The first of a 7-part series on ZMOT and Why SMB Owners Need to Stand Up And Take Notice
First Up, Defining ZMOT
The Zero Moment of Truth – A free eBook published by Google in 2011, delves deep into current consumer behavior and how it’s changing the manner in which online marketers think about branding and ecommerce.
Jim Lecinski, the author of ZMOT, explains that The Zero Moment of Truth arises after the consumer sees an ad for a product but before a purchase is made in-store. Accurately, it ensues exactly the moment a shopper goes online to research a product or service and then elects whether to make a purchase.
Now, that being said…
How SMBs Are Affected by ZMOT
As a SMB owner, it’s obviously difficult to always keep abreast of the latest and greatest strategic marketing models but this one in particular has proven to be so clearly fundamental to the success of SMBs these days, that I’d be truly unwise to not continue reading further.
The truth is consumer behavior is ever-evolving. Years back, when consumers used to see an advertisement for a product or service that peaked their interest, they simply picked up the phone (or walked into their nearest location) and completed the purchase… simple.
Well, in today’s world as we know however, things have drastically changed… exponentially, in fact. With such radical advances in technology, consumers are suddenly finding themselves highly-empowered to make smarter and smarter purchasing decisions.
Quick Soccer Mom Example!
For example: A soccer mom needs to help coordinate buying uniforms for her entire daughter’s soccer team. Years ago, she’d open up the yellow pages and call 2 or 3 of the nearest providers, choose one and make the purchase. Today… mom pulls out her smartphone and in-an-instant, truly has the entire universe at her fingertips…
As Mr. Lecinski put it, “from ratings and review sites, from friends on social media, at home and on the go, and (more than ever) from video. Consumers learn from search results, user reviews, four-star ratings, text ads, image ads, news headlines, videos and even good old-fashioned official brand websites.”
In such a highly-competitive/technologically-dynamic environment, SMB owners need to keep up with the new marketing times in order to best succeed in today’s highly-complex marketplace. “Keeping up” means: understanding and implementing the core marketing principles laid out before us in this paradigm-shifting publication Google set forth for all of us to contemplate.
How SMBs are Faring Today
Some SMB owners are faring relatively well considering the economic climate in which we currently operate. At present however, businesses try to allocate the appropriate budgetary resources to their marketing initiatives but too often times, their marketing mindsets are just not up to par. This is where companies quickly hit the wall and just scratch their heads as to why their advertising is yielding such a poor return on investment.
When companies with 10-20 employees allocate approximately $1,000 a month of their budget in advertising spend… every penny counts. This is why it’s imperative for business owners to maximize the efficiency/effectiveness of their advertising spend by marketing smart – not hard.
So as the author, a spokesman for Google states, “We’re in a unique position to observe the power of ZMOT: its power to help shoppers make great decisions and its power to help companies tell their stories at the moment of highest impact”.
Consumers are definitely winning out by taking advantage of this amazing technology but the question really is, are the businesses that are servicing these consumers winning also? Is your business taking full advantage of this new consumer mindset and the tools that are readily-available today to meet these challenges?
In digital advertising agencies such as ours, our goal is to constantly aid SMB owners to best meet these situations head-on. By understanding that there are countless soccer moms out there (in addition to every sort of demographic, with every sort of need/want) with access to smartphones and tablets then appropriate action must be taken.
My first recommendation, so as to best capitalize on the lessons learned by ZMOT, would be to dig deep into the potential Paid Search actually has for your business. I suggest seeking out an agency that has a Staff that thinks much along these lines.
Technology as I said before, is ever-changing. So if need be, it’s crucial to delegate your marketing efforts to a firm that offers top services in PPC management via:
Key Takeaways
All in all, the lesson clearly learned after reading the first chapter of ZMOT is, just as Bob Dylan’s song says – The Times They Are a-Changin’. And they certainly are…
The days of advertising in your local Yellow Pages are long gone! It’s time to grab the future by the horns and assertively steer it to your company’s advantage!
This is my first blog post in a 7-part series dissecting the lessons taught to us by this revolutionary marketing model that we all now consciously or unconsciously, maneuver under. In order to best understand my analysis and future analyses for that matter, I invite you to read the eBook for yourself by downloading it via this link: http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/download
The next part of my ZMOT series will focus on the second chapter of the ZMOT eBook entitled, “The New Mental Model”.
Please share your valuable insights below concerning the importance of this new marketing archetype for your business.
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