Google recently defined “micromoments” as times when people search for something—when they want to know something, or go somewhere, or do something, or buy something.
From a marketer’s perspective, these moments make up a customer’s journey. With luck, good karma, or great planning, they lead to a purchase.
We’ve always had these moments. But what we are doing during them—browsing restaurant reviews by location, researching how to make crème brûlée, planning a kitchen remodel—changes frequently as the technology we’re using evolves.
Marketers today need to consider the nonlinearity of a customer’s experience. They need to assume that customers are engaging in parallel touchpoints—or, on impulse, are skipping from awareness straight into a purchase moment.
Here at Ready State, we also think about retail moments, real-time marketing moments, and the “zero moment of truth” Google has called out. We like to meet customers on their own turf.
In creating sites and marketing materials, we start with the customer. We clarify our clients’ business and marketing goals, identify where they are best suited to meet customer needs, then build messaging around that sweet spot. We turn to moments when it’s time to deliver those messages. We think about the micromoments Google has coined, and we think about a few more.
The “I want to” moments align with what we call “lean forward” moments. (We wanted to call them “lean in” moments, but, well, that term was taken.)
We call another set “lean back” moments. These are the new couch potato moments—the times when consumers are in a mind-set to relax, not wanting anything except a little Facebook feed, Houzz image, or Flipboard headline browsing. It’s less about wanting or doing than about seeing beautiful and interesting things, branded or unbranded. It opens up some interesting opportunities for marketers.
This orientation to the moment provides us with strategic inspiration and validation. We’re working to build beautiful things—and help people connect with them at the right moment. Stay tuned.