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37 Marketing Pros Reveal How Real-Time Marketing Impacts and Benefits Brands (with Real World Examples)

Everyone’s talking about the power of real-time marketing, but why is it so pertinent for brands today, and how can brands benefit most from implementing real-time marketing solutions? From reaching prospects at key pain points with relevant messaging to tapping into the most relevant, current trends, real-time marketing offers a multitude of benefits for the modern brand.

To find out how today’s top marketing leaders are tapping into real-time marketing to beat the competition, engage consumers, and boost satisfaction and retention, we asked a panel of marketing pros to answer this question:

“How does real-time marketing benefit brands? Can you share some examples?”

Find out how real-time marketing can impact your brand by reading what our experts had to say below.

Meet Our Panel of Marketing Pros:


Don HalbertDon Halbert

@DonHalbert

Don is the CEO of Costa Rica Vacations (CRV).

“Real-time marketing plays a massive role in our overall marketing initiative…”

Sales in the travel vertical is incredibly dynamic with prices that fluctuate on the hour.

It is because of this that we turned to social media and real-time media for the answer. With the average attention span of social media (mobile) users sitting around 8 seconds, we decided a more diverse approach was best.

Whenever there is a seat sale from major metro areas of the U.S., we blitz it out to our entire social media following and then follow it up with an SMS (text messaging) campaign. The two combined are incredibly effective at acquiring immediate results in an industry as dynamic as travel.

At the same time, we are sure to brand all social media with our unique hashtag #4CRV which also happens to be the last four digits of our phone number.


Jahan HamediJehan Hamedi

@jehanhamedi

Jehan Hamedi is a social network analytics and digital marketing expert who is the Founder and CEO of Adhark, a Boston-based streaming marketing recommendation company, and the creator of Cuckoo.

“The power of real-time marketing is in knowing, not guessing…”

When your audience is online and ready to connect with your content. By analyzing live consumer data, brands can precisely tune the messages they send to drive maximum impact with each of their target audiences. Real-time data analysis allows companies to promote content their consumers actually want to see – a GIF, video, infographic, etc. – at the exact right times. Brands can also focus in on specific attributes of that content their audience will find most engaging. For example, retailers like Converse or Under Armour can tap into this audience data to direct their daily content choices and select the optimal copy length, messaging, and image colors, to reach more customers. Real-time marketing means your next campaign can be calculated and statistically optimized before spending a dollar on media placement.


Erika GoldwaterErika Goldwater

@erikawg

Erika is the VP of Marketing for ANNUITAS.

“I would say real-time marketing has major benefits to brands if it can deliver…”

Relevant, clever or helpful information to an organization’s buyers. There is humor that is always great for real-time marketing like the Oreo’s tweet during the Superbowl blackout, but then there is helpful information too, like status updates of popular destinations or resources (would have been a great move for Walmart or Target to post latest inventory for water or diapers in Southern Florida or the Carolinas during the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew) on their Facebook pages.

I use this religiously during the summer when heading to the beach. Our beach has a Twitter handle that updates everyone on their parking situation, activities and more in real-time so beach-goers know if they are likely to be able to park or not, what’s open, weather conditions, etc. It shows “customers” that they are tuned into our needs and they are providing a true service to their customers, local residents and tourists. That is real-time marketing I can appreciate in my personal life and appreciate from a business perspective as well.


Daisy JingDaisy Jing

@banishacnescars

Daisy is the CEO and Founder of Banish.

“Real-time marketing for us is important because we attempt to gratify…”

What customers want NOW. There are times that social media accounts are used in making sure that we gratify whatever need they have at the moment. Also, other customers tend to think that they need the item NOW, that’s why real-time marketing has always been a part of our strategy.

Example: People don’t call or email that much anymore. They tend to ask on social media and expect an answer right away. I noticed that when I don’t reply to them, they automatically transfer to other businesses. I and our customer service team are experienced in making sure that they are taken care of in real-time or as soon as possible.


Evan HarrisEvan Harris

Evan Harris is the co-founder and CMO of SD Equity Partners and specializes in real estate marketing and investments.

“The biggest benefits of real-time marketing for brands are…”

Mystery. Leveraging real time marketing techniques is a great way to cultivate mystery to build a following of loyal consumers. Random deals and promotions throughout the day or week will keep customers on their toes and promote social sharing and consumer engagement. This works especially well with millennials as they love to be ‘in the know’ about special deals and promotions.

Social Marketing. A great way to leverage real-time marketing is through social media. Brands are able to react to users and connect with customers in real time, rather than preparing and posting boring advertisements over social media. This real time marketing strategy also helps build brand loyalty as people love to be re-tweeted and responded to on social media.


Chelsey MoterChelsey Moter

@seoWorks

Chelsey is a Digital Analyst at seoWorks who is dedicated to improving organic traffic and implementing off-site marketing strategies for a variety of clients. When she’s not buried in data, she loves to spend time rock climbing with her daughter.

“Real-time marketing is becoming extremely popular and is proving to be an effective strategy…”

Instead of developing a traditional marketing plan, businesses have the opportunity to create content based on current and relevant trends.

