Coming off the success of some brands at the Superbowl, several are now trying to capitalize on big cultural events by creating content in which they can interject themselves into the real-time zeitgeist. The advertising/marketing/PR world has dubbed this as “Real Time Marketing” or RTM for short (everything needs an acronym in order to sell it as a service). You can check out some of the examples from The Oscars on Twitter at #OscarsRTM.

One thing to note is that RTM execution is nothing new. Regardless of what the social ninjas tell you it’s been around since the advent of live blogging and live tweeting. There are several that want to state it is a new trend in order to charge more hourly rates to provide a service seen as innovative. Too many of us who are introverts but have been doing social for awhile need to speak up. In 2010 I performed the first content RTM campaign for Coca-Cola around the American Music Awards (in which they were a sponsor and we wanted a social integration to their TV ads) and in 2009 around Davos where The Economist live tweeted speeches of the participants with color commentary (a first). In terms of live RTM, many brands just weren’t involved that much in such executions until recently. Then again, social has always been about people connecting with people. Social platforms are created with a UX in mind to foster connection, the sharing of information, messaging and interaction with others. As a result, many people do not want to interface with brands that are simply pushing messaging on others with content they are trying to squash into the public’s cerebellum about the need to seem relevant (unless of course these people follow said brands and then, well, I guess maybe they want that?).

The acceleration of social TV and the second screen experience has kickstarted an RTM movement that brands want to utilize using the social sector to reach their audience in an era of declining advertising views. It’s also a way to cut back on their paid media in the long run (that’s the ultimate white elephant in the room no one wants to discuss). This makes sense. Brands simply want to engage where others are engaging. However, much of this RTM fascination has probably been sped up in the marketing services world by several on both brand and agency sides of the spectrum stating that they “want to be like Oreo.” Yet, performing RTM requires improvements in order to make one’s messaging resonate going forward. My feeling is the ad world is being disrupted and RTM is simply a knee-jerk reaction to remain relevant in a world where people want less, not more interaction with brands around their leisure activities of something as simple as watching television. 

What RTM does in its current state is simply execute a “push” model using Twitter (possibly Tumblr, rarely Facebook since the EdgeRank algorithm deems it impossible to implement) as the channel to deliver messaging into where everyone is congregating online at a given time. Makes sense if you look at it from the old traditional advertising model used for much of the last century. Go where the impressions are and bombard them with buzzwords. Or “spray and pray” is the moniker. Usually I like to stay away from debates or opinion regarding the advertising industry and social media as carried out by the agency world for fear many will see my observations as criticism. For those who are good in social my observations should be seen simply as guidance to improve your RTM program moving forward. There are two reasons I wanted to discuss RTM. One is I’ve taken my time and listened to what people have had to say (including consumers) about RTM. I’ve used analytics and sentiment to gain some advantage of what has been said and what people have liked and didn’t like. That’s the big key learning insight about social. Everyone is so quick to want to talk in the echo chamber they fail to do what good people should do using emerging social technology. Observe, listen and reshape. Secondly, from performing many early experiments with live RTM I have learned a lot over the years about what works in social from a behavioral level. It’s great when agencies and brands want to establish “newsrooms” or “publishing models” and “editorial calendars.” Trust me, these are all good things that note the evolution of communication in the 21st Century. Social media snake oil sales people like to tell you of hot new shiny objects so they can sell you an expensive product. I want marketer’s to simply get it right via evolution and taking into consideration my point of view.

In the interest of being transparent (and those that know me realize I speak my mind and like to be honest and honesty is just a good policy in life and the evolving business world), I’m writing this not in the bid to get your business. Nor am I writing this to cut on some of the examples committed during The Oscars. The 30+ brands that decided to do this I commend. There is nothing wrong with trying new things. My notation here is that I’m simply stating that RTM isn’t for every brand and the way it’s being presently executed is more “advertising in real time,” and not the essence of “social” in real time which involves connection, conversation, advocacy, measurement, fine tuning, evolution. I witnessed none of this with the “one way street” examples from The Oscars. My goal in the sharing economy is to help others build a stronger business as a result of my thought leadership. That’s the point of creative intelligence. The reciprocity factor. You get information many “experts” usually charge a lot for to help your business, you share it, some people question it, some people use it, some ask for additional information and then maybe through all of that some people decide to work with me. This is the essence of B2B social in which I am part of after spending years in B2C social. Maybe this is why I have a differing opinion on RTM than many of my consumer packaged goods counterparts.

In addition, from my parents having both been in academia there can be civil debate about subject matters. I realize some people may have not enjoyed the examples of RTM last night and commented (I was one of them) but guess what? There’s a learning lesson in all of that which can be used going forward. My hope is brands can learn from their trial and error and hopefully evolve RTM more into a conversation with the possibility of connection rather than simply creative expression and amplification. If they treat it as the later, they’re simply using Twitter as their TV/Radio/Print ad rather than using these platforms in a unique connective manner. 

