Micro-Moments

There’s been a lot of discussion recently around micro-moments, one of the latest marketing tactics from Google, as an attempt to facilitate shared experiences between brand and user.

In short, micro-moments seek to capture consumer demand at its most powerful; in those small, every-day moments when people seek answers to the questions they are most frequently asking.

The idea is solid, but it all seems a bit of a ruse on Google’s part; a way to communicate to agencies and business owners: “hey look, we have the outlet and have given it a name, but we don’t quite know what to do with it yet. But it can help your business grow if you pay us!”

Google have recognised the consumer demand for fast, reliable, and trustworthy solutions to the questions they are asking on search engines. Only problem is, they have tied this demand into the familiar and well-worn mantra of ‘brand love’.

They continue to run with the idea that if a brand helps a user to accomplish an end-goal or answer a question, said user will begin to love and ‘engage’ with said brand.

It’s all a bit of wishful thinking. The fact is that the only brand micro-moments will benefit is Google itself, and the Google execs know this.

Consumers are constantly using their devices to help them solve problems: “how do I do this?”, “where do I go?”, “what is cheapest?” Their first point of contact, though, will always be Google. And while Ad Words and Google Trends are a useful business tool, micro-moments seem like an attempt to lure businesses into helping Google grow.

A more effective alternative for any business is to solve the problem consumers are already facing, rather than waiting for them to jump online in the hopes that they will see, click on, and ‘engage’ with the business.

For most people seeking quick and clear-cut answers to common problems, this process has entirely too many steps. They don’t care about they brand and they don’t want to engage with it, they just want the solution to the fucking problem.

Google is the most effective tool for this, and so consumers will continue to use it to its desired effect, but for other brands attempting to cash in on micro-moments, they may find themselves sorely disappointed.

a.ce