MintTwist’s guide to real-time marketing

Introduction

Since the emergence of social media, marketing has changed. Brands and companies have easily accessible platforms to communicate with their audience at any given time.

Enter real-time marketing.

So, what exactly is real-time marketing?

Real-time marketing is simply getting the right message to the right person at the right instant. It is a way to interact with followers by focusing on something ongoing.

Creating a strategy is of no use, as real-time marketing relies upon compelling, current trends that are en vogue one moment, and have lost their nuances the next.

Although this form of marketing can be profitable for both vendor and customer, for it to work, relevancy is key. It is not advisable for a reputable news channel to jump on the ‘planking’ trend, as, for most stations, this is not on brand.

However, if something unique happens at a Fashion Week, an up and coming fashion brand should be encouraged to directly engage with the opportunity to increase their brand awareness, drive traffic and increase sales.

Examples of real-time marketing

A well-known example of real time marketing was Oreo’s now infamous tweet during the Super Bowl 2013. Their marketing team couldn’t have predicted the blackout. Yet, when the ‘moment’ came, Oreo was immediately able to send out their tweet, “You can still dunk in the dark”.

Retweeted 10,000 times in the hour following, Oreo received over 8,000 new social media followers in the days after the Super Bowl.

Another great example of real-time marketing is NASA’s great series of tweets during the 2014 Oscars. As the film, ‘Gravity’ received several Oscars, NASA used the immediate attention to direct people to amazing imagery and fun facts on #RealGravity. Their tweet below received more than 8,000 retweets and more than 4,000 favourites in a short amount of time.

MintTwist’s top tips to real-time marketing

There is no set way to prepare your campaign, but there are limited approaches to securing that when the ‘moment’ happens, you’ll not be far behind in creating a marketing message that is relatable, shareable and targeted.

Here are MintTwist’s tips on how to be a success in real-time marketing:

1. Know your audience: Pay close attention to the events, shows, sports etc. that your target consumer follows and make sure to listen to what your target audience is discussing.
2. Be relevant to your company: Always keep your brand in mind and keep to your business objectives.
3. Involve the right people: With the correct individuals, brainstorm possible content in advance (but be prepared to adapt quickly.) When the trending moment occurs, make sure the right people are communicating to create high-quality, quick turnaround content.
4. Be fun: Content on the web doesn’t have a long shelf life, so make sure that the content you’re pushing live is anything but boring, but easily shareable.

Conclusion

Real time marketing is not just the latest popular ploy to sell your brand or product to your target audience. If the right and relevant trend occurs, use its momentum. Brands can gain fantastic traction and grow their audience exponentially by ensuring that they are engaging with the news stories and events that are capturing their audiences’ interest.

9,100 Tweets are sent every single second – social media has increased the amount of information your audience is exposed to and has impacted their attention span as well. With real-time marketing, you will be able to seize opportunities to engage with your audience as well as introduce yourself to new potential customers.

If you’re interested in how a creative digital marketing agency would approach this challenge, why not get in touch with us via hello@minttwist.com?