Micro-Moments and Branding

As technology continues to evolve and improve, how we live our lives is also constantly changing. And because we live in a consumer-orientated society, new technologies are assuming a greater role in how we buy and consume goods and services, creating a new paradigm in the process.

In the “old days,” long before the internet and smartphones, the yellow pages, TV ads, and print media were the standard means by which consumers learned about products, but today’s tech-savvy consumers do their own research in a series of “micro-moments” that work in a circular process. Successful brands that understand these micro-moments and how they relate to their consumers are poised for even greater success as smartphones improve and wi-fi continues to expand.

The term “micro-moment” was first coined in a 2011 e-book written by Jim Lecinski and published by Google, titled, Winning in the Zero Moment of Truth. The book was immediately a hit with those in the advertising, search, social, and marketing spaces, whose goals were to connect with consumers when the consumers were beginning their “discovery” of a brand.

According to Lecinski, there are actually a series of micro-moments, starting with the “zero moments of truth” (ZMOT), when the consumer decides to look for a certain product or service. The ZMOT is then followed by the “first moment of truth” (FMOT) when the consumer sees a brand’s product, and the “second moment of truth” (SMOT) follows when the consumer experiences the product. Finally, the “ultimate moment of truth” (UMOT) is when the consumer shares his or her experience of the product and brand online with other potential consumers. In the years since Lecinski’s book was first published, the concept and definition of micro-moments have evolved, but its importance in the consumer landscape has only grown.

As the idea of micro-moments garners more attention and evolves in its own right, consumers, and brands that understand the trend will benefit. Because micro-moments represent a non-linear journey through the customer experience, consumers will have more options to learn about and connect with brands, while at the same time, brands will have more opportunities to expand their consumer base resulting in more initial sales and return sales in the form of brand loyalty.

Find the right moment

Tracing the background of the micro-moment phenomenon is not difficult, because, unlike many other modern marketing trends, it’s almost entirely a product of the Internet Age. Before the internet, brands had fewer options to connect with their potential customers. TV ads, billboards, and print ads were the extent of pre-internet advertising, and although they were effective at the time, the connection they made with the consumer usually took much longer than a moment. After the consumer sat through or read the ad, he or she would have to go to the brick-and-mortar store, and then they would also often have to talk to a salesperson. Each step in the process obviously took many moments.

As time-consuming as this process was, it was the only way brands connect with potential or existing customers. For example, if an appliance or electronic equipment malfunctioned, a consumer either had to call a professional or worse, read the owner’s manual, which was usually as arcane as hieroglyphs to most people. But the emergence of the World Wide Web, and later smartphones, streamlined the consumer process into a series of moments, where the average consumer has much more control and brands have more opportunities.

Micro-moments today

The most recent evolutionary step in micro-moments involves the ubiquitous nature of smartphones in modern society. It’s important to consider that when Winning in the Zero Moment of Truth was first published, smartphones were relatively new. The iPhone was first released in 2007 and the Android system came out in 2008, so when Winning was published not everyone had a smartphone, and many who did still used them like an earlier generation cell phone. But as smartphone technology improved, people became more comfortable using them for many aspects of their lives, including research on consumer products.

According to a Google study, 62% of smartphone users are more likely to take immediate action when they encounter an unexpected problem, which creates micro-moment possibilities for many brands. Another example of how smartphone uses influences micro-moments was demonstrated in a 2015 Google study.