The 4 Marketing Micro-Moments
Plus 7 tips to capitalize on each moment for big-time marketing wins 🏆
Bryan Curley
March 13, 2024
Did You Know? As of 2024, 58.5% of all Internet traffic occurs on mobile devices followed by 39.4% on desktops and 2.1% on tablets (source). It’s estimated that, by 2025, 72.6% of people will use only a mobile device to access the web (source).
Pop quiz!
In which year did mobile Internet usage surpass desktop Internet usage?
A: 2013
B: 2015
C: 2017
D: 2019
E: 2021
(Answer below too-cool Trebek.)
Gif by jeopardy on Giphy
The answer is C: 2017.
That year marked the halting of a rapid rise in mobile Internet usage, which spiked from just 16.4% in 2013 to 51.6% in 2017.
(OK, technically, the flip happened in October 2016, but 2017 was the first full year of mobile browsing’s takeover.)
Noticing this trend, Google announced several changes to their search engine strategy.
You’re probably familiar with Google’s shift to mobile-first indexing, which the company announced in November 2016, began rolling out March 2018, and completed in October 2023.
Lesser known among marketers, and preceding mobile-first indexing, is Google’s introduction of “micro-moments” in April 2015 as described in this article on the Wall Street Journal by then-Senior VP of Ads and Commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy.
An excerpt below (emphasis mine):
Our research has uncovered a fundamental change in the way people consume media: the old days of predictable, periodic media sessions have been replaced by numerous short bursts of digital activity throughout the day. The old model was a four-course meal in the same restaurant. Today's is a series of constant bite sized snacks all over town.
Some of these hundreds of moments per day are when people are checking the time, texting with a spouse, or catching up with friends on social media. Seeing your friends’ photos, or messaging your partner to pick up milk on the way home from work may be very common moments, but they may not be when consumers are actually most receptive to brands' messages.
But then there are those moments that really matter—the I want-to-know moments, I want-to-go moments, I want-to-do moments, and I want-to-buy moments. They matter to consumers and they matter to brands.
These moments, or “micro-moments,” are when we act on a need—to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something or buy something. They are intent-rich moments where decisions are being made and preferences being shaped.
When that article was published (2015), we were right in the middle of mobile browsing’s rapid rise, which had more than doubled from 16.3% to 35.1% in two short years.
Because 2015 seems like a lifetime ago, I’ll add a few major milestones we saw that year for context:
Apple’s latest model was the iPhone 6.
Samsung released the Galaxy S6.
Hamilton: An American Musical debuted.
Mad Men aired the final episode of its 7-season run.
Taylor Swift was the year’s top-earning musician ($73.5 million), almost doubling 2nd-ranked Kenny Chesney ($39.8 million).
That T. Swift data point doesn’t really help you put 2015 into context, because she’s still a household name, but hot damn. That’s impressive.
Gif by SkyTV on Giphy
Later on in that WSJ article, Ramaswamy adds the following (emphasis mine):
In these micro-moments, consumer expectations are higher than ever. The powerful computers we carry in our pockets have trained us to expect brands to deliver exactly what we are looking for - the moment we are looking. We want things right, and we want things right away. In fact, 69% of online consumers agree that the quality, timing, or relevance of a company's message influence their perception of a brand.
So, what are micro-moments?
Micro-moment (noun): An intent-rich moment when a person turns to a device to act on a need—to know, go, do, or buy.
Google identified four such moments, which they defined as follows:
I-want-to-know: When someone is exploring or researching but not necessarily in purchase mode.
I-want-to-go: When someone is looking for a local business or is considering buying a product at a nearby store.
I-want-to-do: When someone wants help with completing a task or trying something new.
I-want-to-buy: When someone is ready to make a purchase and may need help deciding what to buy or how to buy it.
Regardless of your industry, it’s almost certain that several of those micro-moments apply to you.
“In these moments, consumers want what they want, when they want it—and they’re drawn to brands that deliver on their needs.”
