A 2018 survey by eMarketer found that marketers estimated that an average of 26% of their budgets is wasted annually on ineffective initiatives. The actual number is likely even higher.
To improve efficiency, an increasing number of marketers are striving to get their message in front of not only the right prospect but the right prospect at the right time. The right time is when the prospect has decided they want more information about a product, service, or experience.
The sales industry refers to this as micro-intent. It’s the moment when a prospective customer comes to the realization that they want to do, learn, or buy something, or go somewhere. Understanding these micro-moments and targeting potential customers at the right time can help sales organizations increase revenue.
A New Take on the Old Concept of Content Marketing
Content marketing as a concept has existed for decades. However, it has only been in the past few years that marketers have implemented intent-based content creation. Instead of targeting customers based on demographics such as age, income, education level, and geographic location, intent-based content marketing considers the products or services customers are most likely to buy and market those more heavily.
In a recent study conducted by Web Marketing Pros, the company discovered that marketers who rely on demographic targeting alone can miss up to 70 percent of the mobile shopping audience. Additionally, up to half of all people who initiate a search on their smartphone end up purchasing from a different company than they originally planned because the first business didn’t provide enough relevant information on its website. While none of this means marketers should abandon demographic targeting, it’s a good incentive to expand their efforts to consider the question of customer intent.
Why Intent Trumps Identity
When a person determines that they have a need or want, many turn to their smartphones to begin searching for a company that can fulfill it. They also gravitate towards YouTube to find how-to videos to solve their problem. These actions are the very definition of a micro-moment. To thrive in a competitive climate, marketers must find a way to connect with prospects at the exact moment they’re searching to fulfill a want or need.
How Marketers Can Be in the Right Place at the Right Time
Before companies can appear in a Google search or YouTube video at the right moment, they must first understand the interests of consumers. This is a time when exploring Google Trends comes in handy. After determining what people search for, businesses need to create useful content that meets a need or want or solves a problem that they can find without having to conduct extensive searching.
Although the definition of useful varies from one business to the next, some ideas to consider include how-to-videos, in-depth blog posts, free eBooks, and the ability to purchase instantly with only a click or two.
Better Knowing Your Customer with Salesforce & Google Integrations
A game-changing development for marketers is the new direct integration between Google Analytics 360 and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The ability to run complex segmentation with deep analysis of customer interactions enables businesses to better know their customers than ever before.
As Salesforce CMO, Stephanie Buscemi shared in a recent blog post:
“The audiences built from that data can then be activated in meaningful and personalized journeys across channels so you are consistent with your ads and direct email marketing campaigns. And together with the suite of Marketing Cloud capabilities and Salesforce Einstein, you can let data, artificial intelligence, digital insights, and customers preferences lead the way. That’s the holy grail for marketers…”
By leveraging the latest in technology and data analysis, combined with old-fashioned human insights, today’s marketer has the ability to know their customer and their customer’s intent like never before.
