WTF (What the fudge) are micro-moments?
Micro-Moments coined by Google defines it as “An intent rich moment when a person turns to a device to act on a need – to know, go, do or buy”. Micro-moments occur when people turn to their mobile devices to explore, discover, research and buy products. The powerful microcomputers (mobiles) in the pocket are training brands to deliver exactly what the consumers are looking for when they are looking for it.
Source: Think with Google
These moments mentioned above are trigger points for companies to act on converting their customers. In other words, the faster companies react in these windows of opportunity the more likely there is a chance of conversions, sales, and revenue.
According to GSM real-time intelligence data, over 5.13 billion people own smartphones around the world. This makes mobiles an indispensable part of our daily lives, so much so that we might forget to have a meal during the day but almost never forget our mobile phones.
People are over-reliant on mobile phones with having the urge to check the phone every time. Google has become an integral part of smartphones addiction. And every time the information is needed, we just ‘Google’ it. Google has become the sole source for gathering accurate information. Impatience’s, immediate action, instant gratification, and impulsiveness are some of the descriptors of consumers behavior today.
Companies are studying consumer’s behavioral patterns to move ahead of the competition when consumers experience micro-moments. To reach the right consumers having this micro-moments Micro-marketing is used and become an important part of the Mobile marketing strategies for companies to fulfill consumers micro-moments.
An example of when micro-marketing is used by a marketer is when a consumer is waiting at an Adidas store to buy a pair of shoes. He’s waited a long time for these new kicks and willing to drop a few hundred dollars on them. But he wants to confirm the reviews of the shoes before buying them but can’t find a salesman or more likely to search for reviews using the mobile phone in his pocket. There is an announcement that the store will be closing in 5 mins and hence he needs to make his decision quickly.
In desperation, he turns to Google and begins searching for the reviews of the new Adidas shoes. Within the search engine ad words, gender, age, income is all getting analyzed based on the location of this consumer. And while scrolling to the reviews an Ad of the same pair of shoes at a lower rate than the one at the store catches the consumers eye. This Ad showed the pair was 30$ cheaper than the store and decided to head back home and purchase the product online.
At this very moment, a marketer somewhere around the globe won the battle for this consumers’ micro-moment. Google realizes using Micro-marketing in moments when consumers expectations are high gives companies a better chance to capture their attention.
Mobile is not only a source of information but now being used as a tool for shopping as well. According to Statista the following share of the population in Emerging markets have shopped at some point online via mobiles in 2018 (China 74%, Indonesia 76%, India 60%, Thailand 71%) on the flip side only (Australia 37%, United States 44% Canada 35%) of the population in these markets have shopped online via the mobile phones in 2018. There is a clear gap seen between regions where mobile marketing and mobile shopping are trending and prospects of future market potential.
More companies are fighting to capture such micro-moments of consumers by changing strategies internally and by learning from their competition. The days before smartphones dominated the market was easier to inspire people with traditional marketing techniques. The process has become far more complex and with consumers becoming more proactive in searching for answers companies too need to get one step ahead and learn about the evolving consumers by implementing different micro-marketing techniques in their Mobile marketing programs.
Marketers need to focus on the following techniques while using micro-marketing as part of their social media marketing strategy. Some of these techniques helped companies like Clorox, Booking.com & CVS Health
- Analyze the current mediums of reaching customers and if those avenues are getting exposure, the number of views on YouTube, traffic, and followers on Instagram, reviews of products on third party websites, influencers impressions.
- Building awareness of the target audience by viewing brand perception from consumers point and company’s perspective and finding the gap to further improve current campaigns.
- Target early-adopters to have an advantage since technology is improving more micro-moments are up for grabs. Keeping up with the changing trends will be key to grabbing micro-moments and winning customers online.
- Identify consumers “I want to buy” moments and Deliver relevant content
What other techniques apart from the ones mentioned above can companies use to capture consumer micro-moments?
Sources: https://www.statista.com/statistics/280134/online-smartphone-purchases-in-selected-countries/
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-immediate-need-mobile-experiences/
Joshua Salvador Avelino D'souza 