Today we expect everything ‘now’. We have TV and video on demand, news as it happens, shopping delivered to the door and instant updates on friends’ activities. We are media hungry and impatient. If a brand does not live in the moment with us, it can appear old-fashioned and slow.
In a world of constant frenzied marketing activity and the need to create content that shares in our customer’s experiences, the pressure is on!
BUT DOES RTM NEED TO BE REACTIVE AND NAIL-BITING?
It’s very rare to get a reactive real-time opportunity for your brand. It needs to fulfil some very important criteria to appear relevant to the marketing message and not just look like an unrelated opportunity to make some noise.
- Reactive marketing is a very small percentage of the real-time marketing we see.
- Real-time marketing is about 90% planned to some extent or another.
Take Valentine’s Day. It happens on the same day every year, but we only really think about it for a couple of days (maybe a bit longer if you’re really trying to impress!). The reach in February alone is 7.4 million and that reach is generally achieved by the 14th of the month.
So ... can this type of event be clustered into real-time marketing?
Yes, I think it can. As you are adding your brand voice to an occasion that has a small marketing window with a short conversational relevancy, I believe so, with many similar occasions like it. Yet how many times have I seen events like this missed or content created in a panic due to lack of planning around the moment?
HOW DO YOU PROACTIVELY COMBAT PANIC MARKETING?
The first thing you need to identify is what type of event or opportunity is relevant to your brand and its customers.
TARGET MARKET
Research what type of media your customers are immersing themselves in every day. Think about the other interests they have that can be related to your brand. For instance, beer with sports events, wellies with Glastonbury. Don’t try to wedge yourself into a conversation that is in no way relevant to your brand. Don’t be the dad that joins the kids on the dance floor. #awkward
THE RIGHT TONE OF VOICE
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. You need to speak to your audience as if they are your peers. Say something that they understand in a way they understand it. That carries their conversation on while inviting others of a similar opinion to add their view. Nobody wants to be preached to, talked down to, or be a part of a conversation they don’t understand or care about.
STAY TRUE TO YOUR BRAND STRATEGY
If you add your voice to every event that has a dubious link to your brand strategy, then your message becomes unclear and eventually lost. Choose wisely.
An old but good example of a brand connecting their strategy to a reactive real-time event comes from Mars. When Jeremy Clarkson had a tussle with one of his crew members because he couldn’t get a steak late at night, Mars sent him a box of Snickers bars with their strapline ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’. Genius.
CREATE AN EVENTS CALENDAR FOR PLANNED RTM
When you have a clear picture of your strategy, create a calendar of occasion events that have relevance to your brand. This can be anything from special days to funny days, like ‘Be late for work day’ or even solar activities and celebrity birthdays. Keep an eye on event dates around the world as they may be market specific or vary, so posting them on your social media pages may cause confusion for your global customers.
Now you have a plan and a checklist to make sure your RTM content hits the mark and is relevant!
Planning real-time opportunities will make sure you keep a constant and relevant conversation going with your customers and most importantly, be front of mind when they make their purchasing decision.
