It’s about to get real – real time, that is.
Real time marketing is one of those marketing phrases that popped up a few years ago, gained a bit of traction, then lay dormant until February 2013, when a little event called the Super Bowl (you may have heard of it) happened.
If you were watching that game, you probably remember seeing everything suddenly go dark on your TV screen. Yes, folks, that was a blackout, and for 34 long minutes, half the lights in the Superdome were out. The reaction was instantaneous; chatter about the black out spread through social media like wildfire.
One brand that took advantage of the event was Oreo. Within minutes, Oreo put out an awesome tweet:
Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC
— Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013
It was funny and timely, and for those reasons it got 15,000 retweets and over 6,500 favorites from all across the country. Oreo’s social media team certainly got its fair share of pats on the back, and other brands took notice. As a result of one tweet, the buzzword “real time marketing” leapt back into prominence, and has continued to gain traction over a year later. But what is real time marketing? And how can you take advantage of real time marketing for social media? Let’s get real.
Living in the Now: Marketing in Real Time
Real time marketing, in a nutshell, is marketing in response to events that have just occurred. It involves taking advantage of the present, and living in the here and now, and incorporating all of that into a marketing strategy. The Oreo tweet is a prime example of how a brand tapped into a real-time event and sent out a branded message that resonated with audiences. The timing couldn’t have been better; millions of people watch the Super Bowl, giving Oreo a chance to put out a message with enormous reach. Real time marketing is best used in conjunction with social media because of social media’s power of interacting with the masses in real time, right now, as it’s happening (live!). You can quickly respond to an event with a clever remark or a witticism, slap together an eye-catching photo, and voila – get attention for it. This works because we as a society are all about the here and now. We’re all about the latest craze, or the Big Event, or what celebrities are doing, or what’s going on in the world around us in this moment. And whenever a brand can use that energy and capitalize on it with a branded message, magic happens. Twitter is especially useful for real time marketing. Trending topics and hashtags provide an opportunity to join a conversation teeming with thousands, even millions of people – all in real time. For that reason, it’s hard to separate real time marketing and Twitter; they so often go hand-in-hand.
Examples of Brands Who Got It Right – and Wrong
Real time marketing is something brands are still figuring out. Sometimes, it works very well – and good things happen as a result. Case in point: the Red Cross. When we think of the Red Cross, we usually think of disasters, first aid, and emergency preparedness. We don’t usually think of sophisticated social media use, but that’s exactly what happened when Sharknado aired on the SyFy channel in July, 2013. This made-for-TV movie was absolutely atrocious – so atrocious, in fact, that it became a national phenomenon that set the Internet on fire. The Red Cross decided to capitalize on that phenomenon with a bit of real-time marketing. Using #Sharknado and #RedCross, the Red Cross live-tweeted emergency preparedness tips during the airing of the movie. Others got in on the act and the organization’s brand mentions went through the roof.
Practice preparedness in a hypothetical situation by tweeting #sharknado #redcross tonight: http://t.co/60HXE9yb3e — American Red Cross (@RedCross) July 11, 2013
Events like talked-about TV premieres, the Oscars, the Emmys, sports events, political speeches, and other “It’s happening now!” moments provide the perfect opportunity for brands to insert themselves in the conversation. However, you have to do it the right way – or risk burning yourself.
Case in point: Celeb Boutique. This seller of upscale clothing drew fire back in the summer of 2012 when they attempted to get into the world of real time marketing by sending out this tweet:
Of course, they didn’t know that #Aurora was trending because of the shooting that had just happened in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. The response was swift and overwhelmingly negative, and Celeb Boutique’s brand took a major hit – all because someone, in their haste to market in real time, forgot to look a bit deeper into why the hashtag was trending.
Sometimes, efforts go wrong thanks to horrific timing, like the above example. Other times, they just fall flat – namely because brands try to stretch too much to tie themselves into an event. This happened to Audi last year during the Emmys. It wasn’t a disaster like with Celeb Boutique, but it was a ham-handed way of trying to associate an event with a brand:
Can’t hide the truth. In an #AudiTDI the congressman would tell the camera: “This is truly a civilized drive.” #Emmys pic.twitter.com/sEa7puDPa5
— Audi (@Audi) September 23, 2013
Putting It All Together
How can your brand take advantage of real time marketing? How can you capitalize on the here and now like Oreo and the Red Cross – and avoid incurring the wrath of the Interwebs like Celeb Boutique?
- Make it relevant: Your message has to be relevant in some way to what you’re talking about. If there isn’t a natural fit, don’t try to force it; find another angle.
- Be funny: The best real time marketing shenanigans are memorable because they’re funny, or at least clever. Simply mentioning a product is an awkward way to be in the conversation. Find something witty to say.
- Do your research: It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and want to go out with guns blazing, firing away tweet after tweet and hashtag after hashtag. Do your research first, though, so you know exactly what you’re talking about. This avoids potentially nasty situations.
- Listen: What are other people saying? Follow trending topics and hashtags. Read other peoples’ comments. See what they’re saying before you insert yourself in the conversation. Make your response something that flows naturally with the direction of the conversation, instead of going against the grain.
- React and respond: Finally, don’t be afraid to respond to other people who are chatting about an event. You don’t have to always do something creative and unique; instead, you can win a lot of cred by having conversations in real time about what’s going on in the world.
Real time marketing is one of those beasts that’s hard to tame, but if you can saddle it, you can ride it to more brand engagement and recognition.