5 Ways to Engage With Customers in Real-Time Marketing

"The Internet has fundamentally changed the pace of business, compressing time and rewarding speed," wrote author David Meerman Scott in his recent ebook " How Marketing & PR at Speed Drives Measurable Success ." To help marketers take advantage of this fundamental change in business communication, David introduced some groundbreaking research from his new book, " Real-Time Marketing & PR ."

His ideas, presented in yesterday's live webinar , gave rise to a number of thought-provoking questions around the concept of real-time engagement:

1. Why do you think companies resist real-time marketing and PR?
   
   Many companies, David explained, are overwhelmed with all the talk about social media. They are constantly invited to focus on the tools—whether that is Facebook, Twitter or FourSquare. A better way to look at this evolution in communication, David suggested, is to simply view it as real-time engagement rather than social networking technology. While it is hard to convince your boss to invest in social media efforts, "reaching out to someone in real-time" is a concept that she/he will understand.
2. How can this research be translated to B2B?
   
   David emphasized the fact that his ideas are applicable to both B2C and B2B companies. As his research on the Fortune 100 includes many B2B companies, David concluded that some concepts remain consistent across different organizations and business environments—for instance, it is critical to develop a product in real time and monitor social media. Being the first to share thoughts on a recent event will gain you an instant competitive advantage.
3. How do you manage real-time communication on an international scale?
   
   Engaging in real-time communication globally, David noted, can be more challenging than marketing in North America only (due to different languages and time zones). Start by prioritizing a set of Google alerts for your brand and important keywords. Consider scheduling blog posts to publish at an optimal time for the country where your market is located. Think about avoiding time-sensitive offers (like webinars), but focusing on resources that can be accessed at one's own pace (such as ebooks).
4. How would HubSpot react to news?
   
   HubSpot aspires to be a transparent company that respects its audience and responds to requests in real time. For example, we use our social media monitoring tool to observe the conversations happening around our brand and industry. Within HubSpot, we also gain insights about what resources and topics our leads and prospects find valuable. Such data prepares us for communication and quick responses to various requests. Our individual team members also use Google alerts, personal social media profiles and RSS feed to stay up-to-date with recent industry news and events.
5. Should your legal team be involved in developing your company real-time mindset?
   
   Designing a company-wide mindset for real-time marketing and PR requires the involvement of your legal team. While you shouldn't be ignorant of legal implications, you also shouldn't become a slave to a system that thwarts innovation. As David suggested, your legal team needs to design a set of policies and guidelines for different communications. In this way, your organization will know exactly how to react in a specific situation without creating a fire drill and pulling in the legal team abruptly for a rushed decision.

Do you have more questions about David's research? Share them below to establish some best practices around real-time marketing and PR!

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