Concept and share a strategic, hypothetical RTM response to a real event

Introduction

Understand the "newsfeed mentality"
The "newsfeed mentality" has forever changed the way customers get and consume information. Americans now engage with 7 different information sources every day through multiple channels.

Take a few minutes to think about how this relates to ways you personally read and consume content—including news, media, entertainment, thinkpieces, brand alerts, and more.

What are your favorite 3-5 ways to get information? How fast does it come in? What sticks with you? What stands out from the noise?

Isn't it more engaging and memorable when you're interacting live, in real time?

Exactly!
Pick your brand
To get the most out of this class, learn by doing!

Your class project is to design a hypothetical, real-time marketing response from a popular brand, using all of the factors we'll discuss.

For now, don't worry about topic or event—just pick your brand.
- If you're in advertising or marketing, you might choose a real or fictional client.
- If you're a small business owner, you might choose your own business.
- If you're a student, you might choose one of the leading brands in your dream industry.

Basics

Understand the 7 RTM types
Consider each type of RTM individually. Are you clear on each definition?

If you work in marketing or advertising, which have you tried? If you could implement just 2 more types, which would they be, and why?
1. Social customer relationship management
2. Dynamic creative optimization
3. Real-time content marketing
4. Real-time ad campaign rebalancing
5. Aligning marketing with trending topics
6. Real-time buying
7. Strategic business decisions
Use your thinking to start conversations and share advice in the Skillshare Community forum.
Choose your types
Remember that brand you chose? Start thinking about which types of RTM make the most strategic sense!

Even if you're not yet sure of exact tactics (we're getting there!), be strategic: Consider your brand's audience, mission, graphic identity, purpose, and value.

How can you best reach the brand's community? Where do its fans spend time online? What do its fans care about?

Real-Time Marketing

Uncover superstar secrets
Dig deeper, and think fast! Research the case studies and brands in these lessons, find some stand-out cases on your own, and share your favorite insights, reactions, or responses in the Skillshare Community forums.

A few articles to get you started:
- Wired: How Oreo Won the Marketing Super Bowl With a Timely Blackout Ad on Twitter
- Mashable: 9 Brands That Thought Fast on Social Media During the Super Bowl
- Digiday: Soil Your Pants? Citi Bike’s Got You Covered
- CBS News: NASA Tweets Real "Gravity" Photos as Film Wins Oscar
- AdWeek: Arby's Slayed the Grammys With This Tweet About Pharrell Williams' Hat
You might also choose to spend a few minutes learning more about GE's Vine channel, Intel's Olympic tweets, Tiger Woods's video game, any of the brand feuds, Ramon DeLeon, or the campaign for Honey Maid that was all about love.
Plan for urgency
Brainstorm 10-15 ways your brand could foster urgency amongst fans. This could be writing a new tagline, trends to anticipate on social networks, adding social sharing buttons, or creating a more visible customer support team.

Be specific, and be creative! Write a description, create a chart, or paste images to convey your ideas.

Keep a running document of your thoughts, share ideas in the discussion forums, and consider including your favorite strategy in your final project notes.

If you're getting stuck, go back to the case studies of great brands and think about all the ways they mobilize their communities.
Plan for preparedness
Brainstorm 10-15 ways your brand would operationalize preparedness for RTM. This could be setting up new teams, expanding certain job responsibilities, automating alert channels, or tracking new data.

Once again, be specific, be creative, and convey your ideas in a way that sparks conversation!

Keep a running document of your thoughts, share ideas in the discussion forums, and consider including your favorite strategy in your final project notes.
Pick your event
Now that you have brand-aligned topics and infrastructure, select the event for your class project.

Think about all 12 months. What matters to your brand's community and fans? An industry awards ceremony? A nationally televised event? A fictional news event? A season? A holiday?

Challenge yourself to brainstorm 10-15 events, then pick the top 2-3. At the conclusion of the class, you'll create a fictional brand response for at least one of these events.

Conclusion

Practice, practice, practice
Real-time marketing is like muscle memory.

If you exercise right, you'll sharpen your ability to respond with wit, emotion, and resonance at the perfect moment.

Remember the key questions:
- Is it in our DNA? Are we focused on the conversations that matter to us?
- Do we have the right infrastructure in place?
- Is our culture "brave" enough to try new things, and do we have the authority to move fast?
- Do we know our audience, and do they want this content?
- Are we ready to fail?
- Do we do RTM for the right reasons?
- Do we have the right metrics?
Utilize the Dos and Don'ts
Use the Dos and Don'ts to not just create marketing campaigns, but also build tribes and inspire movements.

Want reminders? Post these slides above your desk, screengrab them to your phone, and always keep them at the forefront of your mind.
Create and share your project
Your class project is to design a hypothetical, real-time marketing response from a popular brand. Let's go!

You already have your brand and your event. Now it's time to craft your scenario, invent your response, and share your ideas in the Projects forum.

When you post your project, be sure to cover the following:
- You: Introduce yourself and your background
- Brand: Explain in 1-3 sentences the brand and why you chose it
- Event: Explain in 1-3 sentences the event and why you chose it
- RTM Tactic: Show or describe your fictional RTM response to at least 1 real event
- Strategic Rationale: Explain in 1-3 sentences why this would be a smart RTM move
- Optional Notes: If you'd like, include your favorite ideas for fostering urgency and ensuring preparedness, and pose questions to fellow students
Be specific, and be creative! Maybe you use words. Maybe you design a tweet mock-up. Maybe you write a conversation between a fan and the brand, or even a brand-to-brand feud!

I can't wait to see what you create. Share your work, engage with others, and, above all, keep practicing. Build that muscle memory.

Additional Resources

Use the slides attached below as a reference throughout the course.
Related Discussion: Class Introductions. Welcome to class! It would be great to get to know everyone. Say hello in the Class Introductions discussion here.
Related Discussion: What's your biggest marketing challenge right now? Share what you want to learn to grow your business here, and we can learn how to address these challenges together.

Angela Solis

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