Today, most consumers adapt quicker to the digital world, rely on instant gratification and expect to receive information in record breaking time. They are literally on the cusp of technology and aren’t afraid to share the latest stories on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. It shows consumers that they’re up-to-date on trending media and in return they’re giving the business more exposure.

Companies who implement a real time marketing strategy are catering to what’s trending in their customers world not just their own. Consumers really appreciate a business that isn’t just all about selling and making money. It’s showing them that you care and want to create a meaningful relationship. Overall, companies who use this technique have a better chance at developing a brand consumers can recognize.


Carolyn WilamCarolyn Wilman

@ContestQueen

Carolyn Wilman is a Digital Marketing Strategist and Sweepstakes Specialist. Carolyn works with companies to create, and viral market, winning promotions maximizing ROI and loyal customers. She also teaches teaching others how to Find, Organize, Enter and Win giveaways in her books, You Can’t Win If You Don’t Enter and How To Win Cash, Cars, Trips & More!

“One of the best ways real-time marketing benefits brands is…”

I don’t know why I was so slow on getting on the Facebook Live bandwagon, as it’s the best tool I have started using this year. The reason I love it is it adds an additional layer of transparency to my business, plus it gives me and my followers a new way to engage, in real time!

I find is especially important as there is many misperceptions and myths around sweepstakes on both sides: entrants and sponsors. Being live removes all of those veils. It gives people direct access to me.

I have noticed the more that I do, the more people watch, the more people engage and the more followers I get.

As all marketing activities should lead to sales, I discovered my bottom line is climbing.

I have seen the same results in my clients and those that I follow.


Jacob DayanJacob Dayan

@communitytaxllc

Jacob Dayan is partner and co-founder of Chicago-based Community Tax, a national provider of tax resolution, tax preparation, bookkeeping and accounting services. He previously worked on Wall Street as an options analyst and as a foreign exchange trader. Jacob holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

“Real-time marketing is a great way to…”

Expand your audience exponentially by injecting your brand into a bigger conversation. Obviously, your success depends on cleverness and your ability to connect with listeners in a way that is enriching or entertaining. It is every creative marketer’s dream to come up with a viral piece of content that reaches millions, especially with minimal cost or planning. In the absence of an newsworthy event or reference to tie it to, you’re relying on cleverness alone. But being able to tie a great idea to something that’s already getting huge attention can propel your content into the stratosphere, and social media is the dominant engine for this strategy. One of the best examples is Oreo’s brilliant Tweet during a blackout at the 2013 Super Bowl.

While some real-time content is unplanned, real time doesn’t necessarily mean, ‘by the seat of your pants.’ You can easily plan and prepare a campaign in advance for something that’s very possible. For example, you can bet there were brands coming up with creative ways to acknowledge the potential election of the nation’s first-ever woman president in November prior to the election. Adidas is a brand that works very hard at social media, and particularly real-time strategies. An example of planned content harnessed to a real-time event was the brand’s Tweet following Andy Murray’s first Wimbledon title.

However, just as real-time is a powerful opportunity, it carries significant risks. I can think of two obvious ways you can do lasting damage to your brand by taking the wrong approach: 1) tying your cart to the wrong horse by taking a lighthearted approach to something very serious, or 2) injecting your brand into a conversation in a way that isn’t relevant or authentic. Here is a good list of brand Twitter fails.


Amanda MurrayAmanda Murray

@amanda1murray

Amanda Murray is a Content Marketing Specialist with seoplus+. She has more than a decade of experience in writing in a variety of fields, including academia, business content, technical writing, and creative writing. Amanda helps business increase visibility, improve their online presence, and better express brand visions through the power of the written word.

“Real-time marketing can be a huge advantage to brands, but it has to be used with caution…”

It’s all well and good to appear flexible, authentic, and up-to-the-minute when things go well, but you never know when jumping on timely events or trending hashtags can go south in a hurry. If you to practice real-time marketing, make sure you have detailed social media guidelines and anyone posting to the accounts is fully aware of the policies. Do you research into past snafus and learn lessons so you don’t tread the same risky territory in the future. There’s nothing wrong with engaging with trending topics, but you want to land on the right side of the issue. Think of something like the Ryan Lochte debacle this summer. That story changed some much in just a matter of hours, and you’d hate to have built a real-time campaign around reported facts or posted in defense of Ryan Lochte only to have the truth blow up on you.


Tory KalousekTory Kalousek

@ToryKalousek

Tory Kalousek is a Digital Marketing Associate at Blue Compass. Tory is a graduate of Iowa State University with a double degree in Communications and Spanish. She enjoys developing social media tactics and seeing her work across the web. Her focus is on social media implementation, search engine optimization and content creation.

“Real-time marketing can benefit brands in many ways…”

When it comes to the digital space, real-time marketing can be used to address topics like a PR crisis, share news of a Google algorithm update or to share company news with followers. However, the biggest benefit of engaging in real-time marketing is not to try and sell a brand’s product or service, but to seek to form relationships with a brand’s followers. Plus, real-time marketing could lead to the potential for significant return on investment. A well-crafted tweet that goes viral can have a similar impact as that of a costly paid advertisement, all the while showing the human side of the brand.

