Micro-Moments & how they can improve your digital marketing campaigns

Transcript

Hi, I’m Ben Fitzpatrick. I’m head of operations at Webprofits.

Today I want to share with you a simple methodology called Micro-Moments and how you can use it to focus your marketing efforts on the consumers that you can have the biggest impact on to improve the performance of your digital marketing campaigns.

The term Micro-Moments, coined by Google, describes the specific moments when consumers go online to act on a clear need – whether it be to learn something, watch something, go somewhere, do something or most importantly buy something. When a consumer has a very clear need and purpose, it’s the perfect time for a brand to be in front of their target market with the solution they’re after.

So how can you leverage these micro-moments to improve your marketing? Well, our methodology is centred around finding all of these moments in the consumer journey and putting them at the centre of your digital strategy.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, you need to understand your consumers. This is no small task – and one that I recommend every business put resources towards ongoing.
2. With a strong understanding of your consumers in hand, you then do an extensive brainstorm of all their Micro-Moments with respect to your product and service.
3. And then finally, you develop strategies, tactics and messaging that are specifically focused on these moments.

The hardest part in that process?

Developing strategies and tactics to get your message in front of the target market while they’re experiencing a micro-moment. Often the most straight forward way to do this is through Google Search – as your customers are literally showing you exactly what they want.

So if you’re not actively marketing there, it’s probably the best place to start. But the opportunities from this methodology are much broader. Let’s use someone who wants to buy wireless headphones as an example. Anyone searching for the headphones on Google is obviously going through the micro-moment but outside of that, what other indicators could there be?

• There’s the moment when a consumer has just purchased a new phone and is researching other accessories.
• A more targeted moment would be specifically focused on say runners who have decided they’d like better headphones for when they exercise but want to know specifically how they’ll handle sweat.
• Focusing on competitors, a Micro-Moment could be when a consumer has just left the Apple store and seen extensive marketing for EarPods.
• Or there could be the specific moment when the consumer has had an annoying experience with tangled cords and has decided they’re going to find out which wireless options are the best.
• And then finally, there are the actual moments when a consumer has made the decision to buy some new wireless headphones (whether it’s yours or your competitors).

In each of these moments, the consumer is likely to go online – and whether it’s Google, Youtube, Instagram, a product review site or directly to your website, you can develop a strategy to meet them there – and tailor your message to speak directly to their need or desire in the moment.

For the person who goes online to find out which wireless headphones are the best, you could ensure you’re active in all the channels they’re most likely to use – whether it be through an influencer unboxing video on Youtube, on a reviews website or a highly targeted piece of content that you can rank in organic search.

To market to the consumer who just left the Apple store, you could geo-target ads within a small radius of every Apple store with an ad showcasing a direct comparison of your product with EarPods.

And for the person who already knows they want to buy your product, you can do everything possible to validate that purchase and make it frictionless at every step from your branded searches on Google through to your forms or checkout process.

The reason this approach is so effective is because it focuses entirely on consumers and conversions. And it ensures your marketing (and your ad spend) is put towards the moments when you can have the biggest impact. It doesn’t replace the need to have a well built marketing funnel as Micro Moments can take place at any stage from awareness through conversion and advocacy, and they certainly require follow up marketing activity to be effective. But that marketing activity will be even more effective as you’ve already shown the consumer that your business, product or service meets their specific needs.

That’s it for today. If you have any questions about this approach, leave them in the comments.

Ben Fitzpatrick

Head of Operations at Webprofits

With over five years tenure and extensive experience across all areas of digital marketing, Ben Fitzpatrick is Webprofits’ Head of Operations and a consultant for some of our largest Growth Marketing clients.

Across the business, he is constantly working with the team to innovate and improve in order to keep Webprofits at the forefront of digital marketing.