Is real-time data marketing worth interest & how to do it right?

There are many faces of marketing among which, gaining more and more popularity, there is real-time marketing (RTM). It derives from the huge and rapid development of technology and social media. Recently RTDM has been one of the most efficient ways of winning the race to the preferred customer behaviour and gain their loyalty.

Real-time marketing can be understood in two ways, though. Firstly, as an immediate and adequate, usually digital, marketing response to cultural events taking place in real life. If well-performed, this type of RTM may increase brand or product awareness among its audience. But it is actually RTM applied in accordance with the second approach that brings measurable benefits. Since real-time marketing refers also to automated responses to customer behaviour (for example when the customer is visiting a particular website, uses an application, searches for a specific product or passes by a point of sale), it finally results in a personalized and contextually relevant offer that earns the customer attention, purchase and loyalty. It is called real-time data marketing, then (RTDM).

The art of taking advantage of current events (RTM approach)

In case of the first approach, real-time marketing depends on a quick and adequate marketing response to events occurring in real-time. Particular attention should be paid to three specific aspects: a selection of the appropriate event that currently takes place, an idea for ​​the type of marketing activities related to it and the speed of their execution. The effectiveness of this type of real-time marketing depends on swift capturing of an event (so-called newsjacking) and then placing the brand message in its context. The content of such communication should reach its recipients’ needs and be consistent with their moods and behaviour at the current moment – in real-time – in order to be well perceived and raise considerable increase in customer experience.

Do it well to be remembered

A great example of using this type of real-time marketing was of Snickers’ marketing activities during the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. One of the Uruguayan players, Luis Suarez, bit an Italian player. Snickers responded to this unusual situation very quickly by publishing a marketing campaign with a visual depicting the bitten Snickers, the tagline saying, ‘More satisfying than Italian’ and ‘luissuarez’ hashtag. The reaction made it big on Twitter since it referred to the very current situation and emotions of its recipients.

Hey @luis16suarez. Next time you're hungry just grab a Snickers. #worldcup #luissuarez #EatASNICKERS pic.twitter.com/3RAO537HjW
— SNICKERS (@SNICKERS) June 24, 2014

Similarly, the masterful use of real-time marketing was presented by Oreo during the 2013 Super Bowl final. During the final match of the American football league, watched by millions and widely commented on social media, mainly on Twitter, absolute darkness fell unexpectedly due to a power supply failure at the stadium. The failure lasted for half an hour, during which the Oreo brand published on Twitter a picture of its cookie with a tagline saying, ‘You can still dunk in the dark’. The marketing campaign had an amazing echo – almost 16 thousand retweets and 6.5 thousand ‘favourites’ on Twitter and even more likes on Facebook. One could truly state that Oreo won this Super Bowl.

Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013

Benefits from being quick & witty

An effective marketing strategy in real-time translates into increased interest in the brand and its offer. It builds the reach to customers — often at a global level — and acquires new ones. Real-time marketing strengthens the brand’s image, at the same time reducing the distance between the recipient and the brand. Recipients start to connect an event with a specific brand and, after some time, these two elements become inseparable. And this is a great way to promote own business and increase its popularity at a relatively low cost.

Anticipating customer’s needs (RTDM approach)

The second approach – real-time data marketing – presumes a certain level of automation in organisation (use of marketing automation software enables efficient management and execution of advertising activities such as: sending emails, SMS messages, using social media, online advertisements, etc.; drives conversions; increases a number of leads and in the end generates more profits), allowing a response to constantly changing customer behaviour. Consumers are impatient and wish to find and buy what they are looking for as quickly as possible. According to Forrester Research, as many as 89% of customers will stop using the company’s services as soon as they experience frustration related to the difficulty of finding the desired information or product for the first time. The statistics speak for themselves and act as a mobilizer for marketers who are forced to implement a more dialogic approach, tuning to customer experience and matching their websites, shops or products to customer needs. It is therefore clear that, for gaining the best effects, it is crucial to control all campaign aspects during the whole customer lifecycle in omnichannel but at the same time – in real-time.

Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.
Jonah Sachs

Real-time data marketing assumes:

immediate use of historical data regarding customers (what they have bought, what sites they have visited, what products they have searched for)

considering their immediate context (behaviour, needs, location, intention) and

offering products or services that best suit customer needs within seconds

Real-time data marketing in practice

One example of using real-time data marketing is that of dynamic banners, the display of which, within a viewed website, depends on customer behaviour and their history of online activities. Thus, it’s resulting from previous clicks. A similar marketing action can be applied to mobile applications. Knowing what other applications the users have installed, which modules they use most often and monitoring their behaviour on a regular basis, the presented content can be customized and personalized to the particular user of the application.

Whether B2B or B2C, I believe passionately that good marketing essentials are the same. We all are emotional beings looking for relevance, context and connection.
Beth Comstock

The data from the geolocation and beacons allows obtaining information about the current location of a customer, which facilitates matching the message to the situation in which the customer is. Thanks to it, advertisers have a chance to meet customer needs and reach them with a relevant offer exactly when they pass by.

