What Are Micro-Moments?
When someone asks you the time, you check your phone. If you’re waiting for an important message, you check your phone. If you recognise the actor from a new TV show but can’t quite place it, you check your phone. You’ll also check it to see how much (hypothetical) flights would be for your trip to Krakow, if Marvel has dropped a new trailer, or if you’re in a supermarket and something seems a little overpriced. Everyone has unlocked their phone to check the time, seen that they have a new Instagram follower, put their phone away, and then realised they don’t know what time it is. We complete these micro-moments every day, sometimes without ever realising we’ve done it.
Questions They Ask
Micro-moment questions are usually split into the following:
I-Want-to-Know Moments
Consumers want answers almost as soon as they think of the question. Whether it’s “Who directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?” or “Who won the last series of The Great British Bake Off?”, people have a need for instant information.
I-Want-to-Go Moments
In time gone by, people would spend countless hours pouring over glossy holiday brochures to find their next destination. Now, people can check flight prices, usual temperatures, and the exchange rate in seconds. By embracing micro-moments, customers can learn how a country is for tourists in a few clicks.
I-Want-to-Do Moments
Imagine, you and your friends are bored on a Saturday afternoon. With just a few clicks and a quick search, you can find everything that’s going on in your local area, from cinema listings and local shows to pool halls, bowling alleys, and restaurants.
I-Want-to-Buy Moments
No matter what you’re buying, there’s sure to be a range of other options to consider. Using an I-want-to-by moment, you can weigh up the positives and negatives of each product, rather than choosing blindly. A search from Think with Google showed that 82% of smartphone users consulted their phones when looking at products in-store, with one in 10 of those buying something different from their original choice.
How You Can Use Them
The big takeaway from this is that customers expect instant, high-quality content. This shouldn’t come as a shock, as having a website that loads quickly, excellent above-the-fold content, and informative descriptions should be commonplace anyway. Other things to note are the reliance on reviews and being able to answer customer questions.
As mentioned above, more than eight out of 10 customers will now pull up reviews before making a concrete decision. This makes your review section much more important, whether this is on-site or through a third party like Trustpilot. Having reviews on your site is generally a good idea, as you can hand-pick the best reviews to show your business in the best light. Ensure that these reviews can be seen to give the best first impression to clients.
Customers are now asking literal questions with search engines, rather than just putting keywords into Google. You need to answer these questions if you hope to real them in. There are two ways to do this; writing questions and answers into your content or having a dedicated FAQs page. Both fulfil the same purpose and ensure that consumers’ micro-moments aren’t wasted.
Make the most of these micro-moments and you’re sure to maximise your business’s potential!