We all know the importance of moments of truth in our lives: they come in many shapes and sizes.
There’s the moment of truth when you finally get to taste that extravagant cake you’ve spent the whole afternoon baking and decorating – is it any good?
In marketing, moments of truth are equally important. They can make or break your relationships with your customers, cementing your business as a trusted fave or sending your clients straight to the competition.
If you haven’t considered the impact of the moments of truth in your business, you are missing out on some valuable opportunities to shine.
Read on to learn exactly what moments of truth are and how to use them to make your brand stand out from the competition.
How To Shine In Moments Of Truth With Your Clients
What Are Moments Of Truth In Marketing?
In marketing, moments of truth are those occasions where a customer or client interacts with a business, service, or product to form an impression.
At the core, these moments of truth are the touchpoints where your audience comes into contact with your brand. But these aren’t just any old interactions. They are the milestone moments when a customer unwraps their delivery from you for the first time, uses your product or service, or has an impactful interaction that defines their relationship with your business in a significant way.
These moments of truth are the points in a customer journey where a business has the chance to really shine.
In marketing lingo, there are six possible moments of truth in a customer journey. Not all of them will apply to every business, but identifying these moments can help you tweak your customer journey to make them count.
1. Less than Zero Moment of Truth (<ZMOT)
This is an event that inspires a potential customer to consider making a purchase.
2. Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)
Before purchase, this is when a customer starts to search for information about a particular product or service.
3. First Moment of Truth (FMOT)
A potential customer encounters your product and decides to take a closer look.
4. Second Moment of Truth (SMOT)
A customer directly interacts with or purchases your service or product.
5. Interim Moment of Truth (IMOT)
The period between the purchase of a product or service to when your customer receives/uses it.
6. Ultimate Moment of Truth (UMOT)
When your customer provides feedback about your product or service.
Creating Moments Of Truth
Every business has the chance to create multiple moments of truth throughout the customer journey – even where and when their customers aren’t expecting to be impressed or wowed.
When mapping out your customer journey, look for small yet meaningful ways to make each phase a stand out experience. Where can you make your brand personality shine? How can you surprise your clients (in a good way!) Can you throw in some unexpected greatness or create a wow moment?
Moments of truth matter. If you manage them well, you could gain a loyal customer who becomes a passionate brand advocate. Get it wrong, however, and you could lose a sale and damage your brand. Research from McKinsey & Co shows that a positive moment of truth caused customers to increase the value of their purchases by 58%. In comparison, 23% of people surveyed said it only takes one negative experience to push them to a different brand.
How To Shine In Each Moment Of Truth
Moments of truth are certainly about the quality of your product or service, but they’re also about so much more than that.
They’re about the communications with your clients, how you respond to questions, resolve issues, and meet (and exceed) expectations.
These can be bigger picture ideas, such as sending someone a bonus gift when they give you a review, or simpler and smaller, like including a personalised thank you note with an order.
It can be as straightforward as creating an informative blog post to answer a common question or as grand as offering some of your services for free during tough times, like mental health apps Curable and Headspace did at the beginning of the pandemic.
Using Moments Of Truth In Your Marketing
Moments of truth are powerful marketing tools, but they’re more than just tools. The process of creating moments of truth for your clients is legitimately fun and fulfilling. Coming up with ways to help others, provide value, and be of service isn’t just good business sense; it feels good, too!
If your marketing strategy is feeling stagnant and you’re not sure what to focus on next, take some time to polish your moments of truth until they sparkle so brightly they can’t be ignored – it might be just the game-changer you’ve been looking for.
And if you need help doing that, get in touch with me here at The Marketing Baker and we can cook up some ultimate moments of truth for your clients together.