In 2020 Nathan Apodaca posted a video to TikTok, featuring himself drinking Ocean Sprays cranberry juice while longboarding to work and singing ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac. While the post was still circulating, Ocean Spray noticed how much publicity they’d received and gifted Nathan a pick-up truck filled with cranberry juice to keep the story going, while Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks posted parodies of their own.
Real-time marketing isn’t just capitalizing on viral fame though. It also includes messages that are targeted and created for an individual customer, triggered by an action they take. Here’s one example:. A bank wants to spare its customers the frustrating experience of being charged a fee for using a rival ATM. Using their app, the bank could send a notification to a customer as soon as it detects they’ve used a different ATM. By sending a list of other ATMs nearby, the bank provides a targeted message right in the moment, potentially saving the customer from future fees.
The Right Marketing Software
Both of these examples require a little creativity, and more importantly, the right tools. Ocean Spray was able to amplify and extend the reach of Nathan’s benign endorsement because they used social listening software to detect mentions of their brand names on social media, and they had a culture that allowed teams to collaborate and respond quickly. Fifth Third Bank, which sends notifications to customers to help avoid ATM fees, was able to implement its real-time marketing initiative with the power of artificial intelligence and automated processes.