A micro moment is a moment in time where a consumer has expressed intent to do something: to know, to go, to do, or to buy, and the mobile world allows us to be more present in them.

For example, Martin and Tom are watching a basketball game and they get hungry. They grab their phones to order—it’s a business opportunity. Then Martin remembers he needs to buy sneakers for his son, who has been asking for a specific brand and type for a while. He solves his need online while the game is on commercial.

According to Think With Google, “these moments are big opportunities for retailers; 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store, and one in three has purchased from a company or brand other than the one he or she intended to because of information received in a micro-moment.”

According to a comScore study quoted on a Harvard Business Review Study sponsored by Google, “nearly 80 percent of local searches on mobile devices turned into purchases”

—and roughly three-fourths of those purchases happened the same day and most (63%) within a few hours.” Being present in these micro-moments to get conversions is the key to it all.

During the Eye for Travel Convention “Online Marketing Strategies” hosted in May 2016, Doug Carrillo,Vice President Sales & Marketing of Virgin Hotels, presented on how he handles his content strategy during these micro moments.

Virgin Hotels tells their story, and you can too by keeping these steps in mind:

1.    What is your story: what is it that you want to communicate?  What do you want to be known for?  The nature of this story determines how you will relate to your customers and the world around you.
2.    Importance: how important is it to you, the team and your customers?  Why is it important?  What are the key elements that make it important?   If it is important enough to you it can be relatable with others.
3.    Values: which values define who you are that you must make sure your consumers know?
4.    How will it help your business:  How will telling the story help your business? What are the benefits?

All these components will build a relationship with your customers and prospects. Slowly you will build that company personality that people will resonate with.  Consumers will start to share, follow, and want to know about your brand.

This is where user-generated content comes along. Doug emphasized how Virgin Hotels helps clients, and they [the clients] help Virgin tell the story.”  All this user-generated content will resonate, inspire, and make your customers curious to know more about you.  This user-generated content will provide an answer for the micro-moments of future clients.

How do we identify these micro moments within the customer purchase path?

Google shows us an example of a how-to moment:

A mom named Danielle had already purchased a baby carrier after seeing it on TV and then wasn’t sure how to wear it.  Her first instinct was to go online and google “how to” and she found great content.  Had she not found it, she would have had a bad impression of the baby carrier.  The good news is that because she did, she had a good experience with it and even recommend it to friends and family!  Danielle is anyone’s ideal customer.

An example of an “is-it-worth-it moment” comes from Google sharing Giana’s story.  She specifically went to the store to get a cream, but while there, she found many options.  She had a micro-moment when she looked online and found a website that compares creams.

How does this relate to the travel industry?

Here are a few interesting stats from the Wall Street Journal:

•     Out of the smartphone users who are leisure travelers, 69% of them search for travel ideas during spare moments, like waiting for the doctor or the bus.  About half of these travelers then book through an entirely separate channel.
•     Out of the smartphone users, 91% look for information on their phones while in the middle of a task

It is clear that in this mobile world, your strategy needs to be “mobile first” and taking advantage of “micro-moments” during the purchasing path.  Review your current strategy and ask yourself how are you focusing on these important variables.

Connie Marianacci is an accomplished professional of e-commerce, marketing and strategy with over 10+ years of experience increasing online productivity, results and effectiveness.  @cmarianacci