On the flip side, real-time marketing does have its challenges. Today’s online users expect a more personal experience instead of a generic marketing message that’s served to a mass audience. It can be extremely tough to make a real-time message personal for online users. Furthermore, limited budgets and the lack of flexibility can be challenging or prohibit a brand trying to market in real-time.

Remember the Super Bowl blackout of 2013? Famous cookie brand, Oreo, tweeted and Facebooked about how you can still dunk Oreos in the dark. The tweet received close to 15,000 retweets, and 20,000 likes on Facebook. At Blue Compass, we recently did some real-time marketing about the Google Penguin algorithm update. Penguin was huge news in the SEO world, and we needed to share a message. Therefore, I wrote a blog about what the update would mean for a business’s site and then socialized it across our relevant social media platforms.


Yulia MaystrukYuliya Maystruk

@yulz31

Yuliya is a digital marketing and communications specialist with extensive experience in entertainment management, audio visual advertising, social media marketing, and tech start-ups. She recently joined the marketing team at Enplug, a cutting-edge SaaS that interactively blends technology, entertainment, and information into any TV display. She graduated from UCLA in 2014 with degrees in Communication Studies and Political Science (go Bruins!).

“Any business looking to stay relevant would benefit greatly by incorporating real-time marketing into their brand strategy…”

Real-time marketing is highly effective in impacting your audience via social media, paid platforms, and content creation (often by 15-20%). These initiatives can cover everything from event-centric marketing like trade shows or current events (e.g. Super Bowl, Fashion Week, etc.) to customer-driven marketing based on feedback and sentiment revolving around your brand.

For example, Oreo Cookie posted a “You can still dunk in the dark!” tweet when the power went out during the Super Bowl in 2013. It was immediately reactive, eye-catching, and relevant during the most-watched sports event in America. Walmart partnered with Foursquare  to issue digital coupons for customers who checked-in while shopping in-store, instantly awarding their audience in real-time.

A new type of technology that can become a part of a good real-time marketing strategy is digital display advertising. Solutions like Enplug  help restaurants, bars, stores, dealerships, gyms, and live events connect with their customers through live social media, real-time news, and graphic advertisements via TV screens. Real-time social media posts on in-venue displays provide an organic way to market your business using customers that are already loyal and excited about your brand. For example, a fan is able to live hashtag #GoldenStateWarriors and see their Instagram post appear on screen wherever the team chooses to run the content. Live social is an instant, gratifying, real-time marketing tool that delights the customer and benefits the brand tremendously. Whether it’s National Pancake Day or the night of the Oscars, always remind your marketing team to keep its ear to the ground and tailor their marketing content in real-time. Yes, that may require media teams working around the clock to stay on top of current events, but it’s very much worth the investment.


Shaun LeesSean Lees

@SeanLees1992

Sean is the Content Marketing Executive at Panther Pest Control and the Digital Marketing Adviser at PestXterminators.

“Real-time marketing can have various definitions…”

It may mean different things to different brands. There is only one thing that is certain: if you use it smartly, it works. I like to describe real-time marketing as the right message/content delivered at the right time on the right social media platform to the right audience. No matter how you describe this marketing strategy, there is no doubt that it’s a valuable part of each brand establishment and development process. This is one of the best ways to reach your audience with content that matters to them. Instead of creating a marketing plan in advance and executing it according to a fixed schedule, nowadays it’s much more beneficial to count on real-time marketing, because this strategy is based on up-to-date events and it’s focused on current, relevant trends and immediate feedback from customers.

How Would Implementing Real-time Marketing Be Beneficial to Your Brand: Forming a Relationships with Your Customers

You can’t just count on blasting out generic brand messages across the social media world. You need personalized messages aligned with the needs of your audience. You also have to choose the right time to send them out, as well as the right channels. Remember, your audience is smart! This is why you have to find out the right way to communicate with them. Personalized messages must delight and inspire your audience. Providing them with the exact information will move them to take action and develop a deeper relationship with your brand.

Identify New Customers

As I mentioned above, your audience is smart! And it’s shifting day-to-day. Real-time marketing can help you identify new customers and audience segment, in order to continue your brand’s growing process.

Promote Your Events with Real-time Marketing

By their nature, events are happening right now, real-time. This is why real-time marketing gives you the opportunity to promote your events. Using hashtags on Twitter or capturing a live video on Facebook are great options to engage your audience, now at this moment. As an event host, your brand can guide the conversations in real-time (messages, comments, videos, photos), improving brand recognition among attendees and increasing exposure to others who are listening in on the online discussions.

Increase Social Media Engagement

A lot of global event like Fifa World Cup, Superbowl, Oscars, Music Awards, etc. have been brand favorites. Creating many memes, impromptu photo ops can be particularly useful as a means of increasing your brand’s social media engagement and reach. There are unlimited niche trends that can be leveraged to increase reach and engagement. You have to be creative in a way to become a part of the conversation in real-time in terms to reach a highly
targeted audience that is eager to engage with your quality content.

