The 5 marketing ‘Moments of Truth’, its importance to your small business.(Part 2)

The 5 marketing ‘Moments of Truth’, its importance to your small business.(Part 2)

The concluding part of the 5 marketing moments of truth is this. Relax and enjoy your reading.

2) The Less than Zero Moment of Truth: This Moment of Truth was just added to the original set of four Moments of Truth. This is the very first time a potential customer interacts with a brand, any brand for that matter, and starts their journey. The customer is now interested in a product or service because something in their life has changed. The Less Than Zero Moment occurs before their product research ever starts, even though it is visible in the Zero Moment of Truth. 

 

Having an active social media, email marketing, PR, and advertising plan and strategy is currently a crucial requirement for ideally implanting the idea of your product or service into the mind of your target customer ahead of everyone else. This proactive approach can reduce the possibility that your audience would ever choose a competitor when they are forced to make a purchase decision, even though it does require some targeting and monitoring of customer activity. Therefore, it is crucial to always have interesting content available to read, watch, or listen to, especially in the era of mobile advertising, which will undoubtedly have numerous advantages in the future. 

 

3) The First Moment of Truth, the third moment in the five-step purchasing process, is when a potential consumer actually comes into contact with your good or service for the first time. This brief period of time, which frequently only lasts a few seconds, may involve the buyer reading a description or listening to a sales pitch to more fully comprehend how the product might fulfill his or her demands. This first impression depends on the product's presentation and your ability to demonstrate how it will meet their intended demand. 

 

Even though this Moment may seem brief, it has a significant impact on whether clients continue to discover more about your product or service offers. Therefore, to succeed at this point, delivering product samples or freebies in exchange for qualitative feedback at the very beginning of the design process can provide you a lot of information about what clients really want to see, read, or hear in your product or service. You leave this to chance at your own commercial peril as visual designs can play a crucial role in product appeal.

 

4) The customer has now used your product or service for the first time and has decided to purchase it. The Second Moment of Truth occurs at this point as the customer uses your product or service firsthand. It informs him of the truth of his choice and whether the result met his expectations. 

 

There may be multiple Second Moments of Truth depending on the type of product or service you provide, and the consumer continues to acquire opinions after each use. This is crucial since it determines whether the buyer will stick with your brand or pick another one instead.

As a result, you should leave a back channel open for customer support and complaints as well as occasionally calling to inquire about how the product or service performed or is performing up to your customers' expectations. This ultimately has a direct impact on your brand's reputation, public perception, and customer reach. This will significantly enhance your customers' chances of becoming repeat customers.

 

5) This leads to the third moment of truth, which is the last but maybe most crucial phase in the customer journey that must be strictly considered from a marketing perspective. This is the customer's actual response to your brand as expressed through feedback, and more importantly for you, this is the point at which he turns into an ally and begins sharing his experiences with others, leading to the creation of numerous additional zero-moment-of-truth situations for your company. 

 

Today, many analysts hold that business leaders, especially those of start-ups, should invest more time in comprehending how crucial this Moment is to the customer journey and how it might lead to them acting as unpaid and, frequently, unintentional brand influencers.

However, one thing is very clear: Your company might reap a lot of financial rewards from an one favorable, unsolicited review. However, if your customer is dissatisfied with the way your product or service is delivered, this will all be for naught. 

 

Finally, keep in mind that each company and industry will have various Moments of Truth. Each can occur at various points along the customer journey, and some will have a bigger effect on how an audience perceives a brand. To make these special Moments better and provide significant benefits, you should work to identify and comprehend what drives them. Then, apply the following strategies.

Facts collection - In order to actually, visibly improve your customers' experiences, your Moments of Truth plan must be based on quantifiable data. Since so much of the modern client journey is conducted online, you may review detailed data as a result. 

 

Survey Validation - It's critical to provide as much evidence as you can to support your conclusions after determining your brand's unusual Moments of Truth. Surveying your client base and obtaining their perspectives on the travels they have done is one of the best ways to get validation. Your findings can also reveal other missing Opportunities that you can seize, in addition to validating important information straight from the source.

Controlling the Customer Journey - The adage "you cannot affect an outcome you do not control" holds true for your brand's Moments of Truth as well. Knowing the Moments that eventually cause a client to become an uninvited influencer is just the start. The true winners in business are those who have mastered the art of utilizing these Moments. 

 

Reward, reward, reward - One simple strategy for managing the Moments is to consistently offer incentives to your customers at each stage, with the promise of more if the following step is taken, occasionally within a certain time frame. But clearly, this isn't always the case.


Peter Akinlabi

36 Blog posts

Comments
Chinedu Ekene Eucharia 50 w

Nice 1

 
 
Rosella Eguru 2 yrs

Interesting

 
 
Eyitoni Omayuku 2 yrs

Okay

 
 
Chukwuemeka Obiora 2 yrs

Very interesting