What are the Five Moments of Truth in Marketing?

Note: This article was updated Oct 2025. 

Key Takeaways: 

• The five moments of truth in marketing are critical touchpoints that shape customer experience and influence customer loyalty throughout the customer journey.

• Mapping and optimizing these moments—the Less Than Zero Moment, Zero Moment, First Moment, Second Moment, and Ultimate Moment of Truth—can drive measurable improvements in customer satisfaction and business outcomes.

• Each moment represents a unique opportunity to engage, inform, and delight customers, from initial awareness through post-purchase feedback and advocacy.

• Leveraging journey mapping and analytics enables organizations to identify high-impact moments and refine strategies for marketing, customer service, and product service.

• Proactively addressing and enhancing MoTs strengthens brand perception, increases customer interactions, and supports long-term customer success.

Today’s customers interact with brands across many channels—often long before they even make a purchase. But not all touchpoints carry the same weight. Some are so influential, they shape how people feel about your brand—and in turn, whether they buy, abandon, or recommend you. 

These interactions are called “moments of truth” (MoTs). Understanding and optimizing them can help organizations improve customer experience, build loyalty, and drive real business impact. 

Understanding Moments of Truth Marketing (MOT) 

According to UXPressia, MoTs “represent the points in a customer journey when a key event occurs and an opinion about the brand is formed." These moments of truth serve as pivotal markers in the overall decision-making process, influencing customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and long-term customer success. In fact, 73% of customers now say customer experience is the number one factor they consider when deciding whether to purchase from a company (Zendesk, 2025).

While the overall journey is important, focusing on specific moments of truth can lead to stronger relationships and measurable business outcomes. 

As Nisha Abraham, Director, Global Demand Generation at Liferay, explains, "Identifying and optimizing the right moments of truth is not just about improving individual touchpoints—it's about orchestrating a holistic journey that truly resonates with your customers at every stage. When you get this right, you create a foundation for long-term loyalty and measurable business growth."

The Evolving MOT Framework 

A.G. Lafley, Chairman, President, and CEO of Procter & Gamble, coined the idea of “moments of truth” in 2005. At the time, he outlined just two moments. 

Since then, thought leaders in truth marketing and digital experience have expanded the framework to reflect today’s omnichannel journeys and device-driven experiences. 

According to TechTarget notes the model now includes five moments:

• Less Than Zero Moment of Truth.

• Zero Moment of Truth.

• First Moment of Truth.

• Second Moment of Truth.

• Third (Ultimate) Moment of Truth.

Today, moment of truth marketing still plays a powerful role in shaping brand perceptions, customer decision making processes, and overall customer experience. These decision points collectively guide purchase consideration, evaluation, and advocacy, underscoring the importance of optimizing each stage of the journey. 

Abigail Pettit, Senior Marketing Specialist at Liferay, adds, "Every moment of truth is an opportunity to reinforce your brand promise. By leveraging content and digital campaigns that address customer needs at these pivotal points, marketers can transform fleeting interactions into meaningful relationships."

Although most companies might not be consciously thinking about every one of these moments, we're discussing them here to help you understand their broad scope and effects when it comes to your customers' purchases.

By recognizing these moments of truth, organizations can design specific tactics to improve customer experience at each stage and maximize business value.

The Five Moments of Truth in Marketing 

Less Than Zero Moment of Truth (<ZMOT)

This is one of the newest additions to the MoT framework, coined by Eventricity. It focuses on the earliest point of the journey—when a potential customer becomes interested before researching. 
At this moment, brands can engage customers through:

• Social media posts.

• Email marketing.

• Advertisements.

• Other targeted outreach.

This can happen before the customer even approaches a brand for more information. Although it requires advanced targeting and monitoring of customer activities, this proactive strategy can decrease the likelihood of an audience member choosing a competitor.

By treating this phase as a pre-emptive moment-of-truth opportunity, businesses can influence the journey map earlier and lay the groundwork for future customer success (TechTarget).

Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)

Introduced by Google, a ZMOT happens when the customer begins actively searching for information regarding a product or service that interests them. 

At this time, a customer might explore:

• Online reviews and customer feedback.

• Product information.

• Comparison guides.

• Social proof.

• Frequently asked questions.

At this time, a customer will encounter reviews and more information about the product before moving forward in the journey. While companies will not be able to control all online reviews, they can positively influence their online reputation through their interactions with the audience and the quality of the product, which will lead to good reviews that can encourage people to continue their journey with the brand. However, they can create content that supports ZMOT decision-making (UXPressia). Strong content here sets expectations and influences purchasing behavior. 

It's incredibly important during the ZMOT to make information easy to find and optimized for search engines. Here's some common SEO issues you can correct to ensure your content appears for customers who are researching online.

