Stop for a moment and think about the last time you made a major purchase. Now, think back 10 – 15 years and compare how you researched, analyzed and ultimately made your decision then to your most recent decision.
Chances are your approaches were materially different. If you’re like the vast majority of consumers, your recent purchase was highly influenced by time you spent online. Maybe you read some articles online, downloaded a buyer’s guide, visited a review site or utilized social media to gauge the experience or knowledge of others.
If you did, you’ve participated in the biggest changes in marketing since the development of modern consumer branding techniques. The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) represents the time one spends in self-discovery during a purchasing process.
Ten years ago, when a consumer would be exposed to a stimulus or realized a need they would seek out vendors (salespeople) to assess their needs, learn about alternatives and get support in making the decision. This “First Moment of Truth” placed tremendous importance on the sales function.
In those days, marketing’s job was to create the stimulus and that was about it. So advertising to highlight products, creating direct mail pieces for awareness, managing trade shows and the like were the focal point. After that, it was sales’ job to take care of the rest.
Today, most of the primary job that consumers used to rely on salespeople for is done online. This means that if your website is still a static set of pages focused on your products (vendors) or communities (operators), you’re losing the sale before it even starts.
The net result of the ZMOT on sales and marketing efforts is the exponential increase in the importance of the marketing function. Today, marketing needs to be viewed through the prism of sales, as the sale is often won (and equally or more often lost) in the ZMOT.
Current marketing functions such as creating awareness, managing events, ads, etc are still important. Added to that, with an even greater degree of importance, are things like content creation, managing engagement and lead nurturing.
Consider these findings:
As you develop your marketing and sales strategy, understand that the critical points of influence are shifting and as a result you need to adjust your approach and processes to align with this shift.