In a new eBook by Jim Lecinski, Google’s Managing Director of US Sales & Service, he shares his thoughts on how modern marketing strategies must evolve with the changing shape of shopping. He defines the “online decision-making moment” – or, the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) – as the constellation of online behaviors and interactions that today’s digital explorer / consumer engages in on the road to making a purchase. Seeking online ratings and reviews, videos and other online artifacts is the new normal on the way to making a purchase decision.

 
ZMOT plays off the concept of First Moment of Truth, or FMOT, introduced by Procter & Gamble in 2005 to describe the first contact between a consumer and a product at a store. This moment was believed to determine whether or not a consumer would purchase the product.
 

 
Nowadays, however, it’s broadly understood that today’s consumer has contact with brands/products well prior to the in-store experience, whether through recommendations from friends or family or though reading up about products online. It’s this array of non-store experiences that comprise the Zero Moment of Truth and where marketers must catch up and adapt.

 
Online search and talking with friends and family topped the list of sources of information driving purchase consideration.
 
36% of online search activity is driven by word of mouth from a friend or acquaintance.
 

Because word of mouth is such a key factor in the online decision making moment, companies would do well to implement a plan to encourage, facilitate, and track word of mouth activity around their brands, products and services.

 

 
Here’s one of our favourite excerpts from Google’s new eBook:
 
37% of shoppers find online social sources to be an influential driver when making decisions. That’s up from 19% in 2010 – nearly doubling in one year. The top online social activities among shoppers:

• Getting an online referral from a friend
• Becoming a friend or follower of a brand
• Reading blogs where the product was discussed
• Seeing the brand mentioned on a social networking site like Facebook

Most of us have empathy for people who are right behind us, going through the same thing. And if we can make it easier for them, we do. You know the old saying: “If only I knew then what I know now.”
 
The truth is that for many shoppers in many categories, the single most powerful impetus to buy is someone else’s endorsement.
 
Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, 2011, Google Inc

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