In recent years, digital marketers have coined new terms such as “Moment marketing” and “Right-time marketing” that have transformed our perceptions of how and when we market to our consumers.

According to eMarketer, Moment marketing refers to marketing delivered at the right time, but not always created in real-time. The main objective of Moment marketing is to give the perception of real-time delivery so that it feels timely, even if the campaign is executed at a later time. Prior to the evolution of Moment marketing, most digital marketers had already been familiar with the concept of Real-time marketing. Often times these two words are used interchangeably, however both Real-time and Moment Marketing while complimentary, still remain separate entities in terms of digital marketing. Real-time marketing requires two main components: gaining immediate access to data based on real-time consumer actions, and making informed marketing decisions based on the data at that time.

Performance marketers are very familiar with the idea of Real-time marketing. In order to efficiently and effectively create, target and optimize their campaigns, they need access to real-time metrics.

As Brand executives and leading advertising agencies are continuously looking for ways to push the limits, Moment marketing is at the forefront of every brands marketing strategy and continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation. If you can recall the famous tweet from Ellen DeGeneres during the 2014 Oscars in which a Samsung Galaxy phone was prominently displayed in a selfie including famous celebrities such as Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence and many others and posted to her social media account during the event, this is Moment marketing at work.

Receiving more than 3 million retweets, Reps from Samsung claim Ellen created this Twitter campaign on her own. However, Samsung did appear to spend about $20 million on promotions during the Oscars, which included behind the scenes sponsorships in addition to a Twitter deal in which celebrity selfies were promoted. While this may have not been an entirely structured media campaign in the typical sense, there was planning involved, after all…how and when did Ellen receive the phone used in the selfie?

Real-time marketing continues to hold an invaluable role, however. Insights garnered from data provide the foundation for marketers to identify trends, develop personas and segment consumers…with one goal in mind… targeting them at the right place and at the right time. Whether that time is right now or in five months, the foundation for either of these two forms of marketing to be successful is data. It’s not necessarily what type of marketing is performed, whether it be Real-time or Moment, it’s the underlying layer that provides marketers the ability to make informed decision. It all boils down to data.

Moment marketing is quickly gaining traction in 2016, most notably in the UK with 67% of digital marketers looking to increase the amount of spend allocated to Moment marketing. This type of marketing provides time to create thoughtful, targeted and carefully planned campaigns that are executed at the right time. However, Real-time marketing still holds an invaluable position in the digital marketing hierarchy.

Utilizing marketing automation platforms, Real-time marketing is extremely effective in targeting consumers after an action, such as (filling out a form, providing an email address, downloading a whitepaper, etc.) is performed. In fact, it is so effective that 36% of marketers saw more than half of their ROI come from Real-time marketing and 43% of marketers saw between 26% and 50% increases in ROI. In addition to marketing automation, the ability to target consumers based off of real-time location data from their mobile devices, allows marketers the opportunity to target these consumers with tailored and customized offerings within minutes. This form of Real-time mobile marketing is increasing. A Juniper Research study forecasts that mobile in-app spending using context or location-based targeting will increase from $13 billion in 2015 to $44 billion in 2020.

In order for both Moment marketing and Real-time marketing to be successful, marketers must have access to real-time actionable insights. While there is no right or wrong with either type of marketing, it is important to invest in technology that provides these real-time insights. Whether it be marketing automation, tracking technology, mobile app tracking etc… all digital marketers need access to a real-time platform that allows you to act quickly on your data. Research from Teradata discovered that on a global scale, about two in five marketing and communication executives were gaining “significant business revenues” by acting on their data. The industry may be coining new phrases such as Moment marketing and Right-time marketing, however it is clear that Real-time marketing continues to hold a unique role in the digital marketing ecosystem.

If you would like to learn more about Real-time marketing, please download our Big Data whitepaper here.