Commentary

Just Because It's On Twitter Doesn't Mean It's Real-Time Marketing

Yesterday's RTBlog talked about how news and updates on the birth of the royal baby were unavoidable thanks to social media. But real-time updates on the subject weren't the only thing provided by social media yesterday. Twitter was home to numerous companies giving a shot at "real-time marketing." Marketingland.com put together a list of tweets from brands looking to capitalize on the birth if you want to see some examples.

One problem: It's not real-time marketing.

These companies had months and months and months to prep for the moment. That's a traditional marketing method executed on a platform, Twitter, that carries the "real-time marketing" phrase with it regardless of circumstances, all thanks to the Oreo Super Bowl tweet (which in my opinion was real-time marketing because they reacted in a timely manner to an unanticipated national event).

It was a smart thing for these brands and companies to send out royal baby-related tweets. For example, as I'm writing this, Oreo's tweet has 841 retweets, and StarbucksUK's has 1,240. They are getting exposure (heck, I'm writing about it). So my issue isn't with these brands being smart. But...are Christmas-themed tweets on December 25 real-time marketing? No. So why should this be any different?

Am I being too picky, or do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

1 comment about "Just Because It's On Twitter Doesn't Mean It's Real-Time Marketing".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Lisa Glover from Conversation, July 24, 2013 at 9:56 a.m.

    Hi Tyler, I definitely agree with your post and it comes at a very interesting time. RTM has evolved into two different categories: ones that can be planned for, and ones that come off the cuff as a result of a national event. Personally, I believe there's a term for the first, and it's just called strategic marketing, but the industry loops it into the category of RTM.

    Real time marketing has become a buzz-word for marketers. My colleague and VP of Brand Development, Bill McKeveny, was on a panel at a recent Brand Marketer's Summit, discussing what the future of RTM looks like. (Please see link with a Q & A for more info: http://www.convoagency.com/a-closer-look-at-real-time/)

    Thanks for sharing your post!

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

Tyler Loechner is a MediaPost Reporter covering real-time, programmatic, RTB and more. You can reach Tyler at tyler@mediapost.com.