Here are the top 5 ways brands can improve RTM going forward:

1. Think of your goal and how you want to become part of the conversation. Not be the the conversation. Too many of the RTM content examples try to amplify to the point where they are trying to cast a wide net rather than speaking to their audience. Think of your audience first. That’s why they follow you. Don’t think of the virality of the message and how big you are going to make it. Viral is a dirty word. It doesn’t exist. It’s been killed by social ninjas who have never conducted campaigns for large Fortune 500 brands but somehow their personal tweeting and content creation for their Tumblr has led them to run these big initiatives. Your audience follows you for a reason. Speak with them first. If they like what you have to say, they will speak back and you need to be prepared to keep that convo going with more content that may have nothing to do with the program on-air. Think second screen and think mobile. Remember, many people don’t even pay attention to the show. What are you doing to capture a conversation with them much like you are in the same room? Don’t think of the masses. That’s what paid big media is for. Keep it intimate and unique. One-to-one where you can.

2. Use analytical reasoning and insights to figure out if your audience or potential customer audience is going to care about what you produce around these events like the Super Bowl, the Grammys, the Oscars, the State of the Union, the World Cup, the Olympics or countless other live big events. People only want to hear a brands POV or creative if it’s personally relevant. This is social, not television. Stop treating it like that flat screen in your living room. Ask why people share, interact and talk with one another in the first place. If you’re there to sell and not listen you’re missing the point. Relationships are two way now. If you haven’t checked the barometer using data then you are probably not going to know what to talk about or what your potential customers want to talk about. Some brands just created content during the event. I barely saw anything on Monday when the event still resonates. Missed opportunity? Definitely.

3. Ask if your brand fits into that event. I get why Oreo was doing content marketing around these events. People eat snack food when they watch television. But a breakfast cereal? That’s the last thing on my mind. A marker? Come on! Like you use a marker when you’re on your smartphone/tablet? Think beyond simply content. What is the context? How do you want your brand to be perceived if the content is shared by your followers? And what events can your brand own that isn’t cluttered with other brands? This helps you move away from the crowd to take ownership on niche targeted events rather than mass scale events. Who will do live RTM around season finales? Who will do live RTM around live conventions? Why didn’t any brands live tweet during the Daytona 500? Social is a microscope not a loudspeaker. Apply that to RTM and you may see measurable results. Think “slow social” rather than speed for once.

4. Can you make it financially work beyond simply a once and done campaign model? So many brands want to do this and devote some budget when the long tail is they should devote 365/24/7 resources to the “always on” news model more than simply “let’s do some content during that event.” Social is moving full time. If you want to make RTM work, it must work daily, not simply around The Oscars and a few events here and there. This again is not a television campaign. Ask if the people you are working with have the right skillsets to make this a reality. Many will say they do, most have probably never live tweeted an event in their life or understand user behavior or attention deficit disorder during television viewing events. Find the right partnership where you’re not bogged down in legal review around every tweet, piece of copy or piece of content. Be open with knowing your content will be shared, maybe made fun of, maybe derogated.

5. Come up with more than gif or jpgs that remind me of bands trying to get people to a show ala low tech flyers. Don’t sound desperate. Don’t try to ram a square peg into a round hole. Where are the brands that have a Spreecast or Google Hangout chat set up with interesting personalities to talk during the television commercials for colorful commentary and participation? (just give me credit here if you do this for your next RTM campaign, ah who am I kidding, you’re all vultures;)) Remember, social is now a participatory model. Always has been but is even more so due to things like the “Harlem Shake” meme. How do you make your RTM move beyond simply “liking” or “retweeting?” What exists for others to remix? What questions are you allowing people to ask and answer? What is making your audience care beyond the fact you are simply asking them to be a conduit for your tired ad disguised as a piece of content in a tweet? Be creative. That’s the beauty of social and the second screen experience. A bunch of agency folks sitting with brand folks eating pizza and making jpgs because they heard about “newsjacking” does not make a social RTM experience. What will you create that resonates long after the event is complete? Remember that social has amazing power in that respect. The majority of brands were simply thinking in the here and now, a one night stand, not a marriage and certainly not the long tail. That is so 20th Century to think one night of impact. Think 21st Century and keep experimenting. Innovation isn’t simply stating you performed RTM based on how others have done it in the past. Innovation is doing things only you have imagined and making them become real. Was your campaign a failure? What’s failure anymore in an everything is beta society? Keep learning and evolving. If you want to treat the channel like an ad, that’s fine. Just don’t complain when people like me tell you to knock it off or tell others to simply stop following you. That’s the beauty in a world where open communication is for all not just the few who can afford to purchase it.