What are Micro Moments? How Micro Moments Work with User Intent.

What are Micro Moments?

Micro-Moments are, according to Google, “intent-rich moments when a person turns to a device to act on a need – to know, go, do, or buy.”

The four types of Micro-Moments you need to focus on throughout your digital marketing journey are:

  • I want to know moments: When a user is exploring or researching but isn’t necessarily ready to buy.
  • I want to go moments: When a user is looking for a local business or considering purchasing in a nearby store.
  • I want to do moments: When a user is looking for help to get something done or wants to try something new.
  • I want to buy moments: When a user wants to make a purchase and needs help to decide what to purchase or how to buy it.

Content MarketingAccording to Think with Google, consumers experience an average of these micro-moments 150 times daily. Consumers spend an average of 5 hours daily on their smartphones, and the industry has reached “content shock.” This means people cannot consume more content than they already are – since ads constantly barrage them with tweets, texts, push notifications, emails, and social media updates.

Brands have had to change how they communicate with consumers and consider capturing their attention when bombarded with so much “noise” online. Micro-moments are the basis for a new approach to marketing and the way to ensure you’re delivering on what consumers need throughout all stages of the customer journey.

SEO Inc uses Micro moment in tandem with user intent in our SEO Services and Content Marketing Strategies. Micro-moments connect users at the right moment in time to deliver the exact content they are looking for. This is a “win-win” for both the user and the brand!

Last week on the blog, we discussed user intent and how it relates to SEO. The user intent serves as the basis for developing micro-moments – and your brand’s ability to deliver what consumers are looking for- that creates the full micro-moment experience.

 

What This Means for Your Brand

SEO Blog WritingYou only have a few seconds to catch user attention in this climate. Talk about an uphill battle! You’ll need to shift your marketing approach (and thus your SEO) to focus on being there for users at each moment. Understanding the moments and providing what users expect will not only increase your mobile conversion rate, but it will also increase brand engagement since you’re more relevant to your customer.

As we increasingly depend on smartphones and other mobile devices to search, consumers are looking for more “right here, right now” experiences. We want what we want when we want it, and we’re not inclined to want to wait – so whoever can give us what we need first will get our attention.

Because we have access to all this information at our fingertips, today’s consumers are better informed now than ever – we want the best of the best, products, information, or otherwise. We take the time to learn about our options and want to make sure we can trust the information we’re getting.

That’s where keeping your brand’s strategy, so consumer and micro-moment focused, comes in to play to grow your business.

Making Sure People Can Find You in I Want to Know Moments

The most important thing you can do is anticipate consumer questions and ensure you have answers ready. Google says you should use your smartphone to perform some of the top searches related to your category and see if your website shows up.

Research shows 65% of smartphone users say that when they search on their smartphone, they look for the most relevant information, and they don’t care about the company providing the information.

You’ll want to make it easy for consumers to find the information they want about your brand, products, or services. 69% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from a company whose mobile site or app helps them quickly find the answers to their questions.

Have information readily available and quickly locate for consumers through each stage of the consumer journey – from brand awareness to after the sale.

Making Sure People Can Find You in I Want to Go Moments

These happen when people are looking for things local to them. It could be anything from where to go for a killer cup of coffee, to find a gym, or even an HVAC repair service. If you want to win these moments, you’ll need to focus on using location signals to highlight essential locations, your store inventory, and driving directions.

In these moments, people seek a connection to the physical world. 30% of all mobile searches are related to location – growing 50% faster than all other mobile searches. Keep your ads relevant to local messaging.

Remember, convenience matters in these moments. Convenience often overtakes brand loyalty, so it’s essential to make helpful information, such as your hours, pricing, and inventory, easy to find while browsing on a smartphone.

Making Sure People Can Find You in I Want to Do Moments

We already know YouTube is the second largest search engine – and because Google owns it, YouTube content can help increase your overall rank. But YouTube is the perfect way to get people in there I Want to Do Moments.

Research from Think With Google shows that 91% of smartphone users turn to YouTube for how-to videos to help them learn how to do something – whether it’s a big project or a quick fix.

You don’t have to have a massive budget for video creation to succeed with YouTube. Demonstrating how to do something with a screen recorder and your voice can create a compelling video. Brands like Home Depot and M.A.C Cosmetics are using YouTube to catch people in their I Want to Do moments. Think about how your brand can do the same.

Making Sure People Can Find You in I Want to Buy Moments

I’m sure there are people out there who find it entertaining that you can order a pizza from Domino’s by tweeting a pizza emoji, but digital marketers know it’s genius. Domino’s – a company that’s been in business for 57 years – is the perfect example of a brand keeping up with changing technology and consumer demands. The company now has more than 15 ways to order pizza – from sending pizza emojis over social media, to voice ordering with Google Home. No matter what their consumers are doing, there’s a way for them to order pizza – and they can choose the best method.

Offering choice and variety puts the consumer in control. And when the consumer knows they are free to choose what works best for them, they are more likely to go to you than the competition.

Consumer expectations are higher than ever – and it’s safe to bet that the bar will only continue to rise. Focus on providing your customers with the best experiences across any micro-moments, and over time; you’ll build loyalty. Each customer journey is nothing but a series of micro-moments – and when you nail them repeatedly, you stand out as the brand consumers need.

 

Micro-moments are specific instances when consumers use their devices to learn, do, discover, watch, or buy something. Coined by Google, this concept highlights crucial decision-making and preference-shaping moments in the consumer journey. They fall into four categories: “I want to know,” “I-want-to-go,” “I-want-to-do,” and “I want to buy.” Understanding and leveraging these micro-moments is vital for marketers, as they offer opportunities to meet high consumer expectations and shape their preferences effectively.

The four key types of micro-moments you should focus on, as identified by Google, are:

  1. “I-want-to-know” moments are when consumers research or seek more information about a subject. As a business, you should provide informative and engaging content to answer questions and provide knowledge to your consumers.
  2. “I-want-to-go” moments: These are moments when consumers are seeking a local business or service. For these moments, optimizing your online presence for local searches is crucial, including using local SEO strategies.
  3. “I-want-to-do” moments occur when consumers need assistance with a task. Offering step-by-step guides, how-to videos, or other instructional content can help your brand be there for these moments.
  4. “I-want-to-buy” moments: This is when consumers are ready to purchase. Your focus should be creating a seamless and straightforward purchasing process, providing clear and accessible product information, and offering efficient customer service.

Identifying these moments, understanding your audience’s specific needs during them, and designing targeted strategies for each can help you better connect with your consumers and ultimately drive business growth.

Ready to Collaborate? Contact Us!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Blog Sidebar

Categories.

NEWSLETTER

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Newsletter Signup