That quote comes from this segment of Google’s official infographic:
At the bottom of that infographic, Google highlights three ways brands can make the most of these micro-moments:
Be there: Anticipate the micro-moments for your target audience, and commit to being there to help when those moments occur.
Be useful: Provide a digital experience that’s relevant to consumers’ needs in the moment, and quickly connect people to the answers they’re looking for.
Be accountable: Create a seamless customer experience across all screens and channels, and measure the collective impact across them, too.
In recent editions of Data-Driven Marketing, we’ve looked at related subjects that dovetail well:
Creating a ChatGPT-powered audience analysis to understand what motivates your audience, helping you to be useful.
Above-the-fold optimization with a focus on effective and seamless user experiences, helping you to be accountable.
As we’ve already established, micro-moments aren’t new. As a result, especially for younger marketers, you’ve probably been optimizing for micro-moments without really thinking about it, because that’s what makes for successful marketing campaigns in 2024.
For example, here are a few places where micro-moments work their way into today’s modern marketing efforts:
A brick-and-mortar business uses location data to send limited-time promotions when buyers are physically near a store.
A clothing brand offers personalized shopping recommendations based on a buyer’s real-time interactions.
A SaaS company creates content around keywords like “best alternatives to [brand or competitor]” to capture users with specific purchase or info-gathering intent.
Google has a really interesting article called “How brands are winning with micro-moments” that explains real-world examples from Clorox, Booking.com, and CVS Health.
Clorox built a data-rich infrastructure to enable the company to predict customer needs and deliver on them quickly, such as serving a spinach dip recipe with Hidden Valley ranch dressing (a Clorox brand product) 15 minutes before the big game starts.
Booking.com needed an edge when competing with bigger travel brands like Expedia, so they developed a strategy to be there for every possible travel-related question their audience might have with the goal of being as helpful as possible in order to convert “lookers into bookers.”
CVS Health noticed customers were struggling to manage all of the paperwork and details associated with their prescriptions, so the brand developed a mobile app to make their customers’ lives easier, thereby allowing CVS Health to be there, be useful, and be accountable for each prescription reminder and refill while learning more about customer needs and behaviors.
Micro-moments aren’t always about making sales in each moment. Much of the time, brands can use micro-moments to improve brand awareness, visibility, reputation, and trust with their target audience.
7 ways you can capitalize on micro-moments
Here are some tips you can use to build or refine your company or brand’s micro-moment strategy.
1. Identify your target audience // Micro-moments begin with a deep understanding of your target audience, including their needs and behaviors.
2. Define key micro-moments // Identify those small moments when you can be there and be useful for your target audience, like the Clorox, Booking.com, and CVS Health examples above.
3. Be relevant // In each micro-moment, the content, offers, and general solution you provide should be hyper-relevant to your audience’s specific needs.
4. Be valuable // In each micro-moment, the content, offers, and general solution you provide should be valuable to your audience, creating a positive interaction.
5. Personalize your message // Connect with your audience by being as personal as possible. Use your customer’s name, serve them content specific to their needs, present them with targeted offers, etc.
6. Use data // Almost every aspect of micro-moments are powered by data. Restaurants can use location, time of day, and information on buyer preferences to serve targeted promotional messages. E-commerce brands can use customer shopping data and information about trends and seasonality to make optimized product recommendations. And, obviously, data allows for effective message personalization.
7. Keep measuring and improving // Each interaction is an opportunity to collect more data, so keep measuring, interpreting, and improving. Your customers’ needs may change as they repeatedly engage with your brand, and industry trends often change quickly in today’s fast-paced world.
How does your company or brand leverage micro-moments to grow your visibility and drive conversions? Reply to this email and share your strategies with us!
Everyone say, “Hi!” to David M 👋
Question: If you could have any superpower, but it had to be completely useless, what would it be?
David M’s Answer: “Able to be invisible but only when no one is looking.”
ChatGPT-Generated Joke of the Day 🤣
Why did the tomato turn red?
Because it saw the salad dressing!
Editor’s Note (that’s me, Bryan): It took me way too long to understand this one.
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