Yet, real-time marketing is all about making the most of the right connections at the right time at the right place with the right personality brand qualities in the newsworthy circumstance. For those working in public relations and marketing, David Scott Meeman has authored a book on the topic of “real time marketing” (great book – highly recommend and it is also one of the recommended books I have for my social media class at UofL).
While what Oreo did during the Super Bowl was undeniably fantastic, it was also clever and timely, allowing the company to showcase its character and sense of humour in the context of an event that was widely watched. Some businesses did well during the Oscars, but the vast majority tried too hard.
In light of this, here are five recommendations for not just comprehending but also strategically implementing real-time marketing:
Offering courses tailored to the needs of real-time advertising:
The ability to quickly interact and communicate with viewers in real time is an important consideration in this area for companies. It may be worth looking at putting your communication team through some improv exercises. Yet, you should check that the material and its association with the brand remain compelling and memorable.
Influence of pictures in communicating stories:
Oreo’s Super Bowl ad campaign, like many other successful real-time marketing campaigns, relied heavily on visuals shared across social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Choose between using a photo or a video to remind your audience of the trend or incident in the news that inspired your brand. It’s important to remember that this phenomenon is not limited to “win-win” scenarios for companies; it also manifests itself during times of crises (ex. United Guitars and Dave Carroll for example).
Collaboration in real time is essential for effective communication:
All brand team members, including upper management, need to be on the same page on the significance of what this implies for the brand in order to reach an agreement. That’s the formula that won the Super Bowl for Oreo.
Not all strategies for real-time advertising are the same:
This implies that although certain cultural touchstones and efforts spring up out of nowhere (as we witnessed with Oreo), others take shape gradually over time as they make their way through the viral meme cycle. The popular parodies associated with the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style experienced the same fate.
Learning about your target market through data is the key to real-time advertising.
You need a social media command centre to keep tabs on the conversations happening right now, as well as the trends that are beginning to form online. The key to connecting the dots between the audience’s expectations and motivations and the relevant attributes from the brand in a strategic, personable, and memorable manner is to leverage the wealth of information brands have about their audiences gleaned from conversations, characteristics, and interactions on the internet. In the end, you want to make and disseminate content that resonates with and is shared by your target demographic.
In essence, we need to link these activities when suitable for our customers and businesses, but only after we’ve gained an understanding of the primary traits and attributes related with real time marketing strategies. There will be situations in which this is not the best course of action for brands; however, it is useful to be aware of such practises and cases in the event that an appropriate window of opportunity presents itself for showcasing brand personality and generating word-of-mouth both online and offline.