Identify Influencers Who Can Help You Growing Your Brand

Real-time marketing can be also used to identify specific customers that are primed to become influencers. Those are the people from the crowd of your audience who stand out with the potential to sway the opinions of a large number of others. Explore data in real-time to determine who are those influencers engaging with your content the most. Research their most engaged followings in order to establish new connections and to strengthen the old ones. Another option is to engage these important individuals with personalized messages or content to develop key positive relationships.

My Example of Real-Time Marketing

I was a part of the marketing team of a famous cleaning company in London when the Pokémon Go hype was seeded. We came up with the idea to offer an egg-hatching service to our customers who don’t have enough free time to play the Pokémon Go game. The deal was: “For a price, the staff of Fantastic Services will access your account and walk up to 10km at a time in order to hatch your eggs for you, catching any Pokémon who pop up along the way. Ideal for both players who have not much free time and players who simply can’t be arsed, the service is being offered alongside the more conventional ones such as pest control and handymen.” More info here. All we needed to do was to create the right content (for that time), then to deliver it to the right audience on the right social media platform. And voilà, you have happy Pokémon Go playing customers, brand awareness, and a new service.

It’s All About Being Creative and Smart

You would never know if your real-time marketing strategy is going to work in the first place. This is why you need to do a lot of research in your niche at to think about the current global news and trends that would impact your audience the most.


Swapnil BhagwatSwapnil Bhagwat

@swapnildigital

Swapnil Bhagwat is Senior Manager – design & digital media, implementing digital, design, web and strategies for the group companies. He is an MBA graduate with work experience in the US, UK and Europe. Swapnil has worked for more than a decade across a range of businesses for the global markets.

“When using social media, organizations develop personalities of their own. Real-time marketing is one of those instances when…”

They can express themselves in totality to their fans and drive engagement. Adding a touch of spontaneous humor is always a good idea to entertain the fans that is based on hottest news floating around. It actually can get them smiling. But one should understand that the real benefit of real-time is the boost in engagement and not reach. However, reach can still be extracted at a later time when many more try to find out what exactly did happen and how the fans were left amused.


Brooke NallyBrooke Nally

@SPASolar

Brooke Nally is the content coordinator at a solar website called SolarPowerAuthority.

“For us at SPA, we benefit all the time from ‘real time’ marketing…”

Due to the fact the solar industry is rapidly changing and new information is released almost every day regarding what’s going on in solar, it’s important for us to keep this in mind to create useful, shareable content. The best content pieces we produce come from what’s currently happening TODAY vs. an informational topic piece. It’s important to keep up on news and trends and evolve your marketing tactics from current matters.


AJ SaleemAJ Saleem

@SuprexLearning

AJ Saleem is the Director of Suprex Tutors Houston, a leading private tutoring and test prep company based in Houston. AJ has created a big dent in the private tutoring market by offering well-trained, highly qualified teachers who are also dynamic instructors. The company also operates in New York and Chicago.

“Real-time marketing has been taking the marketing world by storm, and I have joined the bandwagon…”

I believe the benefit of real-time marketing lies in the fact that you can stay relevant to consumers rather than seem distant. For example, we can market our services before the Presidential debate and relate ourselves to the debate by offering a pre-debate special.


Dan ShureDan Shure

@dan_shure

Dan Shure runs a boutique SEO and Digital Marketing agency, Evolving SEO and is also host and producer of the Marketing Podcast, Experts On The Wire. He has been a Moz Associate since 2012, writes for the Moz blog and has spoken at dozens of marketing and business events such as SMX and Affiliate Summit.

“Real time marketing is STILL novel, so brands that leverage it can still get…”

Outsized press exposure.

  • Humanizing the brand (observing and expressing opinions on social platforms, for example)
  • Directing the attention of internal marketing to personalized data and inspiring analysis
  • Attracting targeted and incidental attention to the brand (going viral, for example)

Examples:

  • Here Oreo uses a Super Bowl outage as opportunity to express its humorous and clever side. This also generated an enormous amount of residual press mention, brand awareness and outsized exposure.
  • Here BMW’s reaction to what would otherwise be a confident Audi ad makes the former’s billboard incidentally ingenious and a real-time ‘comeback.’
  • Netflix uses personalized data to make user suggestions in real time. Internally, workers can analyze keywords searched (actors, movie titles, etc.), viewing frequency, abandonment rate of started programs, and more – allowing them to target users needs instantly.

Jackie MillerJackie Miller

@Bozell

As chief marketing officer at Bozell, Jackie handles the x’s and o’s. She leads strategy for every account, builds relationships with clients and drives new business initiatives. She’s Coach Phil Jackson to our Chicago Bulls. Before joining us at Bozell, Jackie gleaned invaluable business and digital advertising experience at an array of agencies.

“In a world where content is king, relevance is queen…”

Capitalizing on real-time conversations and topics allows adaptable messages to be reinforced. Real-time marketing drives community development and takes customer interactions beyond the norm, allowing brands to branch into new conversations. While trends and topics shift rapidly, participating in real-time marketing can boost awareness while riding a wave of shares, impressions and views.

