What the lead singer of the British rock band Queen once screamed to his audience is demanded from consumers nonstop from marketers, namely immediate gratification, and quick solutions.

The catchy song written by Brian May and performed by the charismatic Freddy, repeats “I want it all, and I want it now!” again and again in the song from 1989. Maybe it is not a coincidence that the same year the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, who knows. But what is for sure is that we came a long way since then considering technological advances.

Consumers’ appetite for a constantly better, faster, and more satisfying buying experience grew however exponentially, too, especially after the smartphone appeared on the scene. The increasing use of these always on devices have been the main driver of behavioral change since searching for products, services or instructions is possible anytime from anywhere.  This has heightened expectations for speed in general and created the micro-moments Google came up with in 2015: “I want-to-know,” “I want-to-do,” “I want-to-go,” and “I want-to-buy”.

Micro-moments occur when people instinctively turn to their smartphone to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. For marketers it is relevant that in these intent-rich moments decisions are made and preferences shaped and be aware that the powerful minicomputer in our pocket has trained consumers to expect brands to immediately deliver exactly what they are looking for, whenever they are looking it.

Clearly, the concept of micro-moments is a game-changer for customers and marketers. Marketers can leverage these micro-moments to maximize their marketing impact since a linear funnel concept with dedicated content for the awareness, consideration, and decision stages is by now kind of outdated due to today’s increasing dependence on smartphones and the consumer journey has been fractured into hundreds of real-time, intent-driven micro-moments instead. Each one is an opportunity for marketers to influence consumers’ decisions and preferences for a simple reason: when we act on our needs in the moment, expectations are high and patience low, which makes the quality, relevance, and usefulness of marketing the more important.

So, since our preferences and purchases are shaped in these micro-moments, the brands that do the best job of addressing customers’ needs in each moment will benefit the most and gain a competitive edge for obvious reasons: many consumers aren’t brand committed and often uncertain of the specific brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online, so you might get a chance to win over your competitors’ customers by providing the right information in the moment. Ultimately, showing up and addressing customers in the right moment gets your brand in the game to be chosen, not just seen.

It can make the difference and in the following are some tips how to achieve that:

• Identify your consumers’ “I-want-to-buy” moments, talk to them or listen to online discussions to figure out when, where, and how they are researching and making purchase decisions.
  Be there in these moments of need and create a comprehensive strategy that works across channels such as search, video, social, and display.
• Deliver relevant content by looking at how people are searching (the questions they ask, the search terms they use) and create content that provides helpful answers.
• Make it easy for them to buy, which means the purchase process should be simple and seamless.
• Plot every customer interaction and analyze how multiple and different channels work together to support your customers.

But most of all, make sure your brand shows up whenever your next customer is looking, since micro-moments have become the footsteps that lead people to your store or desktop site.

By Daniela La Marca