So, Mangold and Flauds (2009) suggest that the tools and strategies used for communicating with customers has significantly changed with the emergence of social media and go on to propose that social media should be considered a part of a firm’s promotional mix. Now, six years on, Mangold and Flauds couldn’t be more right. The shift towards social media marketing is growing stronger every day and it is now crucial for marketers to become more responsive to real-time activities and increase engagement with their customers.

How firms successfully do this is the golden question!

Audie Chamberlain (2013), an award winning social media executive, gives her view on real-time marketing after attending a social media committee that left her convinced that more ‘in the moment’ marketing is the next big step for social marketers and if done correctly, can lead directly to great results. Chamberlain (2013) highlights the importance for firms to piggyback on current affairs and leading stories, explaining that by doing so, they are creating a buzz around their brand, thus increasing awareness and following, all through the use of social media.

Well, let’s take one of the most recent headlines; ‘Zayne Malik leaves One Direction’ – love them or hate them, you will be wise to remember that there is no such thing as bad publicity. So, the latest One Direction news is dominating search trends across all social media channels, mainly through Facebook ‘likes and shares’ and Twitter ‘retweets, mentions and favourites’. Take a look at just how many times one tweet from BBC regarding Zayne Malik’s departure got ‘retweeted’ / ‘favorited’;

(Source adapted from BBC Twitter account, 2015)

This shows how just one tweet reached so many people, and according to Chamberlain (2013) if a brand can tie this story to their marketing campaign, they too will become a result of this dominating search trend.

Lidl, a UK leading discount supermarket did just that with their Easter campaign, offering 1/5 off the price of their One Direction Easter egg, due to the band now only having four members as opposed to five;

(Source adapted from Author’s Twitter account, 2015)

Take note! Look how many more ‘retweets’ and ‘favourites’ this simple yet effective tweet got. Now we can see exactly what Chamberlain (2013) is talking about and relating back to Mangold and Flauds (2009) theory that social media should be a part of a firm’s promotional mix, this type of consumer engagement highlights the uniqueness in the magnitude of communication. Compared to the traditional word-of-mouth, this social media platform gives consumers the ability to tell an unlimited amount of people, allowing consumers to engage with one another in ‘real-time’, this is known as SOCIAL NETWORKING!

Think about how much it costs to run a TV advertisement for Lidl to promote their One Direction Easter Egg and then think of how much it costs to send one little tweet… Hold that thought! Let’s look at this on a bigger scope, and then think about cost!

Cast back to the 2013 Super Bowl XLVII, yes the ‘blackout’ one. For those of you who don’t know (shocking!) there was a blackout during the third quarter of the Super Bowl XLVII for a whole 34 minutes, in which time the Oreo team seized on the opportunity by tweeting; ‘Lights out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark’;

(Source adapted from Huffington Post, 2013)

The Huffington Post (2013) records that this one clever, witty tweet got over 10,000 retweets in just one hour and was more of a ‘payoff’ than the Oreo’s actual Super Bowl Ad (which cost millions by the way) this exemplifying the value of acting in ‘real-time’ and proving the power of mastering social media. It was not only social marketers that picked up on this master of the art tweet; Oreo cookie fans from all over the world were giving great recognition to Oreo for their fast thinking;

(Source adapted from Oreo’s Twitter account, 2013)

Now we have grasped the power of social media, we need to acknowledge the costs; how much does it really cost to send one little tweet? Angela Watercutter (2013) makes an interesting point in her article (read more here), suggesting that on average advertisers in the US will spend almost $4 million to run an ad during the Super Bowl, and although it is obvious that the cost of a tweet is a lot less, it is not free either! Behind this timely Oreo tweet was a team of 15 people with the ability to react in 10 minutes or less including; copywriters, a strategist, and artists, and a lot of pre-planning for the victory tweet and any other key events should they arise.

Whilst Chamberlain (2013) agrees with Watercutter (2013) that in order to be successful, your team needs to be confident with the brands voice and identity, let’s not be fooled! Seizing the ‘real-time’ opportunity in social media marketing may seem to be more cost efficient way to engage with consumers  and rapidly build brand awareness but, it is also easy for a firm to instantly cause great damage to their brand with just one single tweet.

In answer to the question; how much does reacting in real-time really cost? Well if done correctly it can be worth gold for a brand, but not all current affairs should be piggybacked on just because they are dominating search trends. Firms need to know their limit and respect that some headlines should be left alone else it could cost them their reputation!

On that note I leave you with a tweet from a very well-known clothing brand that used hurricane Sandy to promote their free shipping;

(Source adapted from Holmes, 2014)

Chamberlain, A. (2013) ‘How Not To Suck At Real-Time Social Marketing’. [Online] < http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/how-not-to-suck-at-real-time-social-marketing/ >[accessed 1 April 2015]

Holmes, K. (2014) ‘23 Of The Most Epic Twitter Fails From Big Brands In The History Of Social Media’. [Online] < http://www.smash.com/11-epic-twitter-fails-big-brands/ > [accessed 4 April 2015]

Huffington Post (2013) ‘Oreo’s Super Bowl Tweet: ‘You Can Still Dunk In The Dark’. [Online] < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/oreos-super-bowl-tweet-dunk-dark_n_2615333.html? > [accessed 2 April 2015]

Mangold, G & Flauds,  D. (2009) ‘Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix’. Business Horizons, [Online] Vol 52 (Issue 4), p357-365 < http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681309000329?np=y >[accessed 31 March 2015]

Watercutter, A. (2013) ‘How Oreo Won The Marketing Super Bowl With A Timely Blackout As On Twitter’. [Online] < http://www.wired.com/2013/02/oreo-twitter-super-bowl/ >[accessed 1 April 2015]