For a recent example, we launched a Worry Free checking campaign that allowed us to capitalize on ATM fee conversations that were trending across traditional and social media. Quickly mobilizing social media posts, we highlighted First National Bank’s position as a leader in this space, and showed how they’re making it easy for their customers by having truly, free checking accounts.


Danyal EffendiDanyal Effendi

@DanEffendi

Danyal Effendi is currently working as Digital Marketing Strategist for PureVPN. He is an avid reader, learner and occasionally writes to spread knowledge through different blogs and discussions.

“The main benefit of real-time marketing for brands is…”

The market reach and engagement. Real-time marketing helps brands cater the most important challenge of marketing. It does not only just expand brand reach but makes it relevant by connecting to right person at right time with right message, which eventually increases the engagement too.

Real-time marketing helps brands to adapt their marketing message with focus on a specific ongoing context, which improves the brand perception too. According to Econsultancy, 84% of brands notice better engagement and customer experience through real-time marketing. This in return, leads to increased sales and loyalty.

One good example is of Oreo. In the 2013 Super bowl, there was a sudden power cut at the stadium and within minutes Oreo came up with their marketing message which was retweeted more than 15000 times.

Similarly, they used the colors of winner Baltimore Ravens as the color of cream in their cookie sandwich.

As depicted by these examples, real-time marketing provides a wider opening to increase customer interactions, through personalized, relevant and engaging message, in a timely manner.


Matt GibbsMatt Gibbs

@gibbs12

Matt Gibbs is Co-founder and CMO of UPshow, the Interactive In-venue Social Display Network. No matter how much he talks about turning every TV in every venue into a social screen, most people want to hear about his previous job as Playboy’s Director of Social Media.

“Real-time marketing gives businesses the opportunity to reach customers at the most important place…”

The point-of-purchase. Whether it’s hyper-targeted ads online or smart social media tools to provide incentives to customers in-store, real-time is the best time!

With today’s smartphone-obsessed culture tagging and checking in everywhere they go, businesses are able to proactively engage with customers via social media. Not only does this interaction surprise a customer, but it gives the business the opportunity to delight them as well with a special offer to redeem while in-store. Doing so increases both customer loyalty and spending.


Jake TullyJake Tully

@TruckingUltd

Jake is a professional journalist living in Los Angeles who has his hands in many different arenas of writing. In addition to working as a copywriter and holding a position as a member of the marketing team for TruckDrivingJobs.com, Jake also frequently submits articles to entertainment-based publications.

“I believe real-time marketing benefits brands when…”

You work within an industry that can shift greatly according to governmental mandates and policies. In the trucking indsutry, many jobs and careers are subject to a seemingly ever-changing list of rules and regulations that impact what positions are viable and avaiable. To account for the spontaneity of the industry, we can’t possibly host open jobs with trucking companeis that remain stagnant and market them as if nothing has happened. We have to appeal to the the pathos of potential job seekers and let them know we are on top of following industry trends.


MorganElle Morgan

@Woopra

Elle Morgan is the Content Marketer and Evangelist at Woopra, the leader in real-time customer analytics. Her core mission is to help businesses cultivate data-driven cultures by transforming real-time insights into actions. Her work and research focuses on the humanization of data – bringing faces to the faceless numbers – in order to deliver an unparalleled customer experience.

“Real-time marketing enables brands to…”

Reach Customers in the Moment of Truth

Google released a study years ago where they called this the ZEMOT or Zero Moment of Truth. In that study, they describe how if you can reach customers in the exact moment that they are considering purchases and researching options, the conversion rates are significantly higher.

Under Armour is an incredible example of a brand that has taken real-time marketing to the extreme and realized incredible results. Using their rich data sets, Under Armour targets consumers with localized ads based on their actual behavior. For example, if you’re wearing Under Armour’s Smart Gear and running down the streets of San Francisco to a workout program on your Under Armour App – they can send a message notifying you that it’s time to purchase new running shoes just as your running close to an Under Armour store. Incredible!

Create Brand Champions

Real-time marketing is only as good as the content that you send. If you’re able to send real-time content to a consumer that is personalized and relevant, not only are they more likely to convert, but their affinity toward your brand will be greater. They will feel closer to your brand and relationship will develop. We all know that we’re going to get ads, that’s just the way the world works. So, if a brand can make the ad relevant to me in my moment of interest, I’m much less likely to find it an annoyance.


Michael SolomonMichael Solomon

@mikesolo

Michael is a Professor of Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University.

“Real-time marketing is a powerful strategy because…”

It signals to consumers that the sponsor is on top of an ever-changing landscape in popular culture. Younger consumers value currency almost as much as authenticity, and this technique delivers both. A great example is the power outage during the 2013 Super Bowl. Oreos sent out a message you can still dunk in the dark that was a huge success. Quick thinking on sterioids!


Tequila CousarTequila Cousar

@tequilacousar

Tequila is the founder of Cousar Enterprise, LLC.

