When there is a popular trend or a large-scale event happening around the world, and a brand joins the conversation and pushes it forward, that is known as real-time marketing. But does real-time marketing on social media really work? Yes, it works better on social media because you can get your message across much more quickly than on any other medium.
But before you decide to jump in on every possible famous trend or event on social media with hopes of mass engagement, behold, that is not how it works. As much as marketers love to add a trending hashtag, over-do it and drag it along to every possible brand, publishers love to make fun of such marketers for doing so.
Having an active follower base
To get real-time social media right, the most vital thing is to have an active follower base that engages with your brand on social media on a regular basis. Without an engaging follower base, your real-time marketing efforts will be in vain because nobody will know about them.
Don’t worry about being first
Not all of your time, effort and resources are required to focus on preparing a battle against others on social media for the first response to a trending topic. The first tweet on Twitter or the first post on Facebook might not be the winner, but smaller brands are encouraged to join the party. As long as you hold on to your real-time conversation with your audience, real-time marketing will work in your favor. But remember to jump in on trending topics all year round to learn and test what works best with your specific audience.
Remember, that real time marketing isn’t some magic pill. The trick is to talk about the trend or the event, and not yourself to add utility, value and insight. Naturally join the conversation, sit back and enjoy the result.
Be cautious
Real time marketing does work for some, but the success is not a guarantee if a real time marketer is not cautious enough. Brands don’t tend to always get social media marketing right. The reason being that real time marketing gives you less time to decide what to put up on social media and this leads to rushing and sometimes slip ups.