Zero Moment of Truth » Portal Insights

Google recently held a lecture in Belo Horizonte on the concept, created by the company, of “zero moment of truth, or ZMOT“, for its acronym in English. But what, after all, does Google define as true? How to define your zero moment?

Reading the e-book produced by Jim Lecinski, general director of sales and services at Google in the United States, based precisely on this subject, answers these questions. The title, in fact, is Conquering the Zero Moment of Truth.

Target audience: companies and marketing professionals who want to achieve more results through their online presence.

The material is very complete and is available free of charge on the internet. After all, Google also wants to be the first choice of those who are at the zero moment of truth. The purpose of Lecinski's book is to explain the changes in the “rules of the digital marketing game”, show the structures of new mental models, classify what the moment of truth is and suggest ways to get there.

And it all starts with an indisputable truth: brands achieve customer loyalty when they can listen to their audience and do what they ask. No one has ever achieved results any other way.

Therefore, there is no way to find the ZMOT, zero moment of truth, or even the FMOT, the first moment of truth, without listening to what your audience has to say.

If you still don't have this open and enlightening communication, go back two doors and try to understand, first, how to better relate to your customers. But, if you already do this efficiently, if you already have an idea of ​​what they are looking for, you are ready to read this material from Google.

ZMOT, FMOT and the lessons from the book

Starting the thread of his reasoning, Lecinski reminds us of a time when we saw an advertisement on a magazine or newspaper page, we thought about it, maybe we went to the store, saw the product or service up close, we thought a little more and, Some time later, we purchased the product or service.

This shopping journey is in the past.

Today, if you think about anything, really anything, that you need or want to have, your first impulse is, invariably, to research it on the internet.

Whether asking your friends on social media for a recommendation or searching on Google, this is the way to relate to the next purchase for the overwhelming majority of people. Or do you think there are still a lot of people waiting for the classified section of the Sunday newspaper to find out what car is for sale or who is offering a job vacancy?

Lecinski teaches that:

“ZMOT is that moment, when you pick up your laptop, cell phone or some other device connected to the internet, and start to find out about a product or service that you are thinking about trying or buying.”

This makes so much sense that, nowadays, even romantic couples are quickly selected over the internet, through applications that geolocate people nearby who may be of interest to each other.

The zero moment of truth, therefore, is that moment when we think about something and research it, whatever that something is. Offers of products and services, which used to be just messages in information vehicles, are now conversations. Buyers and sellers are just a keyword away from each other.

This is the challenge for companies that want to gain the attention of potential customers and, effectively, improve their results in sales or relationships: to be present exactly at that moment when people are still thinking about what they want and already feel capable. researching the subject.

However, it is not about reading minds with crystal balls, but rather knowing how to act based on the projection of what, how and when people want what they want. To use a famous slogan from the 1990s, “it’s not sorcery: it’s technology.”

Understanding mind maps

Lecinski states that “the big news for today’s marketers is the new critical moment between stimulus and shelf in every product category.” So, even though people still buy magazines, watch TV, read the newspaper, they get some information from these media but they are not comfortable if they want to know more: they run to the internet to get more information.

He uses, as an example, a football game.

The person watches the game on TV. During the broadcast, an announcement is made. Let's say it's about a bank. He goes to the internet and searches for this bank “is bank

If bank Even for competitors, who may have created interesting content, in addition to assertive advertisements, to further attract the attention of potential customers, even when they did not mention the names of other companies.

As the stimulus has changed, the responses to it must also change. They need to be faster and more attractive. And, for Jim Lecinski, it's because…

“There are no barriers to access. Today's buyers carry access in their pockets. They create their own consumer guides millions of times a minute with product reviews, tweets, blogs, social media posts and videos of all kinds.”

The trick is to always be available on ZMOT.

It’s about anticipating your audience’s doubts, desires and desires and positioning yourself well in front of them before they even think they want you. For digital marketing, the homework is to produce quality content and strive to personalize messages as much as possible.

After all, every motivation can be a sales opportunity.

ZMOT in practice

And how can you position yourself well in these opportunities?

Lecinski lists some ways to be part of your clients’ zero moment of truth, beyond the content of websites and blogs – which can, by their nature, improve the brand’s positioning in search engine results:

• attractive ads on Google and social media;
• customer ratings on niche sites;
• reviews of products and services made by customers and/or influencers;
• positive messages from users about products and services;
• explanatory/tutorial videos.

First, however, you need to define what your moment zero is, the moment when the potential customer looks for a product or service.

An example that Jim uses in the material is potato chips. If you sell this product, you should not focus on being found only when someone searches for “potato chips”, even because the term is broad and its content will never be as comprehensive as the search possibilities.

However, type that keyword – potato chips – into search engines like Google and see what people are searching for. That simple autocomplete tool is enough. If people search for “potato chip tortillas”, for example, this is a ZMOT.

Then your company can make blog posts, videos and whatever else you deem necessary with potato chip tortilla recipes.

Answering the questions people are asking is the easiest way to get to the zero moment of truth for your business. And the best free tool for this is Google auto complete.

Worth reading

After experience with Conquering the Moment of Truth, by Jim Lacinski, it is possible to participate in Google talks, or any digital marketing event, without feeling like you missed an important part of the conversation. The material addresses the subject in a didactic way, with many examples, and is absolutely inspiring for those who do digital marketing in order to achieve good results.

Despite the technical language, it is not a complicated read. You can read it quickly, as there are only 73 pages, including attachments. At the end of the material, Jim invites us to have more contact with the subject through other complementary materials.

Google knows how to find the ZMOT of digital marketing.