First Moment of Truth (FMOT)

The first moment of truth, or FMOT, as first defined by Procter & Gamble, is centered on when a potential customer encounters your product or service for the first time. This may be the actual moment in which a consumer interacts with your brand. It often only lasts a few seconds, but leaves a strong impression. 

Examples include:

• Reading a description.

• Hearing a pitch from a representative.

• Viewing a product demonstration.

Clear messaging and visuals are essential to demonstrate how your brand fulfills your audience’s needs (TechTarget). This brief moment will have a major impact on whether a person chooses to learn more about what your company offers.

As Pettit notes, "First impressions in digital channels are often made in seconds. Ensuring your content and messaging are aligned with what customers are looking for at the FMOT can be the difference between a bounce and a conversion."

See how to set up your website to present your products and services effectively in a constantly evolving landscape.

Second Moment of Truth (SMOT)

The second moment of truth occurs when a customer experiences your product or service.

This can occur:

• Before purchasing the product (e.g., during a free trial).

• After a purchase (e.g., unboxing a new phone or using a SaaS platform).

SMOTs that occur before purchase have a greater impact on whether the customer buys the product or service. However, SMOTs that happen after still have great influence on customer satisfaction, affecting brand reputation and audience reach. 

According to Marketing91, an excellent experience in this moment is key to nurturing customer loyalty and driving positive word-of-mouth. A positive interaction can make all the difference. Consider these statistics:

• 96% of customers say customer service matters in their decision to remain loyal to a brand (Freshworks, 2025).

• 86% of consumers claim they would leave a brand after 2–3 poor experiences (Exploding Topics, 2024).

The second moment really can make or break customer loyalty, especially if issues arise. If any challenges come up or customers need a refund, the way businesses respond will leave a lasting impression and if they don't have a positive experience in how the business resolves issues, then the customers will be less likely to continue purchasing from the same brand.

Ultimate Moment of Truth (UMOT)

Also known as the Third Moment of Truth, the UMOT is when customers share their experience with others. 

A product’s ability to fulfill customer needs can shape the audience’s emotional response. Equally important is the company’s efforts to provide an enjoyable experience along the way.

During the UMOT, a customer may:

• Share their feedback about the product or service on a review site.

• Give their opinions to family members, friends, and colleagues.

• Complete surveys so that companies can gather feedback metrics like Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores.

The product's ability to fulfill the needs of the customer, as well as the company's efforts to provide an enjoyable experience along the way to purchasing it, will shape the customer's emotional response to what they have received. Positive user-generated content is an effective marketing tool that can amplify brand reputation. In fact, recent research shows that 93% of marketers said user-generated content performs notably better than traditional branded content, with brands seeing 29% more web conversions from user-generated content.

These takeaways can influence whether they become a return customer. That’s why this MoT is called the Ultimate Moment—because it shapes the ZMOT for future customers. 

Capturing and acting on feedback in this moment helps companies close the loop, enhance customer satisfaction, and continuously improve customer experience (UXPressia).

• According to HubSpot, 48% of consumers will share their customer service experience, whether good or bad, and 85% of American customers will recommend a company whose service they rate as “very good” (HubSpot, 2024).

• Loyal customers become promoters and brand advocates, carrying a lifetime value 6-14 times higher than detractors (Exploding Topics, 2024).

Abraham emphasizes, "The Ultimate Moment of Truth is where brand advocacy is born. When customers share their positive experiences, it not only validates your efforts but also fuels future demand by influencing others at their own Zero Moment of Truth."

Improving Moments of Truth for Great Customer Journeys

The most impactful moments of truth will vary by business. However, every company can use a structured approach to optimize them.

Businesses should find these unique moments of truth within their customer journey. But they must also improve them in ways that have clear, meaningful benefits for their marketing efforts and customer service.

The Northridge Group recommends: 

• Mapping every customer action, emotion, and pain point.

• Prioritizing improvements based on impact.

• Setting clear goals for journey mapping.

• Measuring metrics like retention and conversion.

• Continuously refining based on feedback.

Why focus on customer experience? The ROI is clear:

• Companies that lead in customer experience outperform laggards by nearly 80% (Forbes, 2019).

• Customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than those that aren’t (Freshworks, 2025).

Leveraging tools like in-depth customer journey maps allows teams to visualize all moments of truth and identify high-impact opportunities to optimize the customer experience. By aligning marketing moments, customer service, and product service improvements, businesses will generate stronger customer loyalty and tangible business impacts.

As Pettit summarizes, "Continuous measurement and adaptation are key. The most successful brands treat journey mapping and moments of truth as living strategies, not one-time exercises."