The way we shop has changed drastically over the past few years. With more emphasis being placed on the reasons why we buy something and the strategy behind making us want it. Rather than investing endless pots of money in product development, we have witnessed an increase in investment into marketing, branding and the process of evoking emotion with micro-moments.
Cue the marketing gurus who rush to investigate consumer behaviour and formulate new purchasing models. That’s why we are here, writing this blog. Micro-moments have rocketed to the forefront of the way businesses are putting out products and the way we spend our hard-earned cash.
What are micro-moments?
In the simplest form, a micro-moment is all a business has, to sell its product to us. It’s that passing instant when we decide if we need that raincoat or we continue scrolling through thousands of others. The micro-moment came about because of the amount of time we spend on our phones and the drop in consumer attention span.
What used to be a scheduled session of online consumer behaviour has become fragmented moments in time. Be it on our morning commute to work, or whilst waiting for our turn at the dentist. We shop everywhere and anywhere, and every time we do, it’s for minute passing micro-moments.
But what are the marketing micro-moments?
The micro-moments we are interested in are those that drive us to purchase. They’re best described as the ‘I want to go’ ‘I want to know’ ‘I want to do’ ‘I want to buy’ moments. It’s those moments that are the make or break moments for brands and businesses across the world.
The exact second that any of the moments mentioned above occur is a key moment as the consumer expects their search to provide instant answers. They hope to be able to head to a website and purchase or find the information they need. The hunger has primarily been driven by our over-reliance on mobile phones and the knowledge they bring to our palms.
How do I use the micro-moments model?
This is a question that must be answered individually for each business. It’s almost entirely down to your strategy and how you allow the information regarding micro-moments to benefit your business. So here is some of the information Google has provided when analysing the data surrounding the micro-moments marketing model:
1. Of those who travel for leisure and are active smartphone users, 70% search for travel suggestions in their spare time. Nearly half of those then go on to book a holiday on a separate channel. If you’re running a travel company, offering blogs and suggestions to those who are searching for information could be invaluable for the moment those same people return to purchase. It also shows us that google advertising, based around re-marketing could be a brilliant way to drive sales across the line.
2. The micro-moment also takes place in-store! Of those who are purchasing from a store, over 80% will run a Google search relating to a product they are looking at. This is incredibly rich information, meaning that if you have similar products to those sold on the high street, having them priced at a noticeably lower price could drive sales to you and away from the shopfront. It also means having reviews for your products on your website might encourage an in-store sale.
3. Of consumers, almost 70% agree that timing, message and relevance of business, drive the perception of a brand. What this means is that if your message is positive, understandable and valuable to the person searching, your business is much more likely to sell to that specific consumer in the long run. Highlighting once again, that strategy is the absolute key to exercising power over the world of micro-moments.
Who will be a success? ⭐
As the micro-moment model is in its infancy, it’s a brilliant time for businesses to tap into the work Google has done. A company of their size offering value to the businesses who use their various platforms. The businesses who will find the greatest success in 2021 will implement this information within their marketing strategy. There’s a tonne of foresight involved in the micro-moments model, and there’s going to be a vast success for those to tap into the knowledge of experts.
If anything about micro-moments interests to you, or if you need some help along the way with your marketing plans for the end of 2020 and beyond, give us a call! We are an incredibly friendly bunch with plenty of varied sector knowledge. Solutions are our thing, especially to challenges.
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