Today, everyone wants instant gratification. Right this very moment, millions of people around the world are using their smartphones and devices to get the information they need and find products they love in an instant.
Having trouble finding a good Thai restaurant? Just ask Siri, ‘What are the Thai restaurants near me?’ Or, are you a budding photographer in need of a new camera? Ask Google, ‘What’s the best camera for wildlife photography?’ You can find answers to these and more instantly.
This poses a bit of a problem for marketers as consumers aren’t following traditional buyer journeys. So, how can brands find potential customers more efficiently? This is where micro-moment marketing enters the picture.
Micro-moments are when consumers ask an instant and specific question and get an instant and specific answer. For example, think back to a time when you wanted to do some last-minute holiday shopping. You probably took out your phone and asked Siri or Google the best place to find a gift for a friend or your parents. That is the micro-moment we’re talking about. How you go about preparing your brand for these micro-moments can really make a difference in your brand’s success.
So how do you set up your brand for success when everyone around you is vying for the same top spot you are?
Focus on the five W’s
Who: In order to win over your target consumer, you need to understand them. Get a good handle on who they are and what they’re searching for when you’re coming up with a marketing strategy.
What: Your target audience may be looking for your product, but might use different keywords/phrases to search for it. So, find out what keywords your audience is asking in each micro-moment and build your strategy with that in mind.
Where: Know where your audience is searching for your product and where they go on your website. This information can even help you optimise your Google My Business profile.
When: This can refer to the time of the week, day, year, and more. If you’re a business that operates seasonally, monitor when searches for your products or services are ramping up.
Why: Ask yourself, ‘Why should a consumer visit my business instead of a competitor that’s a few minutes away?’ Once you figure out the ‘why,’ you can create a campaign that drives massive results.
With 69% of online consumers revealing that the timing, quality, and relevance of a brand’s message influences their perception of the brand, just asking yourself these 5 W’s can help you to create a compelling campaign that thrives on micro-moment marketing.
But don’t take our word for it. Let’s take a look at some global brands whose micro-moment marketing campaigns are getting them into the shopping carts of consumers around the world.
Domino’s
It’s remarkable how the last few years have changed the game in the food industry. In fact, industry experts say that meal delivery will rise to 33.3% in 2027 from 27.4% in 2023. Unfortunately, many have not been able to make the transition to a smoother and simpler online ordering process and have been left with a dip in their sales.
Domino’s understood this and revamped its website. An online order process that used to take 25 steps, now could be completed in just a couple. This helped them improve their conversion rates and increased their online orders, which now make up a massive 60% of their total orders!
Nestlé Waters
Nestlé, a brand that has been around for over 150 years, started seeing a change in how people were searching. They noticed that people search for water online, especially compared to other beverages.
This makes it much more difficult for a brand like Nestlé to reach and convert consumers. That’s why they applied micro-moment marketing to connect with consumers online in the same way that they were connecting with their in-store customers.
As a result, they started seeing considerable changes—one of which was a drop in their customer acquisition costs (CAC) by more than 30%!
Hyundai
You might think that the car industry isn’t really a micro-moment kind of industry, but even they’ve seen a sizable shift in how people purchase a vehicle.
While car purchases generally happen at an actual physical dealership, the journey begins online and Hyundai understood this. They changed the way they reached out to their customers. While many, if not all, dealerships offered test drives at the dealerships, Hyundai went a step further and gave customers the opportunity to test drive at their homes, offices, or even hangout spots.
They even made it a requirement for dealerships to display the price of their vehicles without any dealer discounts or other price incentives, making it much easier for customers to know the actual cost of the vehicle.
Micro-moment marketing—a massive win for businesses that want to cash in on big moments
Consumers change, and so do their expectations, behaviours, and purchasing patterns. This can make it very challenging for brands to keep up.
But, by taking a more customer-centric approach and leveraging micro-moments, brands can build a deeper understanding of their target audience. This can help brands guide consumers to find what they’re searching for at that very moment more efficiently, increasing customer trust and loyalty while improving sales.