The Sea of Micro-Moments

The Sea of Micro-Moments is the context in which modern Customer Journeys take shape.

Both in the physical world and in the digital one, stimuli (coming from news, conversations, and directly from brands) induce reactions that increasingly involve the use of smartphones, which have become a true extension of the human brain.

This is how we enter the Sea of Micro-Moments for real "informational supplies," to alleviate boredom and to meet the brands at the touch-points they have built.

In this article, we analyze the characteristics of the Sea of Micro-Moments, the context in which brands, to be successful, must build a system capable of attracting, converting, and retaining customers: not just a Funnel, therefore, but an entire Sand-Mill.

I micro-momenti

Per prima cosa: che cosa sono i micro-momenti?

Ho analizzato nel dettaglio il concetto in questo articolo.

Per riassumere, si tratta di tutte le occasioni che spezzettano le nostre giornate, in cui ci rivolgiamo agli smartphone (o ad altri dispositivi connessi).

Vengono definiti da Google come “momenti ad alta intenzione in cui vengono prese decisioni e formate preferenze” (Google, 2015). During these "informational refills", users are very open to brand communication (as long as it helps them address their own needs). In these moments, they are more influenced in their choices of what to do, where to go, and what to buy, compared to what happened with traditional advertising, for which mental barriers are now automatically raised. Google classifies them into 4 macro-categories: Want to Know, Want to Do, Want to Go, and Want to Buy. I believe it is useful to consider an additional category of moments when users turn to smartphones and for this reason I have also included in the Sea of Micro-Moments the "Want to be entertained", presented by Brambilla and Diegoli in 2016. Here you can read an in-depth analysis on the 5 macro-categories of micro-moments.

One fundamental thing is that these are only macro-categories, which internally encompass infinite subcategories that in turn classify based on the real, extremely personal micro-moments research intent that differ for each consumer.

The Sea of Micro-Moments in everyday life

Just get on any public transport to see dozens of people with their heads down, each engaged in searches, conversations or other activities involving their smartphones.

Each of them is facing very personal micro-moments: we can find those who are looking for the most suitable place for dinner with their girlfriend, those playing Candy Crush, those comparing alternative washing machine models.

Maybe there are those who are finding out what is the most suitable food for their cat and those who are dedicating themselves to an apparently endless scroll of Facebook's news feed.

Someone may also be busy scrolling through Instagram stories and seems unable to stop, as if they were addicted.

All these people may change activities, if a new need flashes in their mind, or a new stimulus catches their attention: as their streams of thought overlap with each other, so will the journeys that follow.

For this reason, we can visualize users' daily lives as immersed in a Sea, whose flow is marked by a succession of selfish and impatient "I want", searches and activities whose outcome can influence the direction and results of each journey.

 

Le caratteristiche del Mare di Micro-Momenti

Il Mare di Mirco-Momenti is multi-screen and multi-platform, intersection of physical and digital, real and virtual.

It is a concept that goes beyond mere purposes of purchase and consumption, qualifying more as an extension of the cognitive system, pervading every aspect of daily life.

It is within this perpetual Sea of Micro-Moments that Customer Journeys can occur, journeys that, from the perception of a problem, lead to a purchase through a sequence of touch-points.

 

Let's analyze its main characteristics.

 

Intersections: the overlap of waves

In the graphic processing of the Sea of Micro-Moments through the "waves," are represented:

1) The micro-moments of an individual, which overlap and intertwine to form different sessions, which in turn may or may not be repetitive.

These sessions, overlapping, represent a multitasking mentality, characterized however by an increasingly lower attention span (and therefore the modern consumer's tendency to follow multiple Customer Journeys simultaneously).

2) The micro-moments of other individuals and, therefore, the interactions between these and the previous ones. The intersections, from this perspective, represent connections between consumers.
Thanks to social networks, the possibility of creating content and interacting with comments and reviews in a web space (according to dynamics already born with Web 2.0), the micro-moments of a consumer can collide and intertwine with those of another, even if they occur asynchronously and/or in different (physical) locations.

These interactions can influence the overall journey, confirming a route or inducing deviation.

 

Every journey is unique

There are many (and almost infinite) possible combinations of different touchpoints that customers go through in their Customer Journey.

Each of these touchpoints plays a fundamental role, as it can influence the direction of the journey and determine its final outcome.
The decision to make a purchase related to a merchandise category and the one related to choosing a brand within it, are the result of the succession of such searches and interactions.

The enormous amount of available information and the growing tendency of consumers to carry out a high number of searches in relation to each problem (in order to be really sure of making the right choice), often make this process long and unpredictable.

Succeeding in the Sea of Micro-Moments

Whether they are aware of it or not, all companies find themselves competing in the Sea of Micro-Moments.

So how can they succeed?

It's not enough to be reactive

With traditional advertising, brands used to adopt a reactive approach, trying to anticipate the sequence of user moves and position themselves within Customer Journeys.
As noted by Edelman and Singer (I leave the reference among the sources at the end of the article), this approach is no longer effective in a context where consumers are increasingly impatient and have many alternatives available on their smartphones.

The natural conclusion reached by the authors is that, instead of simply reacting to consumer journeys (trying to follow them), companies should shape the paths along which to lead them.

In this context, the role of marketing becomes that of guiding, which is why we will build a Sand-Mill.

To do this, it will be necessary first to build a positioning that embodies competence and authority and be proactively present towards the consumer to offer precise (and valuable) answers to their requests, at the moments that matter most (Google, 2015).

 

Hunting for attention

At the same time, today's users have less time to get to know and evaluate brands, despite having the capabilities and tools to do so: the scarce resource is no longer information (now abundant), but attention.

The pace of life accelerates and attention span decreases; people struggle to concentrate.
They are exposed to too many stimuli, through a variety of online and offline channels: product features, brand promises, promotional communications.

As if it were not enough, the user's attention is also undermined by additional stimuli coming from the smartphone: a push notification from an app, a new WhatsApp message, an email or a phone call are all factors that can distract the user engaged in a search.

If companies find it impossible to predict the direction users will take, at the same time these users, if not supported, will have to struggle to navigate through the maze of content offered on the web.
Information overload and ease of distraction make decision-making more difficult than one might think.

Today, marketers' task is to simplify this path by providing the right information at the right time, proactively.

Building a Sand-Mill in the Sea of Micro-Moments

A structured strategy allows us to leverage touch-points to create a deeper connection with the user, guiding them through a multi-phase journey tailored by brands.

The Sand-Mill Model is the framework that helps us connect the dots: by implementing it, we can generate relevant touchpoints at the right moment and guide users through the path we have built.

To implement a complete Sand-Mill in the Sea of Micro-Moments we will need to:

• Attract new users to the Funnel (to do this, we have 3 channels: conscious search, latent demand in entertainment micro-moments, and advice from peers we have reached in the past)
• Continue the Journey in the Wheel of Reacquisition
• Allow users to build a strong Advocacy Base

You can delve deeper into all the steps in this article.

 

Sources:

Brambilla, M., Diegoli, G. (2016). Mobile marketing: new relationships, new customers. 

Edelman, D. C., & Singer, M. (2015). Competing on customer journeys. Harvard Business Review, 93(11), 88-100.

Google (2015). Micro-moments: Your guide to winning the shift to mobile.

Think with Google (2015). Second-Screen Searches: Crucial I-Want-to-Know Moments for Brands.

Think with Google (2016). How mobile has redefined the consumer decision journey for shoppers.

Think with Google (2017). Winning the consumer electronics shopping moments that matter.

Think with Google (2017b). Micro-Moments Now: Why you should be the adviser consumers are searching for.