Making the most out of a micro-moment

Micro-moments in marketing are defined by Google as in intent-rich moment when a person turns to a device to act on a need – to know, go, do or buy. Micro-moments are typically differentiated into four different categories.

• I want to know moments: Someone is learning about something new but not in purchase mode.
• I want to go moments: Someone is looking for a way to buy something
• I want to do moments: Someone wants help completing an action
• I want to buy moments: Someone is ready to make a purchase and might need help deciding what to buy or how to buy it.

The concept of a micro-moment is somewhat nuanced in that one creates a marketing strategy around the fact that a brand only has a few seconds to capture the attention of a target consumer. These marketing efforts need to be hyper targeted, anticipate the consumer’s needs and provide valuable content in every interaction. Execute this well, and these micro-moments can move a prospect down the marketing funnel, through the point of conversion at a rapid pace. Meaning increasing the effectiveness of marketing dollars and tightening of stop gaps and points of lead loss.

How can multifamily marketers capitalize on these micro-moments? I have a few ideas:

Anticipate their needs
During my time as a marketing manager, I supported communities who happened to be located in close proximity to major employers such as Toyota, Salesforce, and the newest tech hub, Silicon Beach in Playa del Rey, CA. We were always looking for ways to market our apartment homes to the employees at these companies. By employing hyper targeted, local search and display ads within a 1-2 mile radius of these locations, you can anticipate the need of employees looking to shorten their commute and HR staff looking for housing programs for their employees.

Speed Sells
We know that these micro-moments don’t last very long, 15 seconds at most. Speed and ease of use is crucial to the success of any marketing effort. A Google report found that 29% of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site or app if they can’t easily find information or the site is too slow. Out of that 29%, 70% switched because it took too long to load and 67% switched because it took too many steps to get the information they needed.

In an American Marketing Association article, Scott Poniewaz, director of business development at Hawke Media said that employing click to call functions on websites and enabling autofill on every browser will help marketers capitalize on micro-moments and move these users further down the funnel. The use of predictive internet is also key here. If a user makes it to the one-bedroom floor plan and then leaves the site, make sure they are redirected to that specific floor plan the next time they visit, and invite them to lease on that same page.

Create Community and Connection
The most effective marketers will utilize these micro-moments to create value and make the interaction special, according to Jonathan Lacoste, president and cofounder of Jebbit, in the same AMA article. “People like feeling special and emotionally connected,” Lacoste says. “Can you give people content of value that’s specifically aimed toward their needs and challenges and desires, that’s specific to them, as opposed to just listing them all out?”

Multifamily marketers can put this into action by using different imagery in their online ads. Instead of a photo of the pool, what about a picture of children splashing in the pool, or of a young professional lounging by the pool? Connect to their emotion by painting a picture of the lifestyle. Instead of running ads for discounts on one-bedroom floor plans, post a stock image of a pizza party and make the call to action, “We missed you at our party, lease today!” Add more value to the interaction by giving them an offer code for a free application fee.

To capitalize on micro-moments, marketers must nail the basics of marketing by providing valuable content, quickly, easily and in a hyper-targeted way. The benefits could significantly shorten the lead-to-lease timeline. “Micro-moments can be a gold mine and, when understood correctly, I believe they can truly help shorten the funnel for marketers,” Poniewaz says.