Real time marketing literally means marketing that’s done in real-time. That means a marketing campaign that is created when the event takes place in the world. 

The event could be anything and can happen anywhere. All that marketers have to know is how they can use it for brand promotion.

Real time marketers are always paying attention to what’s happening in the world. They know about trends, events, and what people are interested in that day. RTM can’t be done every day. To do a successful campaign, you’ve to wait for the right event. 

There are too many things that happen on the internet daily, you can find about events through the internet. Plus, just because you don’t plan these events, doesn’t mean you can’t think ahead. 

When you know that a big event, say the 4th of July, is around the corner. You can expect some events that may happen on that day. This way, you can be ready with some themes and ideas in your mind. 

This isn’t like social media marketing, you still have to create the campaign right at that time. But, you might reach more people if you have some ideas ready for yourself. These ideas should make for a relevant piece of information. At the same time, they should help your brand too. 

When you create RTM at the right time, you’ll see the impact it has on your company. As a small business, you can get massive success through these campaigns. If you look at the examples of real time marketing, you’ll see how brands have used celebrity events for it. 

In this article, we’ve brought up the importance of this marketing method. You can also go through some strategies you must use for these campaigns. 

What is Real Time Marketing?

Real time marketing or RTM are those marketing efforts wherein brands react to events or situations in real time. RTM is about delivering messages and increasing brand awareness through these events. A real time marketer focuses on current events, trends, customer interaction, or feedback. 

Here, the company doesn’t plan or strategize for months in advance. In this manner, it becomes slightly different from social media marketing. As a social media marketer, you’ll plan ahead before an event like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. 

But, a real time marketer reacts to these events when they happen. For this type of marketing, the company may collaborate with other industry people or some celebrities. For instance, let’s say BTS drops an announced album. A real time marketer who works in a tech company finds out about it. Here, they may market their headphones or earphones by saying, “Here’s how I’m listening to BTS today!”. 

Brands don’t look for similar types of events. Instead, they think ahead and use their creativity. They would look at the current event and logically promote their brand. If we consider the same example, even a clothing company can use this opportunity. They may react by saying, “This is what I’m wearing today to enjoy the new BTS album”. 

This is how RTM becomes more important in today’s time. There are many new technological innovations happening these days. Online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are useful tools for businesses. 

They can use these tools to put a word out. Through Twitter, brands can interact with their customers. Many brands do it today. They not only entertain their customers, but they also promote their business.  People love the way companies react to current events. They like seeing them be a part of ongoing trends. 

The Best Real Time Marketing Strategies 

RTM is different from other marketing types. In real time marketing, you don’t have the time to plan before the event happens. You don’t know what events will take place the next day or within a few weeks. Hence, as a real time marketer, you’ve to pay extra attention to the current events and happenings. 

Following are some of the strategies you should utilize to grow your brand image. 

• Be attentive and listen: In this type of marketing technique, you always have to be attentive. You should know what’s happening locally and globally. You should listen to what people are talking about, at that moment. Keep searching the relevant keywords to know what’s happening in the industry. 

• Know the customer’s journey: When you’re paying attention to the trends, you must acknowledge where your customers are. Know about their interests and  understand their decisions. Most times, they’re keeping up with the trends too. So, you can meet them at the same place. 

• Use social media: One way to know about the buyer’s behaviour and to keep track of trends is, obviously, social media. On media platforms like LinkedIn, you can have serious discussions about many topics. Use this platform to engage and talk about your brand. 

• Use your resources: What resources can you use here? Well, there are different marketing tools and other software you can use. These tools will alert you about recent events. You should also use the tools which will help you in maximizing your ROI. 

• Use ambassador network: Seize the opportunity, don’t miss out! Talk to your brand ambassadors and ask them to use their platform. For instance, an ambassador can discuss an event with their followers and at the same time hype up one of your products. 

5 Best Real Time Marketing Examples  

As mentioned earlier, many brands and companies have used this marketing technique. Here are some examples of the RTM campaigns. 

