The expression “real time marketing” defines the ability of a brand/company to respond quickly to unforeseen and unplanned external stimuli and events, both in terms of aspects related to communication and the product/service itself.
Although, there seems to be no real precise definition attributable to Real Time Marketing (its diffusion is said to be linked to a famous post launched by Oreo, on the occasion of the 2013 Super Bowl), it is clear the goal that is pursued with this approach: to gain visibility and especially new customers by taking advantage of situations, external events, in an incisive, consistent and above all timely manner.
Regarding events that can be referred to for Real Time Marketing strategies, the following are identified in the literature:
- corporate events: i.e., organised directly by the company (e.g., product launch);
- recurring events: these are anticipated and recurring events in the calendar (e.g., Women’s Day);
- local events: events related to a particular area or geographical area (e.g., Republic Day);
- events based on predictive analytics: this type of event is defined on the basis of predictive analytics related to its audience data to detect trends or changes in the market;
- events arising from user interaction: these are events that arise from a particular user behaviour (e.g., review issued regarding a product/service);
- breaking news: i.e., news of national and international scope that dominates current events at a given time.
It is worth mentioning how the concept of real time marketing is also often related to strategies and activities for personalising the customer experience.
In fact, in many cases messages and content, in this context, are personalised based on user interactions during the navigation and purchase path. The goal in this case is to increase the level of user engagement and give valuable customer experiences in every touchpoint whether physical or digital.
