Real-Time Marketing is the New Normal

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Everything is happening now. Instant delivery of films and books to our computers. Instant gratification. And if we can’t have it now, we can certainly get it tomorrow, rather than waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon or Pony Express to make a delivery.

Social and mobile have combined to shorten the purchasing cycle as consumers can do their research faster, while on the fly. During the most reason holiday season, the Pew Internet & American Life Project discovered that nearly 60% of us used our cell phones as part of the holiday shopping process. We called friends and family for advice, we did comparison shopping, and we researched potential purchases – all while standing there in the store.

Even large ticket item purchases like vehicles and homes can happen more quickly due to the information we have available to us instantly. While they aren’t impulse purchases, the sales cycle is shrinking. That means that businesses have to move faster to seal the deal.

In his book, The Culture Game, organizational culture expert Dan Mezick discusses the need for internal business cultures that learn faster and adapt more readily to change. Businesses that are more “agile,” as Mezick describes them, are organizations that understand that learning is a continuous, fluid process, not a once and done thing. These are the organizations that will understand best how to operate in a real-time economy and business culture.

A recent report from emarketer indicates that real-time marketing is growing in importance. Acting and reacting to internal and external factors is contingent upon proper interpretation of social data. This can only happen by coupling that data with keen observation. That’s the sort of thing that allows for Comcast’s real-time social customer service, and Oreo’s activity during major events. According to the report, business are:

“rapidly creating content that drives more response and engagement, making on-the-fly changes to marketing plans and developing marketing initiatives around topics and events that are trending on social media. Some marketers are also using real-time social data for strategic business decisions, such as product development.”

From a small business perspective, the social data might be less available, and less important, at least from a pure analytics perspective, while the observation might be more important. It is imperative that all online and offline activities be fully integrated. In fact, for those small businesses reticent to enter the online social space, or now sure how to enter it, they merely need to start with a little inward thinking.

While it’s not the final answer, take a look at what you do in your brick and mortar on a daily basis. Don’t be confounded by how you should operate in the online social space. Take what you are doing in real-time in the real world and move it online. The methods might be different but the principles and goals are the same. Provide the same type of customer experience online as you do offline.

Everything is happening faster, and it’s time to prepare for the real-time culture of our consumers. If we don’t keep up, they’ll pass us by and take their business to those who do.

What changes are you seeing in your business as a result of a real-time culture driven by mobile and social?

Did Real Time Marketing Win The Superbowl? (socialmediatoday.com)
That Oreo Tweet Was Cool, But is Real Time Marketing Worth the Hype? (forbes.com)
Who Owns Social: Everyone. Period. (v3im.com)
Stop Looking at Facebook’s Insights (inklingmedia.net)
Beyond the Facebook Wall: Small Business and Online Engagement (inklingmedia.net)

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Tagged as: Comcast, Oreo, Real-time marketing, small business, Super Bowl

10 comments

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Sasha Wallace

In answer to your question: I see a real impact on my business through social media - mostly because we are taking the time and an interest in getting to know our clients as people, with likes and dislikes and opinions, not just as buyers. This interaction and observation of each others' socio/cultural world makes the whole business experience richer for me, in HD and 3D. And I especially love the instantaneous sensation of knowing someone has just posted something, say 20 seconds ago and that they will see your reply in a few seconds more Real time messaging makes email look slow. It's bringing streams of consciousness close together in time and (cyber)-space. Sasha Wallace - www.horizons-business-academy.com

jasonkonopinski

I know that Oreo and 360i (their agency) have become the new example of nimble, agile organizations doing things right, but some details always seem to get left out: Oreo and 360i had a veritable war room set up for Super Bowl. They did, after all, kick off with a $4mm spend. They had deep digital assets and creatives on standby to knock together a quick piece of content if needed. They modeled scenarios and tested response times. They were armed and ready to act.

They've done an amazing job, yes, but we're talking about hefty budgets and a sizable team to manage.

The notion of an agile organization isn't particularly new, btw. It has its roots in application development, introduced via the Agile Manifesto in 2001.

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KenMueller moderator

@jasonkonopinski Oreo spent more than $4m, but most of that was on the television time. The spend on the behind the scenes stuff was far less. I think that this is very scalable and that small businesses can respond quickly on a shoe string. For SMBs it's more a matter of budgeting time than it is money. No need for a large team or budget.

And yes, the Manifesto has been at the core of Mezick's work since that time, particularly some of the thinking of Alistair Cockburn, but has come to the forefront recently in terms of operating in the digital space.

barrettrossie

The question you end with is hard for me to answer. People I know who do social media for a living seem to be slaves to their smart phones, which is not something I'd like to emulate.

In the B2B space, things are moving faster... but not quite as fast as in the B2C. I think.

@barrettrossie I don't think you need to be a slave to your smart phone. You can break the tasks up between people, and from a small business perspective, the reaction time doesn't have to be as fast as others. Also, I don't even have a smart phone...

@KenMueller You're not missing a thing!

JoeCardillo

Well said Ken, and good point about observation. For those businesses just getting their feet wet it's not a requirement to engage full force, but they absolutely have to be there. "Being there" is the baseline for satisfied customers (they may not agree or like you all the time, but they'll respect you for it).