How To Make Real-Time Marketing Moments Work For Your Brand

As digital marketing continues to evolve, marketing in the moment as much as possible is vital to business success. The attention span of consumers has always been short. Now that customers have access to the world in the palm of their hands via their smartphones, it has become even more incumbent for brands to generate clever marketing campaigns on the fly, while pushing out marketing messages as events occur.

In fact, real-time marketing can lead to incredible return on investment. According to a survey conducted and released by Wayin, brands that respond to news as it occurs on social media see a higher ROI than those brands that do not. The survey went on to report that in the past year, 64 percent of marketers have taken advantage of breaking news as it occurs on social media. Such research underscores the fact that unscripted marketing campaigns have grown increasingly important. In order to take advantage of the benefits offered by real-time marketing, brands must learn to be agile.

Precisely how quickly brands are able to respond to breaking news does matter. The Wayin survey found that only 4 percent of the marketers surveyed were able to formulate a response to breaking events and news on social media in under a minute. Even more concerning is the fact that almost half of marketers report they are not able to respond to breaking news within half an hour. Given that real-time marketing should take place within seconds, there is clearly room for improvement. Brands that respond to trending social media more quickly have a clear advantage.

What can your brand do to leverage the power of real-time marketing? While every brand and every breaking news story or event is different, there are three steps that brands of all sizes can take to improve their real-time marketing response.

Do Your Research

Many brands make the mistake of thinking that social media is their own soapbox for airing their personal opinions. When used correctly, social media serves as an effective way to drive engagement. The key to using social media properly, however, involves active listening. To achieve the greatest level of success with real-time marketing, it’s important for your team to understand even subtlest nuances of what takes places on the social platforms where your brand is most active. Don’t fall into the common mistake of believing that real-time marketing involves simply hijacking the latest news and events. Ultimately, the goal is to incorporate your brand into current conversations that are both relevant and timely.

An increasing number of marketers are now using listening tools to ensure they are notified about breaking events, news, and trends. Even so, it is important to make sure that your entire team is on alert to breaking news. Remember that not all breaking events will trend, or at least not as quickly as you need for your brand to respond.

If you’re just getting started with real-time marketing, start small but stay consistent. The goal with this approach is to show your audience that they can expect your brand to produce relevant communications in a timely manner. With this approach, when a great opportunity does arise, your brand will be ready to make the most of it.

Relevance

Staying on top of trending events and news is important for real-time marketing.  Do not get so carried away with responding to the latest events that you forget to check relevance. When responding to a breaking event, it’s important to always ensure that the event or news is relevant to your brand and goals. If you’re in doubt about whether an event or news story is appropriate for your brand, consider testing it first.

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