“The benefits of real time marketing include…”

1. Visibility: With Facebook Live and Periscope you have the opportunity to connect with people that you may not have had the opportunity to connect with other wise.

2. Engagement: You have the opportunity to provide on-demand solutions to your target audience.

3. Credibility: If you are constantly providing value to the market, you will be know as an expert in your industry.

4. Monetization: Being visible will allow you to create the know, like, and trust factor this leads to people buying your product or service.


Megan MonroeMegan Monroe

@the_mmonroe

Megan is the Assistant Marketing Manager at ONTRAPORT. She is a graduate of Santa Barbara’s Westmont College where she studied Philosophy and Communications. After working for several local small businesses (where she gained firsthand experience with the frustration of manual segmentation and follow-up), Megan joined the ONTRAPORT Growth Marketing Team.

“Real-time marketing is a massive opportunity for brands to…”

Not only market their brand, but also show they’re human. If done correctly and authentically, pleased customers spread your message for you, and it’s enough a story, even more people go on to spread it, too, exponentially increasing awareness and exposure to your brand in just a matter of minutes. Monitor social media for any opportunities you can find to interact with clients in real-time. Respond to everything from compliments to complaints, and even play along with some jokes!

One of my favorite examples of this strategy was JetBlue’s welcome home parade. After a customer, sad that her trip was coming to an end, jokingly wished for a welcome home parade at the airport, JetBlue saw this opportunity to play along. By the time she landed, JetBlue employees were greeting her with a full celebration, complete with posters and all. The delighted customer later tweeted, “the power of social media is so real” along with the picture of her parade. This deeply enroutes JetBlue’s value of customer service and engaged audiences, beyond that customer’s direct friend circle. Its charming absurdity made it share-worthy and amplified what that customer already felt towards that brand. She will definitely remember this next time she books a flight.


Glen MungoGlen Mungo

@MungoCG

Glen is the CEO of Mungo Creative Group.

“Here’s an example of how much impact real-time marketing can have on a brand…”

Real-Time Marketing Campaign – “Catch’em on the Boston Common”

The Challenge: Capitalize on a real-time marketing opportunity and Increase Millennial Festival Attendance through Pokémon:GO

Overview: When it comes to real-time marketing, Mungo Creative Group likes to refer it to as “right time marketing,” and you’ll see what we mean through this short case study.

Description: Outside The Box is a non-profit, annual free performing arts festival, dedicated to elevating the Boston arts community and sharing it with the public. Every summer OTB takes over the Boston Common, America’s oldest public park, and transforms it into a celebration of arts, entertainment, and innovation. In 2015 the festival attracted over 320,000 attendees over the course of the entire festival, with a whopping crowd of 43,000 festival goers on Thursday night alone. This past year, OTB’16 was five days long and ran from July 13th-17th, a few of the headliners included Vertical Horizons, Daugtry, Smash Mouth, Michael Franti & The Spearheads.

In order, to attract a greater number of millennial to festival, per the recommendation of Art Director Kelly Groglio, Mungo Creative Group decided to capitalize on the insane pop culture trend at the time, Pokémon:GO. We observed that people were naturally congregating around lures, an in game item that people can buy and drop at any pokéstop resulting in sought after Pokémon appearing at an increased frequency in a particular area. We hypothesized that by purchasing lures and placing them throughout the festival grounds millennials, who might not otherwise have been reached through our traditional media efforts, would be attracted to the lures in the pursuit of Pokémon and end up discovering and enjoying the festival. With a Budget of $1,000 to start, we began placing lures at the Pokéstop around the festival grounds. We estimated needing to place a little over 1,200 lures over the course of 5 days to cover the entire festival throughout the day (12pm-9pm). We then promoted that we would be dropping lures on the Common across our social media channels and various relevant Pokemon sub-reddits. We increased overall attendance and Thursday night attendance by 25% and 20% respectively. Also, we were able to capitalize on the real-time marketing trend as it was happening, with the launch of Pokémon:GO only a few short days prior to the Outside of the Box Festival.


David HeadDavid Head

@_DavidHead

David is the Co-founder of DesignLive.co, an online marketplace to hire on-demand help for Squarespace. He graduated from Belmont University in Nashville, TN with a degree in entrepreneurship. In his free time, he practices yoga and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

“We use a tool on our website called Intercom…”

That allows us to send messages to our website visitors in real-time. It increased our user activation rate by roughly 300%.


Brian YackulicBryan Yackulic

@Millennialstats

Bryan Yackulic, MSM, CLF(r), is Assistant Director of the Chartered Leadership Fellow(r) (CLF(r)) Program and Adjunct Professor of Management at The American College of Financial Services. He teaches about, and has research interest in, the area of cross-generational leadership. Prior to joining Academics, Mr. Yackulic spent over three years as The College’s Alumni Relations Director.

“Real-time marketing has become increasingly popular and necessary for brands to…”

Make a connection with customers. This is one of the reasons twitter is such an advantageous platform for marketers. With all of the advertisements and distractions consumers face from a variety of outlets (television, social media, email), it’s so easy for a marketer’s message to get lost in the mix. By posting/advertising using real time events, marketers set themselves apart and build a connection with customers by keeping the messaging current and relevant. This not only spread awareness of a product or event, it opens a dialogue of conversation with their customers.


