Real-Time Marketing Through Social Media with Chris Kerns

November 20, 2014

Are you leveraging social data and analytics to gain an edge and connect with your audiences? Are you familiar with real-time marketing?

If you answered no to either one of those questions, you’ll definitely want to check out this weeks podcast.

This week on the Social Media Social Hour podcast, I’m talking real-time marketing, social data and analytics with Chris Kerns, director of analytics and research at Spreadfast and author of Trendology: Building an Advantage Through Data-Driven Real-Time Marketing. During this episode we discuss what real-time marketing is, what it can do, and how you can do it too.

About the show:

The Social Media Social Hour is a podcast for marketers and entrepreneurs looking to get on the social media fast track. The podcast is an interview format, where each week I get up close and personal with top brands and influencers to talk social media, tech and online marketing. Each week I also share tools that I personally use to help me with social media management, sales, marketing, accounts management, and productivity. The Social Media Social Hour is presented by Scoreboard Social.

In this episode, here is what you’ll discover:

About Chris Kerns:

  • His story:
    • Began in the agency world in Seattle
    • Moved to Austin, Texas and ran analytics for Bazaarvoice
    • Moved to Spredfast purely on the social side
  • Career:
    • Director of analytics and research at Spredfast
      • His data analysis has been featured in New York Times, Fortune, Mashable, USA Today, etc.
    • Author of Trendology:Building an Advantage Through Data-Driven Real-Time Marketing
      • Became fascinated with real-time marketing about a year ago around the Superbowl
      • Saw real-time marketing was outpacing the rest of social for brands
      • Researched over 100 brands that were participating in real-time marketing to observe the data behind it

About Real-Time Marketing:

  • Real-Time Marketing: when marketers jump on a trend and instead of trying to hijack the conversation, they join it.
    • For example, 10 brands joined in on wishing Beyonce a happy birthday and 9 of the 10 brands experienced an average of 800% more retweets and favorites than usually seen for these brands.
    • When there’s a trend, the social network’s attention is drawn to it because it is highly visible and highly talked about.
  • Can happen on any social network but Chris focuses on Twitter for his analysis
    • Seen on SnapChat, FaceBook, Tumblr, even on Pinterest
  • Can use real-time marketing to identify trends that resonate with their audience
  • Tips for brands to participate in real-time marketing:
    • Real-time marketing can happen every day as long as you know what’s top of mind for your audience.
    • Set up a good framework for identifying trends.
    • Get your plan in place.
      • There is real-time marketing that can be planned in advance – like quirky holidays.
    • Experiment with it.
    • Make sure the content is being planned around your brand, your voice, and the tone of your brand.
      • Don’t try to be someone else when doing real-time marketing – definitely be yourself.
  • Things to avoid:
    • Don’t just jump on any trend that comes along – do the research.
      • Who started it, where’s it coming from, etc.
    • You can’t just include a trending hashtag in a tweet or post and expect your engagement to go up – you have to have something interesting to say to add to the conversation.
  • What real-time marketing can do:
    • It can get your audience interested in your content.
    • It can get your audience to understand your brand and your voice.
    • It can get your audience to look forward to you being in their social channel.
    • It will give you a bigger “megaphone” when you’re ready to share an offer by increasing your audience with people who understand your brand and are hopefully more receptive.
  • Predictions for the future:
    • We’re nowhere close to a saturation point.
      • There will be more and more adoption.
    • Trends and marketing around relevant content isn’t limited to social.
      • Will branch out to other platforms and chip away at more traditional plan campaigns.

Mentionable Quotes:

  • “The audience really really likes it when brands jump on these trends.”
  • “When we’re speaking the language of our audience, especially on a social network where conversations are key to engaging and people are used to having conversations on these mediums, the audience responds in huge ways.”
  • “[Real time marketing]…is jumping on something that is top of mind.”

Items/people mentioned in the show:

Chris’ Social Media Six Pack:

  1. When playing checkers or chess do you prefer black or white? Black.
  2. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? No – and I will never.
  3. How often do you read your horoscope? Never.
  4. Have you ever milked a cow? Yes, when I was 6.
  5. What’s your favorite superhero? Iron Man.
  6. What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? I bought a sweater yesterday.

Enjoy the podcast? Give us a rating or a review on iTunes!

itunes