Consumers run the brand landscape. They change the way they feel about your brand in a moment. And with the current rate of nearly 80% of brand consumers stating they interact with a brand or a product online before they ever step a real or digital foot in a store, today’s top design and marketing agency teams can help serve the content consumers are looking for at the right time and place. So yes, micro-moments matter. But how do these moments work online? That’s easy. Content.
Consumers consume content online. These tools enable them to accomplish whatever it is they want at that moment—a smile, a laugh, a piece of content or even a tool.
Micro-moments require rethinking at the design and marketing agency level. It used to be that consumer interaction and engagement required a marketing agency to help brands first connect with consumers through a series of touch-points before ultimately leading to them a transaction. Today, it’s speed tracked to a micro-moment, where design and marketing agency teams can first predict the need and then provide the content at the same time, in the same moment. What this does is make the brand valuable. It solves a need in a moment and provides for the next step and the step after at each stage in the customer journey. And thankfully, today design and marketing agencies have the tools necessary to see that insight, plan for those needs, be there, and provide the feedback loop internally to be there again the next time. It’s a beautiful thing.
Today’s consumers have a smorgasbord of information
Given their access to information, today’s online consumers require brands to be ready at the moment they are. These are the moments where a consumer needs to do something, buy something, learn something or see more of something. These micro-moments now dominate the online landscape.
Smart brands are there to solve a need at that moment. Through the use of content or tools, brands can identify micro-moments before they happen by understanding the environment conducive to those moments. What will someone need at this moment, what makes that moment happen, let’s curate that environment, and boom. There’s the moment.
This type of thinking gives the design and marketing agency the chance to anticipate the conversation in advance. It’s like showing up to the event with the right outfit vs. the underwear. Which one would you choose? Us, too.
But it’s not that simple. Brands must be quicker. Quicker than quick, really. Their event-readiness removes the consideration and evaluation phase of the journey. They’re ready to go, and that preparation provides value that the next brand isn’t providing. And that’s indispensable. In fact, 30 percent of global consumers surveyed say they make belief-driven purchase decisions today more than they did three years ago.
Beliefs feed decisions in today’s landscape
Today’s consumers will, repeat, they will, buy from, switch from, avoid, or even in extremes, boycott your brand if you’re not in their belief set. This is particularly true for the millennial buyer, the high earner buyer, and let’s just go all-in, the global buyer, where half of world consumers today say they’re belief driven. What does that mean? Belief driven-buyers comprise nearly half the consumers in the US. This means these consumers are connected to the brands they consume and have brand preference with them to buy, stay loyal to, and to defend.
What can a design and marketing agency do?
In today’s micro-moment landscape, timing, relevance, and quality are everything. These perceptions influence brand perception in a way that’s unprecedented in our times before. You search for what you need online. Your coworker does, too. And your mom, your best friend, and everyone in between. In fact, there are over 2 billion Google searches each day. And not only are these searches being made on-the-go, they’re also being made more and more by mobile device.
Mobile devices feed micro-moments
When we’re on the run, we have needs. We look up where we’re going, the hours of the location we’re visiting, the menu of where we’re eating, and on and on. The job of today’s design and marketing agency is to be there when that moment happens. The preparation required is to plan for the customer journey. This means getting to know your customer. What needs do they have, what steps will they take, and who will be involved alongside them? You’ll then make this journey and plot the steps necessary to achieve the goal you’re looking to accomplish as the best design and marketing agency.
Considering the trend of belief driven consumers and the influence of micro-moments for a brand, the question we all must answer on a daily basis isn’t whether the brands we manage will need to be ready, it’s whether they will be. What do you think? Have we grossly simplified micro-moments in effort of telling this story about them. What’s the best thing about marketing to today’s global consumer online today? Tell us in the comments section below.