Another form of real-time data marketing is push notifications, which – if referring to the context (personalized and real-time) – may increase the user’s involvement and encourage him to make a purchase.

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There is a place for real-time data marketing also in the B2B sector. Alerts for the sales department turn out to be exceptionally practical. When, after a long time, a lead who has lost interest enters your website and for example reviews the price list, it may be a good time to try contacting him or her with a new offer.

Why do real-time data marketing this way

It is hard to underestimate the advantage of real-time data marketing, which is an opportunity to reach the customers at the most critical moments of any phase of their customer experience. A prospect captured at the most appropriate time, when he is actually interested in the product, service or when he is nearby, becomes a better-quality lead. What’s more, the personalized offers that the customers get, when referring to the context in which they are located, encourage them to take action immediately. And we all know that a great deal of buying decisions is made spontaneously, on the spot. Then, why not to help trigger these decisions?

Today it’s important to be present, be relevant and add value.
Nick Besbeas

Thanks to a combination of technology, data and trends, real-time data marketing allow marketers the best possible visibility of their target group. Tracking customer behaviour and responding to it in real-time is the best way to build personalized knowledge about the customer and improve the customer profile. Effective marketing activities to a large extent depend on creating the most accurate customer profile and providing the most unique and personalized customer experience, which supports brand awareness, creates cross- and upsell opportunities and increases the chances of client’s returning.

Also, the ability to track marketing campaigns in real-time gives new opportunities. It allows finding out what works and what does not, in the chosen marketing strategy, and then quickly optimizing the actions that have been taken.

Mastering RTDM with TASIL

The ideal combination of Big Data analytics and RTDM that TASIL is based on, makes it smart enough to know exactly who is interested in what kind of a product or service and when it would be the best possible moment to reach this person with a relevant offer.

Instead of using technology to automate processes, think about using technology to enhance human interaction.
Tony Zambito

Hence, an insight deriving from Big Data analysis and a chance to contact the customer in real-time allows a marketer to prepare a highly personalized offer and send it to the customer at the most appropriate moment. For example, if you are a store owner, imagine you can automatically text a person who’s just passing by, inviting him or her to come in and taste your aromatic coffee. Just think how surprised he will be and how his customer experience will increase.

The message that the customers get, put in the context of where they currently are, encourages them to take action on the spot – visit a point of sale, buy, experience or do whatever they were invited to, without a feeling of being spammed. And this feeling of adequacy and needs being met exactly when they should is priceless for improving customer experience.

Donut miss TASIL’s RTDM campaign!

TASIL’s first marketing campaign, called ‘Donut miss it!’, was aimed at smooth, pragmatic introducing the platform into the market, by presenting its practical functioning to entrepreneurs and marketing experts. As the best way to show how TASIL works is letting it do its job, the campaign was designed based on TASIL’s main features, i.e. sending text messages in real-time and using geolocation to target recipients.

We are too focused on last year’s results. We need to be real time.
Lars Silberbauer

The campaign assumed that each selected person would receive a morning SMS with a teaser, encouraging him or her to think whether there is something he or she could do to improve the results of marketing campaigns addressed to his or her clients along with the customer satisfaction.

The first SMS was sent by a mysterious and catchy ‘Opportunity’ sender, while the next, clearly follow-up messages, were already signed by TASIL, suggesting that the TASIL sender, whoever it might be, was to provide recipients with some attractive opportunity. The second message reached the same selected group of people who got the first message, but this time, as planned, exactly the moment they arrived at their offices. It was a message welcoming at work and informing its recipients about the soon delivery of a gift. Then, after a while, each recipient got a box full of delicious donuts and a gadget – a lenticular printed leaflet fan, resembling TASIL’s logotype, disclosing some more details regarding the TASIL platform.

Later, the same recipients got a text message expressing hope that the gift made them feel better. It included also a notification of a phone call that the TASIL’s team intended to make. The call’s objective was setting up a meeting to explain what TASIL can do for the recipients to boost customer behaviour’s level.

During the campaign, selected entrepreneurs had the opportunity to check TASIL’s functioning in the course of action and get inspired by a great potential it has.

The marketing campaign was announced in social media and attracted interest as well as gained a positive response.

وصلتني هدية من @TASIL_Oman ، سبقها SMS يحتوي على معرفتهم بوجودي بالمكتب وإخطار بوصول الهدية، حملة إعلانية جميلة تدل على قوة ال BIG Data لرسم ابتسامة على وجه الزبون. شكرا @Omantel pic.twitter.com/DUpHExL6PV
— M. Alrawas معاوية الرواس 𐩣𐩲𐩱𐩥𐩺𐩠|𐩱𐩡𐩧𐩥𐩱𐩪 (@m_alrawas) March 7, 2018

The campaign’s recipients could learn that with TASIL each company within Oman borders have a great chance to improve its communication with customers and increase customer satisfaction. And that is actually how we understand and apply real-time data marketing.