Alexa LemzyAlexa Lemzy

@Alexa_Lemzy

Alexa Lemzy is the customer service manager and blog editor at business SMS provider TextMagic. She covers mobile marketing and customer retention in her articles.

“Real-time marketing helps brands to…”

Build meaningful connections with customers and recognize brand advocates.

Don’t miss the opportunity here: who have deep knowledge and contagious passion about your product? Your employees, so encourage them to spread the word. Business giants like IBM and Salesforce already benefit from the employee advocate programs.

Also, brands achieve better personalization through triggered activities (emails, SMS, tooltips, etc.) based on the customers’ behavior. You can set up triggers according to the variety of real-time factors: location, weather conditions, purchase history, upcoming events. For example, customer is checking the availability of a particular chair in the brick-and mortar stores within the specific area (he wants to take a look at the chair and decide if it’s the right choice for his home). The chair is out of stock there, but arrives in a week. Customer receives a text message, or email, once the chair he likes is finally in the store nearby.


Mike CataniaMike Catania

@PromotionCode

Mike Catania is serial entrepreneur and the co-founder/CTO of the savings community PromotionCode.org. He has also worked as an adjunct professor and a business mentor for other small businesses in the Las Vegas area.

“Real-time marketing is a huge boon for brands…”

The ability to target and reach a customer as a purchase is being evaluated in real time gives any merchant an advantage. In the coupon industry, we’ve embraced this tool for the past several years via our mobile apps. Being able to get an offer to a customer while they’re entering the threshold of the store primes customers to make a purchase. Further, with beacon services, we can push a coupon to a potential customer literally as he or she is considering the purchase to make a product that much more enticing.


Dwight MulbrandtDwight F. Mulbrandt

@IMM

Dwight F. Mulbrandt, Senior Partnership Supervisor, IMM, is a digital marketing veteran with extensive direct, agency and brand experience. For the last decade, Dwight has been honing his skills in restaurant digital marketing with a focus on driving both online and offline sales.

“Marketing is often considered half art, half science and all hindsight…”

You develop a campaign based on previous performance and historical data about your target audience – often with the hope that it will drive sales while pushing the limits of your narrow bullseye. Success is measured in the weeks and months following the program’s end. In the interim, you’re stuck sitting on your hands playing a game of wait and see. But, what if you could learn about the efficacy of your campaign WHILE it’s still in play? Or better yet, what if you could learn about any target evolution or gains with new customers as you go? Good news – you can.

Smart marketing is rooted in passion but must be supported by data, real-time data. Real-time data collection allows for testing and thus allows you to learn what’s working now. Specific tests to run are simple tests (one variable against another), complex tests, like fractional factorial design (subtle variables against another) , and visual testing (image resonance via social media and digital advertising.) Waiting for data is like using a phone book. It’s antiquated and unnecessary. Real-time data is crucial to running an effective and efficient campaign.


Jessi CarrJessi Carr

@InseevTweets

Jessi Carr is aDigital Marketing Specialist at Inseev Interactive, a San Diego-based full-service digital marketing agency.

“While real-time marketing has its obvious benefits of raising brand awareness with consumers…”

Such as Jet Blue’s recent Elect a Vacation promotion, real-time marketing can also help smaller brands connect and network with one another as well as gain awareness through connecting with larger brands.

One of our favorite real-time marketing tactics to use, both for our own personal marketing purposes as well as for our clients, is reaching out to other local and industry-relevant brands over social media. Whether this is something as simple as asking a few local restaurants what they think we should get for a team lunch that day, or reaching out to similar brands on behalf of our clients to ask for their opinion on new industry news, the results are overwhelmingly positive, both for the networking benefits between businesses and for raising awareness in new markets.


Dan RobergeDan Roberge

@MaintenanceCare

Dan Roberge is the President of Maintenance Care, a free maintenance management software solution based out of Toronto, Canada.

“Real time marketing can be beneficial to brands because…”

It connects them with their audience in a way that is staying in line with what the brand stands for while remaining culturally relevant. This style of marketing allows brands to look into the future for upcoming opportunities. For example, when Star Wars came out recently, a ton of businesses in many different industries tried to tie in their brand with the movie franchise. Real time marketing also allows for a responsive style of communication in which an event occurs, and a brand reacts. One example that comes to mind is when the Super Bowl experienced a blackout and the response from Oreo’s was a tweet along the lines of “you can still dunk in the dark.” The key is to stick to your communication strategy and what your brand stands for.


Brian GillBrian Gill

@gwdatarecovery

Brian Gill is the owner of Gillware Data Recovery, an industry leader and world class data recovery company.

