moments? Follow these suggestions:
- Identify the micro-moments that matter the most to your business. Whether that be to attract consumers into your store or to purchase your product online, what are the micro-moments you need to win over?
- Deliver on Needs in the Moment-optimize your content to fit these moments. Ensure that information is bite-sized, easy to consume and visually stimulating.
- Measure Results- the key to any marketing initiative is to measure the results and determine if the outcome was worth the time and money.
A great quote that seems perfectly fitting for this new model of marketing is “living in the moment could be the meaning of life”, or in this case the meaning of hearts, minds, and dollars won.
