Zero Moment of Truth

Have you heard of the First Moment of Truth (First MOT) and the Second Moment of Truth (Second MOT)?

If you’ve had some marketing experience you would probably be aware of this concept.  The idea is that you advertise a product to get people to go to a shop to buy that product, so when they are looking at the item on the shelf, this is the First MOT.  Then when they take it home and use it for the first time, this is the Second MOT.

Well now there’s a moment that occurs even before the First MOT and of course this is called the Zero MOT.

Watch this short video which introduces it.

Why is it important?

Zero MOT is when you grab your smartphone, PC or tablet and start learning about a product or service or brand online. It’s the moment of truth that now comes before the first moment.

If you don’t win this Zero moment, then chances are that a potential customer won’t even make it to the First MOT, in other words, they won’t even go to your business or shop.

Is it really that big a deal?

Would you think that if the statistics showed that 50% of people look at product reviews and research online  before buying. That’s 1 in every 2 people.

Or how about the fact that 1 in every 3 people have made buying decisions based on social influences, such as talking with family and friends through email, chat, posting YouTube videos, comments and interactions on Facebook and other social media platforms.  They read blogs that talk about the product, look at comments and ratings listed with Google Places, and visit online community sites where users share information.

How can we take advantage of this moment?

Well the concept to note here is that word of mouth is stronger than ever.  Instead of a person’s praises or criticisms only reaching one person at a time, a person’s voice on the internet spreads much quicker and further.

It is the ease and instant accessibility to share and learn online, that is making the Zero MOT a key ingredient in marketing your business and products.

To make the most of this opportunity you need to be sure that you have a strong online presence of a website and social media pages. You need to be actively responding to comments and feedback, both positive and negative.

People are talking about you online, whether you are present or not.

Key points about Zero Moment of Truth:

• At the Zero MOT people are searching online for you
• People want to learn and share online, so provide the opportunity
• Google’s new Google+ and +1 social sharing must be used (see Search, plus your world)
• When people experience your product or service you want them to share this in online reviews and social pages
• Mobile phones are enabling Zero MOT’s to occur right before the decision to buy
• use QR codes to link to Facebook pages and Website review pages
• Negative feedback can be good to show authenticity and allow you to respond and improve
• When people share online and leave reviews- this becomes the next person’s Zero MOT
• Google has produced a book titles ZMOT:  Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, and I would recommend finding out more.