“The most critical aspect that a brand should consider before implementing a real time marketing strategy is…”

Understanding how its core audience perceives and engages with a particular topic. If you understand this, you can benefit greatly from taking advantage of something like a trending hashtag or a recent story in the news. A good example is a brand like Cheerios. Their primary consumers are young parents with children aged 1-5 years old. So a Game of Thrones reference probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Rather, a reference to a children’s TV show or movie would be better suited. The main takeaway here is that the brand’s product or service doesn’t have to align perfectly with the topic of discussion, but there are still ways to take advantage.


Marisa SouthMarisa South

@MarisaSouth

Marisa South is the General Manager of Vet & Pet Jobs, a career website for employers and job seekers in the veterinary industry in Australia.

“Today, brands have a great opportunity to use real-time marketing to enhance personalization and increase reach…”

As a huge movie buff, I greatly appreciated NASA’s tweet when the film Gravity won seven Oscars back in 2014. It was a tweet that received over 13,000 retweets, a clear winner in real time marketing. NASA’s strategy was to use their own hashtag, #RealGravity while pairing it with #Oscars2014. This was the perfect opportunity to engage with an audience in a genuine way. As seen with the example above, real time marketing isn’t something you plug into a marketing strategy with a set campaign date. Instead, it’s more about finding clever ways to engage with your target audience. When done correctly, the message is accepted positively and brand awareness is elevated from the ensuing buzz that comes from social sharing and people actively talking about it.


Peter SchroederPeter Schroeder

@RendrFX

Peter Schroeder is the Digital Marketing / Social Media / Growth Manager at RendrFX. Peter is trying to help empower people everywhere to utilize the power of video for social. RendrFX is a plug & play motion graphics video startup located in Erie, PA.

“Real-time marketing benefits your brand by…”

Building a genuine relationship with your audience. Face-to-face interactions can never be replicated, but the next best thing is real time marketing. Things happen at a fast pace, so you better be geared up to move at a fast pace, otherwise you miss out on great opportunities. These opportunities are genuine ways to connect with your audience. Your audiences can sense if you are marketing in real time because it is not something that was planned out, tested, and created to exploit their buying habits.

The greatest example of this would have to be what Oreo did in 2013 during the infamous ‘3rd quarter blackout’ during the Super Bowl. During the 34-minute blackout, it just so happened the Oreo social media team was gathered together to watch the big game. When the blackout happened, the team dove into a quick little brainstorming session and out popped an idea! They jumped on social media and pushed out a simple tweet that said, “Power Out? No problem,” with a little Oreo cookie in the spotlight of a dark photo with the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark.”

Brilliant! With that simple stroke of genius, the brand gathered over 15,000 retweets and over 20,000 Facebook likes. This just goes to show the power of paying attention and marketing in real time.


Kerri GoisKerri Gois

@KerriGois

Kerri Gois is the Marketing Coordinator at BroadbandSearch.Net.

“In order to be successful in marketing it is important to allow for…”

Flexibility in your plans. An unforeseen opportunity may arise that can significantly help promote your brand. I have found that guest blogging is a great way to capitalize on real time marketing while getting your name on a reputable website at the time.

Read all the major news publications, and utilize Google trends to find current events you can relate to your brand. When doing this go beyond a narrow frame of mind, and try to make a link that no one else would find. Make sure you are pitching your posts to reputable sites that will help with your SEO and give credit to your author and website. The blog also needs to align with your target customer or else the reader will not have any interest to link back to your website.

Ekaterina Walter is a great example of a guest blogger who has taken the social media and blogging world by storm. She has a commanding presence on top websites such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post and has represented brands like Intel and Accenture. Her innovative ideas have been shared on major news websites including, ABC, FOX News, and the Wall Street Journal.


Alex BarshaiAlex Barshai

Alex is the Owner of Third Temple Digital and a Digital Marketer, involved in inbound marketing strategy, lead nurturing, marketing data research and analysis, and Search Engine Optimization. Specializing in lead generation and brand awareness development. Adressing clients from various industries such as trades, food, education and others.

“Real-time marketing is beneficial to brands mostly in such a way that it…”

Increases audience engagement. In fact, researches show that audience engagement increases up to 70% with brands that resort to real time marketing. It is also suggested, again by research, that real time marketing can increase customer satisfaction by some 50%.

Although Oreo took all the praise for proper real time marketing with its famous dunk in the dark tweet, Kit Kat has been one of the biggest adherents to the style as they have been conducting real time marketing on social media for years. One of the best examples is their take on Felix Baumgartner’s space jump when they attached a Kit Kat bar and a camera to a balloon and simply sent them flying towards the skies.

However, properly assessing the value of real time marketing for brands can be a bit difficult. Although well done real time marketing often attracts praises from the public and the customers alike, it is tricky to calculate the monetary value of such short-term boosts in popularity. It remains unclear to anyone outside Oreo if their dunk in the dark tweet actually contributed to an increase in sales. My view is that real time marketing indeed is a viable option even for brands that yields results, but that it has to be seen as a long-term endeavor or a strategy (which is a bit ironic, given the fact that real time marketing is all about here and now). That way, instead of having boosts of popularity and customer satisfaction from time to time, these two can be kept at a high level more or less constantly (and constant good customer satisfaction is something no one would complain about).

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