Bertha's Blog: Work on the Micro Moments from Start to Finish

There have been enough rounds of talks in the market about micro moments. What, exactly, is this? How is this related to business? Does this influence success? You need to reach your customers anytime, anywhere. Micro moments are the touch points, the moments that can smoothly nudge your customers to take a decision and sign a deal with your brand. Micro-moments are those moments which, when tracked, will help your brand be with your customers whenever they want. For digital marketers, micro-moments are sure to offer macro effects.

Nurture your customers

Every moment is critical for a brand to shape its existence and future survival. It takes only a blink to miss them. So, understand those moments and customize every incarnation of your brand to your customers by tracking or mapping those micro moments. Drive customer engagement by mirroring their words (queries) back to them. Build up the trust.

Internet driven moments

The buying journey of every consumer is changing. The kind of quality interaction that customers have with companies and brands is also seeing a big change. Gone are the days where a customer walks into a store and then decides to buy. Inspiration comes digitally now. Communication is so quick a that they are automatically and smoothly taken towards successfully completing the buying process, mostly digitally. According to StatCounter, the independent web analytics company, mobile stands at the top to use the internet.

Increased choices, cross-border purchases, and smartphone penetration are the three major factors that contribute towards the innovation of micro-moments.

Mobile search is redefining customer buying process

More and more people are using their mobile devices to search. Recent reports indicate that approximately 80% of people are using their phones to search. Smartphones stand as a medium to learn something new; get more information, and accomplish something that interests. By the end of 2017, more than a third of the world’s population is projected to own a smartphone. This is likely to account for approximately 6 billion smartphone users in the world. Nearly 50% of the search requests are initiated via mobile phones. Phones are now the new advisors and great assistants. Actions are taken on the move. Google addresses this as mobile micro moments.

micro moments in mobile marketing

Search Engines are adapting to its audience

In responding to mobile searches, search engines are evolving too. In the quest to turn its search engine into a master brain, Google recently announced the availability of shortcuts to smartphones. The facility lets its users find answers and recommendations on smartphones without having to think about what to ask its search engine. The feature appears as a row of icons below the Google search box. It lets users to just tap the icons, not type and quickly go on with their searches.

Be there and walk along

To be successful in your business, you need to understand your customers and their every move. Launched with an intention to address those “what, where, when, why and how” queries of every customer, Micro-moments are sure to allow every brand to take advantage of the art of being there with the customers and being useful. This lets you walk along with your customers.

Understand the advantages of micro moments

Be with your customer throughout the buying journey
Optimize customers towards your campaign goals
You are always with the customers
Instantly connect with customers
Measure every interaction with your customer
Track and assign value for every touch point of your customers with your brand
Avoid getting blindsided by certain buyer preferences
Niche effectively

#Changing Focus

Moments keep changing. With a new day, new moments come up. Being there with their real-time requirements as a transformational guide is an art. Studies indicate that nearly 91% of mobile users research and look up for more information while they are in the midst of another task altogether. The customer can have multiple queries and focus on any given day.

For example, a customer who owns a building construction company can have queries about finding out tenants, finding the right carpenter, finding the right floor tiles, finding the perfect furniture for her sample apartment, finding about securities and suddenly the customer remembers about few things that he needs to pick up for her son’s school project, so searches accordingly. Here, we can see how this particular customer’s focus transforms throughout the day. Marketers need to pick these moments and create a way to make the customer come back.

Identifying opportunities and capturing every requirement will help brands to instantly respond to all those “I want to know,” I want to go,” “I want to do,” and “I want to buy” moments. It is not just about being there and being useful, it is about responding quickly too.

#Hit those moments at the right level

What people ask need not necessarily be what they want. Every curiosity or every search will not end up with a purchase. For example, a lady known to me has a habit to search for sweets ten to fifteen times a day. The reality is she is diabetic and she is never going to buy sweets that she searches out. To hit a moment here is understand the basics, and a marketer can eventually keep her engaged with sugar-free sweets. This way of targeting the moments with thoughtful output goes above and beyond with retaining customers too. Marketers should know the strategy to zoom out a specific micro-moment and engage the customers in a manner that can show up in metrics that matter.

Think with search engines

Brands need to work with consumers at every moment. Communicating with them effectively and offering them what they subconsciously require is the new way of thinking: thinking beyond normal. This will help brands to engage customers in a meaningful way. Remember, this strategy is not something that is out of reach. Businesses need to ensure that whatever they are showing is just what the customers would like to hear. It is not about placing a new layer of service over years, months, days or hours, but, it is simply captivating consumers’ attention and those moments quickly. Brands should take complete advantage of micro moments right from “trust” to “sold out” stage.