“Ok Google, how is the weather today?” Our little personal all-rounder, our assistant in situations of all kind, the smartphone answers many questions like that one – daily. Many people have not left their house without their mobile device in a very long time, in short, mobile is important and everywhere. Most users are looking for information on their smartphone, be it the nearest bank, a crafting tip or the departure time of the train. The information helps the user in decision-making. In these situations, called “Micro Moments”, companies can also build on and be helpful for the user. Everyone knows about annoying advertising, which is now everywhere. Nevertheless, if the service or product is wanted, expected, or explicitly receptive to the user, as in a micro-moment, the company has the opportunity to connect with consumers in the moment their attention to communication is the highest. In this blog post, we explain how this works and what exactly micro moments are.
Source: oldrepublic
What are micro moments?
Google mainly influenced the term “Micro Moment”. These are specific touchpoints in the customer journey where the user picks up their smartphone to perform a specific action. This can be the solution to a problem, the search for a service or even a route description. The moments consist mainly of attention, the right content and relevance for the user.
Four different moments
Google differentiates between four types of micro-moments, so there are four different reasons why users of mobile devices turn to the Internet for advice:
- Want-to-know moments: At first, the mobile user wants to know something. He needs information on a certain topic or even help in a particular situation. This is the first starting point where companies can be helpful because the user does not yet know exactly what he wants or what he will find.
2. Want-to-go moments: In these moments, the user searches for places that are usually in the immediate vicinity of him. Usually he already knows what he is looking for and where he wants to go, but this does not limit the possibilities for companies to be helpful for the user and to attract his attention.
3. Want-to-do moments: In a want-to-do-moment, the user is looking for explicit explanations, he wants to learn something, be it theoretically (explanatory video) or practical (washing instructions). In addition, the mobile user does not want to call mom or a library; he wants to be flexible and not tied to a place to act.
4. Want-to-buy moments: A want-to-buy moment is the classic case. As the term suggests, it is about the purchase decision. Users take their smartphone, look for advice and take the information to decide for a provider and make the purchase itself.
Relevance of Micro Moments in Marketing
87 percent of Millennials have their smartphones day and night by their side (Mitek and Zogby Analytics). Even while shopping they take their smartphone as an information source, 82 percent consult it, when they want to make a purchase in a store (Google). This shows that the customer journey has changed a lot. Especially for local providers, these touchpoints can mean opportunities, because one in three smartphone users has bought from a brand / company other than he intended. The simple reason for this is that another provider provided information in the moment the user needed it. Therefore, it is a good time to be useful and take the user by the hand.
How to respond to micro moments?
Micro Moments depict user behavior in the mobile age. That means it is imperative to be able to respond to it, to keep up. Google suggests the following strategy: be there, be useful, be quick.
To be there means to identify relevant moments for your own company and the industry. This offers the opportunity to be prepared: if the customer comes to this point in the customer journey, the company can contact him and help with the decision-making process. This can happen, for example, with dialogue marketing. Through the app or emails, there are many ways for the customer to be helpful. To be attentive and to observe exactly what the customer needs is also advisable if the company really wants to be there for him. It is especially useful and helpful when the company is not only there to attract the attention of customers, but also to adapt to their individual needs. Because if the user does not get the answers he needs, he will also quickly follow another path, so, to contact a user in an I-want-to-moment, it takes much more than just to emerge. Being the fastest cannot hurt, especially with the mobile presentation. If this does not work properly, the user will quickly return to another provider. For example, 70 percent of users change sides when loading takes too long (Google). The mobile user of today wants to have fast information, decide quickly and then buy quickly. The fewer steps they need, the better. Nevertheless, not only the fast loading of web pages is decisive, but also the ability to react quickly to the micro contexts. Each action of a user should cause a different response from the provider. For example, this is possible with real-time messages.
70 percent of companies achieve a higher ROI because they adapted their business model to mobile (Google). Therefore, it is high time to do customer-centric marketing and include micro moments in the strategy.