Basics to Real-time Marketing.

According to noted American online marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, "Real-time means news breaking over minutes, not days. It means ideas percolate, then suddenly and unpredictably go viral to a global audience. It’s when companies develop (or refine) products or services instantly, based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace. And it’s when businesses see an opportunity and are the first to act on it."

?This term couldn't be truer with how 2016-17 has shaped up in the Indian marketing world.

Whether it was an international event like the Rio Olympics (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/opportunity-spotting-social-media-lesson-from-anand-carvalho?trk=mp-author-card) or the current #Demonitisation in India, Indian marketers and brands have been working round-the-clock to figure ways and means to cash in on current events and make their messaging relevant to consumers. 

?However, before you think of jumping on to the Real-time digital marketing bandwagon, here are a few basics to consider:

Do you really need it?

This is the important question to ask. Many clients/brands go "If they're (competition) doing it, why can't we?" 

Having a "me-too" thought in itself destroys the whole purpose of real-time marketing. Before you pick a subject understand if it fits in with the current marketing ethos of your brand, will it be easily identified by the current TG you serve or who follow you online and if there would be any repercussions to it.

Here's an example of real-time marketing, gone wrong : Triumph, a lingerie brand, tried to entice users with a discount on Father's Day with what perhaps seems like the most inappropriate ad of the decade. 

https://www.adageindia.in/Is-This-the-Creepiest-Fathers-Day-Ad-Ever/articleshow/47803839.cms

Real-time marketing is more than a one-off topical ad: 

Amul has always been a prime example of real-time marketing in India with their topical advertising. They have also adopted it for social media posting. However, real-time marketing today needs to be more than just topical advertising. 

?Borrowing a line from David Meerman Scott's quote above, "It’s when companies develop (or refine) products or services instantly, based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace.?

Real-time marketing eventually must evolve into using feedback from customers or current events in the marketplace to customise products or solutions with dexterity in order to be relevant.

Here is a prime example of the above done well:

Big Bazaar https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/now-consumers-can-withdraw-cash-from-260-big-bazaar-stores/55574914

Big Bazaar has cleverly addressed the common marketplace problem on cash strapping, partnered with the right aide (State Bank of India) and is working towards solving this issue and subsequently increasing footfalls to their stores.

They are also using social media extensively to broadcast this message.

Invest in a good tool but more importantly invest in better human intelligence: 

Real-time marketing brings with itself the importance of real-time market insights and analysis. 

Digital transformation becomes the need of the hour and with it arrives the onslaught of exhaustive data-gathering tools. 

We take a lot of time and effort to decide the tool that will set the course of data-mining and gathering for our brands - One that will provide comprehensive charts and reports and feed us information at the right time, identifying current market trends, talking points, sentiment analysis and tracking competition.

However, what you need at the end of this all is human intelligence to decipher what works and what doesn't for your brand.

You need a hands-on crisis management team with a great sense of humour and empathy who understands how to deal with a complaint or complex issue and arrives at a customised answer/solution for customers.

You need an adept real-time marketing team (internal or external) to understand how to use current events in a marketplace to your brand's advantage.

?Example: On the day of the Demonitisation announcement by India's prime minister, PayTM sends out an instant tweet "We have got two words for you, PayTM karo"

This is the result of human intelligence :)

?I hope the above basics help you on your real-time marketing journey.

?I am on a panel discussion on Real-time Marketing at the World Marketing Congress on 24th November 2016 in Mumbai. If you're around, give me a shout out.

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