What to Do When Consumers Want Right Answers, Right Now
[Second of two parts in a continuing healthcare marketing series] Today’s consumer is constantly, and instantly, exposed to “nearly everything.” Thus marketing must connect with consumers in precious micro-moments at precisely the moment of need. Micro-Moment Marketing travels at the speed of thought.
At least 150 times each day, people interrogate their smartphones—with the standard and always-present expectation of immediate answers to their needs. The new and demanding challenge for marketing professionals is to respond to these micro-moments with meaningful, useful and authoritative answers in near real time.
Micro-Moments: All screens are important but different…
About three out of four users will experience the Internet by way of both their mobile device and their desktop computer. Part of the new marketing challenge is to create a similar user experience via large, small and in-between size screens even with the patterns of use are different. The thoughtful pursuit of an in-depth product or provider research, for example, versus an immediate need and accessing a local and convenient resource.
Research studies validate what nearly all of have done. Better than 90 percent of us use our smartphones to capture information while we’re in mid-task. Over 80 percent of us will tap into information via our smartphone while in a store considering a purchase.
And for healthcare, over half of smartphone users get health-related information via their phones. Micro-moment, instant answers have created a universal expectation of fast, relevant and authoritative information that’s always at our fingertips. The marketing objective, therefore, is to meet user’s needs instantly, and at the exact moment that it is of greatest benefit.
This comparison illustrates how Internet use, as well as marketing, has changed. Meeting the frequent, short-but-intense needs of the consumer (especially via smartphones) has helped define the consumers’ micro-moments for marketing.
It’s no surprise that Google research describes nearly all of us in a new light. Previously, Google observed people who were going online. Now, the description has become that we are living online. Consumers bring their needs and interests to the Internet anytime and from any place. They want things right away and they (or is it “we”) expect the things we find to be right.
Conversely, marketing messages can target virtually anyone and at any time. People consult their phones with micro-moment questions and an immediate need to know constantly. It’s vital to recognize micro-moments as completely different consumer pattern, and not just another trending buzzword.
When healthcare marketing and advertising messages meet at the instant of need, communications professionals have successfully leveraged the power of micro-moment marketing.
Click through here to the first part of this article titled: Understanding Marketing’s Micro-Moments.
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