Oreo – You can still dunk in the dark:

During the 2013 Super Bowl, the city of New Orleans, Louisiana had a power outage. The outage also affected the Mercedes-Benz Superdome where the game took place. Oreo used this event to get the attention of many fans. They put out a tweet that said, “You can still dunk in the dark”. They added the image of an oreo biscuit with a black background. 

Wendy’s – Retweets for nuggets:

Here, Wendy’s 18 million retweets to a teenager when he asked for free chicken nuggets. Many people paid attention to this. Even celebrities and other public figures retweeted that tweet. In this situation, Wendy’s listened to what a customer was saying and they also got some publicity. 

NASA – Real gravity:

Yes, NASA has also done real time marketing. When the movie Gravity got many Oscar nominations in 2014, NASA posted a picture of real gravity. They uploaded a picture of Earth from outer space. They used a good sense of humour to congratulate the moviemakers and actors. 

ASOS – Limited Edition:

ASOS is a fashion and cosmetic retailer based in the United Kingdom. Around 2018 ASOS had printed 17,000 bags with a typo. They wrote “onilne” instead of online. They accepted the mistake and put out a tweet saying that these bags are part of a limited edition. This way, they made an unconventional RTM campaign. 

Arby’s – Give our hat back:

At the 2014 Grammy Awards, the singer Pharrell Williams was spotted wearing a hat. The hat was similar to Arby’s logo. So, Arby’s used this event to market themselves by asking Pharrell when he’ll give their hat back.  

Tips and Best Practices 

Real time marketing is done very precisely. If you want to use this marketing technique, you’ve to do it in the right way. You can follow the below-mentioned tips and best strategies when you’re doing an RTM campaign. 

• Follow the right people: Many RTM campaigns are done on social media platforms. So, you must follow the official social media accounts of organizations and event sponsors. You should also follow relevant hashtags and public figures. This way, you’ll always know what events are happening in the world. 

• Train your employees: Making an RTM campaign isn’t easy. You have to be the best creative version of yourself. You have to use the right words, images, and tone. Hence, train your employees to think that way. Tell them what words will make an impact on people. You want to win people’s favour. If your team delivers the right message, people will follow you. 

• Pick your events: Not every event or situation can be used to market your brand. No matter how creatively you think, sometimes you can’t do it. Therefore, you should look for the right events. Find those events that everyone is talking about. Think of how you can spread a good message with this event. Sometimes, the right event can give your small business all the publicity it needs. 

• Work on ideas and themes: You can’t predict what will happen. There will be times when there’ll be events happening and you don’t have anything in your hands. For these events, you should always be prepared. Brainstorm ideas with your team. Discuss how other people do it, talk about current events and past events. You can also do some practice activities to know how your team thinks. Most importantly, talk about how your brand can be a part of world events. 

In Conclusion

Real time marketing is that marketing method that brands use at the time of current events. These campaigns aren’t planned months in advance. They are created at the moment when the event happens. It could be any event, musicians dropping their albums, a movie release, or a world cup. 

To do it successfully, marketers have to use some strategies. These strategies may require some extra hard work, but if they work, it’ll be worth it. You have to always be listening to people. You should know what they’re talking about. There are tools you can use to search about your industry-relevant events. 

Social media is a great tool for this type of marketing. Almost all brands use social media to stay connected and be on alert. Twitter has been everyone’s favourite platform for many years to carry out an RTM campaign. You can take a look at many successful examples of other brands that used Twitter for it. Oreo did it at the 2013 Super Bowl, and even NASA did it in 2014. 

Besides that, you must use your ambassador network for these campaigns. There may be times when your ambassadors can make a bigger impact on people than you. 

However, there are some events that won’t work for you. It may be because these can in no way be connected to your brand. But, somehow, if you find that connection, then use it. This will be possible when your employees are trained properly. 

You and your teammates should know the sentiments of people. All of you should think about the situation and understand it clearly. Once you do that, you can think of the right words you can use. There are times when an event is funny, so you can do your best and add more humour to it.