Making the most of Micro Moments

The first iPhone, released in 2007, was a game changer for businesses, governments and consumers alike. Not even 10 years later, consumers are already beginning to use wearable devices for shopping purposes, not to mention relying on their smartphones for these activities much more commonly than could have been imagined back in 2007.

Google has referred to the true battlegrounds of the modern era as “Micro Moments,” defined as being those brief instances when customers look for information, a product or service on one of their devices – notably mobile ones. Because of how competitive the digital landscape has become of late, winning these Micro Moments is no easy task. However, no matter the size of a company or its industry, they are indeed winnable.

The first step is to understand the challenges involved.

Understanding Micro Moments: Challenges and opportunities

To be clear, opportunities are as robust as the challenges involved in Micro Moments. First, though, here are some of the key challenges:

1. Presence at speed:
   The most obvious challenge involved is timing. Businesses that do not find ways to be the first point of reference for customers who are looking for information will not win those Micro Moments. Google found that the time spent per visit to websites dropped by 18 percent in the past year. If you do not engage visitors instantly and provide the information they need, they will look elsewhere.
2. Relevance:
   How do you ensure that you are indeed relevant in the scope of your prospects and current customers? You cannot afford to wait until after the Micro Moments to analyze what your customers are looking for – and therein lies the problem. You need to have a plan in place to predict the needs of customers, and this can be a demanding task. Google also stated that 65 percent of consumers look for the most relevant content.
3. Converting:
   Being fast and relevant is great, but will not do much if you do not have some mechanism or strategy in place to actually convert the audience. Once you bring them to the website in those Micro Moments, make sure you are making the purchasing process as seamless as possible to avoid lost sales and abandoned carts.

Those challenges are not impossible to overcome, they just demand a bit more effort and often a change of pace in the marketing strategy. As for opportunities, note that Google research has revealed 33 percent of consumers end up purchasing from companies that were not their first choice today and that more than half have found out about a company for the first time in these Micro Moments. This levels the playing field significantly, especially for smaller, lesser-known businesses.

Capitalizing on Micro Moments

Here are a few steps you can take to leverage Micro Moments and capitalize, rather than missing the opportunities involved:

1. 1. Research:
      You have to know your clientele better than they know themselves to leverage Micro Moments – do your research and apply the insights to campaigns swiftly.
   2. Go the extra mile:
      Make sure you are covering all of your bases – focusing on speed, relevance, presence and conversion – then go the extra mile to differentiate your Micro Moments campaign from those of competitors.
   3. Track:
      Make sure each new campaign is better than the last by tracking performances across the board. You might not win the first battle, but you should learn from it.

Leveraging online tools, following along with newer research and taking every feasible opportunity to learn what customers expect in Micro-Moments and how they wish to be served can significantly increase a company’s ability to excel in its marketplace. When in doubt, always reach out to the experts for assistance in these endeavors.