The ability and desire for brands to target their customers in real-time has grown exponentially since Oreo’s ‘Dunk in the Dark’ campaign in 2013 which set a new benchmark. However a large number of these efforts increasingly seem forced, lacking in creativity and unrelated to the business pushing them out.

In essence, the term ‘real-time marketing’ is becoming tainted, and used as a label to describe any campaign based on topical events. This causes a level of marketing expectation, whereby businesses expect amazing results from tweets about the latest big event.

All brands strive to directly interact with their customers and positively influence them in the heat of the moment - but real-time marketing isn’t just about responding ‘on the fly’. Jumping on the bandwagon because you think it might extend your social reach for a few hours may be appealing at the time, but it will have little to long-term value for you as a business. You will certainly not be able to strengthen your relationships with customers by simply gaining likes, retweets and shares.

Real-Time Examples

The ‘Oscar selfie’ at the 2014 awards ceremony and the arrival of the first Royal Baby are just two examples of major events which sparked numerous responses from brands. In both of these cases, consumers were bombarded with a wealth of messages, in both an on- and offline capacity. These sort of situations create an almost ‘creative bidding’ situation, where brands try to one-up each other to be the most witty and relevant in the face of international events.

This only serves to dwindle the impact of everyones messages, many of which simply involve recreations or over-the-top puns packaged in a very un-creative manner. They don’t seem to serve any purpose other than a desire to drive social amplification - and end up as a cash-in attempt to provide an incentive interaction. Furthermore - the very notion of ‘Real-Time' is challenged by the likes of the Royal Baby that had campaigns created in advance of his imminent arrival

Whilst these messages could be considered ‘real-time’ activity, they lack the insight which makes them worthwhile. Real-time marketing isn’t just about Tweets and Facebook Likes, it’s about engaging consumers and driving purchase decisions by adding immediate value through real-time communication.

As an industry, I feel we need to demystify real-time marketing and carefully evaluate how brands can still demonstrate creativity and responsiveness, but in a far more meaningful and relevant manner. For starters, brands need to focus much more on their message - rather than the event they are tagging along with. The event is the audience mechanic… Not the agenda. Understanding and knowing your audience is critical to this. As a brand, you need to listen to your followers and influencers as much as you broadcast to them.

Creating A More Engaging Message

If the majority of brands are losing their message in the swarm of social activity, then how can they leverage the awesome real-time communication that social media offers?

Having worked in the industry and this type of marketing for over 10 years, I have always created a set of criteria to ask when going through the creative process. These serve as a tool-set that allows you to make insightful decisions and gateways.

  • Have your customers given you any indications that they would appreciate a particular message? Who is the community that you have created and what makes them unique?
  • Are you adapting your messages for different audiences & also different platforms?
  • Have you thought about how you can creatively tell your story in a strategic way? What comes next after this post/message?
  • Is the event you want to capitalise on the right time for some real-time activity?
  • Do you have a plan in place - can legal/approval team be contacted efficiently to enable its posting?
  • Does your message add value to your customer’s lives? Will it interupt them enough to make them do an action (Share, Like, Comment, Make them smile or laugh?)
  • Is it in-line with your overarching business and marketing strategy?
  • Does it match the tone of your other communications?

These questions are all important considerations for brands looking to create any sort of meaningful real-time marketing strategy. If brands think more strategically about their online communications, they will be able to create truly effective campaigns and pinpoint ways in which they can differentiate themselves in such a crowded channel. Real Time marketing should not sit in isolation to you other activities - it should sit within the inner elements of what else you do. Ostracising it, will actually devalue you the brand that you have created.

This year’s Oscars was prime example of real-time success. After the success of 2014 with the Selfie, it needed to raise its game with an expectant second-screen savvy audience actually waiting to participate. Dove and Lego both executed campaigns brilliantly. Not only did they set a tone for an evening, they captured the essence of the event whilst also retaining the identity and purpose of their brands in a manner which reflected their audience. Overall, brands need to stop watering down their messaging in order to force themselves to be relevant to every national event. Actual relevance, creativity and strong messaging will go far further than jumping on the social bandwagon.

 

By Nick Bennett, Strategic Planning Director at Rawnet. 

 

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