For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you know I’m not a huge fan of most real-time marketing. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in real-time marketing done right, but all too often it’s forced, planned, stretched, gimmicky and phony (you get the point).
But, I have a confession to make…
While watching brands on Twitter during the Super Bowl, I couldn’t help but to think maybe I was wrong in my convictions about it.
Here was JCPenney getting more than 20,000 retweets all because they were “tweeting with mittens”, and DiGiorno earning 17,000 retweets for tweeting in all caps and talking smack. Those numbers are impressive (when you aren’t taking into account sentiment, at least).
As social media mangers, it’s easy to get caught up in working for those big moments. Huge engagement numbers are great to report back to leadership, and additionally, those moments are not easy to achieve. Hats off to all the brands that have created those moments because it certainly takes planning, creativity and perfect timing.
But thankfully, I quickly reminded myself that I’m not wrong in my beliefs about real-time marketing. What is wrong with these real-time marketing moments is what is fundamentally wrong with a lot of social media:
It’s doing very little to move the needle in regards to company goals.
Think about this. Last year Oreo’s dunking in the dark earned: Cannes Lions Awards – Direct (Digital Marketing) – Silver Lion, Cannes Lions Awards – Cyber (Viral) – Bronze Lion, CLIO Awards – Social Media – Bronze, CLIO Awards – Innovative Media – Bronze, IAB MIXX Award (Silver)- Viral Marketing, OMMA Awards – Best in Show & Best Viral Campaign, Adweek Project Isaac Awards – Social Media Invention, Golden Award of Montreux – Viral Marketing – Gold Medal, Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards – Viral Marketing – Finalist and Digiday Awards – Best Creative – Winner.
Whew. With accolades like that you would think it increased sales tenfold. And there, for me, lies the problem.
The phoniness and brand irrelevance of a lot of real-time marketing irks me; what irks me even more is how much these moves are celebrated, especially by those in the social media industry.
In order for social media to grow up, we need to start celebrating the moments that matter. “Big” real-time moments are hard to create, but they are not nearly as hard as being strategic and proving value, while also being compelling and creative year-round.
So this is my challenge to everyone in social media… let’s start celebrating the things that add value. Let’s celebrate the campaign that generated sales. Let’s celebrate the customer service initiative that helped brand health. Let’s celebrate the company that generated smart and compelling content 365 days a year. Let’s celebrate the campaign that educated consumers. Let’s celebrate what matters.
Real-time marketing does provide big moments, but those moments are fleeting. The fleeting moments are necessary tactics, but they don’t provide long-term value. At the end of the day the social media race is not won by the swift, but by the consistent, persistent and strategic ones. Let’s celebrate them.
And so it starts with us, each of us. Great article, Jessica. So the hope is to take it forward with new intent – and get posting the celebratory acknowledgements that have spurred progress and successes! Yes?!