What drives sales today? User recommendations, pre-shopping and real-time marketing addressing consumers’ research. The concept of Zero Moment of Truth explains the process. But let’s start with the definition of the Moment of Truth.
The term was coined by Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley. He wrote:
“The best brands consistently win two moments of truth. The first moment occurs at the store shelf, when a consumer decides whether to buy one brand or another. The second occurs at home, when she uses the brand — and is delighted, or isn’t”.
The shopping process looks like this:
Stimulus (TV ad) -> 1. Moment of Truth (in the store, contact with a salesperson) -> 2. Moment of Truth (using the product).
In such paradigm, marketers focus on making the product easy to find in the store and ensuring that product satisfied customer’s needs. These two criteria verify her
Today it’s not enough
That concept doesn’t apply to the modern shopping process anymore. Nowadays between the stimulus and the First Moment of Truth a new stage appears. It’s a research. Contemporary consumers don’t rush to the store the moment they learn about the product. They want to check what others think about it first. Thanks to the internet it requires a few clicks. That’s why in 2011 Jim Lecinski from Google published an ebook entitled „Winning the Zero Moment of Truth”, describing the phenomenon.
Zero Moment of Truth theory modifies Lafleya’s scheme by adding a new stage between stimulus and FMOT:
Stimulus (TV ad) -> 0. Moment of Truth (research online) -> 1. Moment of Truth (in the store, contact with a salesperson) -> 2. Moment of Truth (using the product).
„ZMOT is that moment when you grab your laptop, mobile phone or some other wired device and start learning about a product or service (or potential boyfriend) you’re thinking about trying or buying.”
(Jim Lecinski, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth)
Decision-making process
Easy access to the web from various and multiple devices changed the we shop. Because we have more and more products and services to choose from, we prefer to start with collecting some information and learning on our own, not from salespeople. We read producer’s website carefully, leaf through his blog, and above all read reviews in social media, review platforms and blogs. Nothing seems more reliable than other users opinions.
The ZMOT concept was connected with promoting the AdWords, but it provides plenty of inspiring insights for marketers.
Our new ebook describes in detail how ZMOT can be used in practice.
The table of contents:
Part I. Mental Shift
- First Moment of Truth
- What is ZMOT
- A new shopping process
- For whom it matters?
Part II. What does it mean for marketers?
- Pre-shopping as a part of a shopping process
- How user searches for your product?
- The role of recommendations
Part III. Marketing Automation practices that Will Help You Win ZMOT
- Learn what content customers search and deliver it
- Advanced contact analysis
- Creating the map of moments
- Real Time Marketing
- Lead Generation
- Recommendation Engines
- Engaging users in products reviews
- Addressing the non-linear shopping process
- Social media: monitoring and automation
- Mobile
- The Final Moment of Truth
- Don’t Be Afraid of Failure
Learn more.
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