What exactly is a micro-moment?
Micro-moments are instances in our lives when we identify that we have a need; a problem we need to solve, a product we need to buy, or the answer to an endless amount of questions we may have. They’re the moment we reach for our smartphone (or laptop) to fill that need. And they’re a steel cage death match for brands.
Micro-moments are all about context.
We’re online and engaged 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. In fact, we check our phones 150 times per day. That’s a lot of engagement. And although much of that engagement is personal, i.e. people don’t want to interact with brands during these times, the flip side is an untapped goldmine; those times when people are looking for a solution to their problem, and they welcome your engagement.
With the right content strategy, you can reach your audience in their micro-moment — when they’re ready to buy.
3 ways to integrate micro-moments into your content strategy:
- Consider micro-moments up front:
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Who are they? When will they need your product? This aligns with understanding your target audience and delivering the right message at the right time. Map their micro-moments so you can be there first and understand what instinctually drives them. - Engage, don’t annoy:
Okay, figuring out when your audience is likely to need your product is part of the battle. Make sure you engage them with useful content that helps them solve their problem. Don’t push product advertising at them. Respect their time and reward them. - Actionable content:
A solid content strategy requires different types of content to achieve different goals, depending on where in the funnel the content exists: Attract, Convert, Close, Delight. With micro-moments, you need to understand the problem you’re trying to solve and help your audience with a solution – FAST. An informative 35 page white paper, although a valuable part of your content strategy, will not be effective here. Only quick, concise and actionable messages need apply.
So what does an effective approach to micro-moments look like? I’m happy you asked.
The Red Roof Inn capitalized on relevant data and reached their audience right in the middle of their micro-moment:
“The company realized that flight cancellations were leaving 90,000 passengers stranded every day, its marketing team developed a way to track flight delays in real time and trigger targeted search ads for the Red Roof Inns near airports. Ads that said, in essence, “Stranded at the airport? Come stay with us!” They committed to those “I-need-a-hotel-ASAP” moments and delivered with relevance on what people needed.”
The Red Roof Inn experienced a “60% increase in bookings across non-branded search campaigns.” A brilliant strategy that married data, creative, and common sense to produce results. This is a major pain-point they solved for their guests.
If you can find your customers’ pain points in the middle of their micro-moment, you’ll be one step ahead of your competitors.
John is the Founder & CEO of Wriber. He’s passionate about entrepreneurship, high-tech startups, thought leadership, content marketing, and artificial intelligence. John frequently volunteers his time at the University of Waterloo to help young entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. He’s also a faithful Toronto Maple Leafs fan, frequent Redditor, and lifelong learner.