The Role of Timing in MITM
Marketers continuously seek the best way to send the perfect message to the ideal customer at precisely the right moment. From our decades of marketing automation experiences we developed our Marketing in the Moment (MITM) framework to help marketers in this pursuit. It’s a practical solution fit for today’s world of consumerism that begs for real-time relevance.
MITM is built on three core ingredients: Data, Timing, and Messaging. In this article, we will focus on the timing aspect because, as the old adage goes: Timing is everything! More specifically, we’ll tackle why you must be on the consumers’ schedule, the importance of being nimble, and where you can make some changes to become a more agile marketing department.
We’ve Always Done It That Way
For decades, marketers relied on meticulously planned, pre-scheduled campaigns tied to a fixed calendar. However, in a world where customers demand instant gratification and real-time relevance, this static approach is as valuable as a new VHS tape recorder. Customers don't live their lives according to your marketing calendar, and trying to force your own agenda and timing undermines your relationship with them.
If you stick to a fixed and rigid marketing calendar, you’re sure to experience the following pitfalls:
Missed Opportunities: Static campaigns are inherently constrained by their schedule. When a customer experiences a need, or a new trending topic unexpectedly emerges, brands may be unable to adapt quickly enough, missing out on valuable moments of engagement.
Generic Messaging: Pre-planned campaigns often necessitate the creation of generic content and messaging to appeal to a broader audience. This lack of personalization dilutes the impact and makes messages feel irrelevant to the individual receiving them.
Outdated Insights: Campaigns designed too far in advance risk relying on data that may become stale by the time of execution. This can lead to misaligned targeting and messaging that fails to resonate with evolving customer behaviors or preferences.
Keep It Real and Flexible
Understanding that dictating your desired timelines onto a customer can be ineffective, means you must be ready to answer the call when they are “in the moment.” Your marketing approach must be agile and flexible to thrive in today's dynamic landscape. Marketers must embrace the real-time nature of a modern, sophisticated marketing organization to capitalize on these moments. This means having:
Real-Time Data Insights: Leverage data analytics tools to monitor customer behavior, market trends, and social sentiment in real-time. This continuous flow of insights allows for rapid adaptation of strategy and messaging.
"Always On" Content Creation: Instead of focusing on large-scale, pre-scheduled campaigns, invest in a continuous content creation process. Develop a library of versatile assets (images, short videos, testimonials, etc.) that can be quickly repurposed and deployed across channels in micro campaigns or journeys.
Moment-Based Triggering: Employ AI-powered tools to identify pivotal moments when customers are most receptive to engagement. These triggers could be based on location, purchase behavior, or real-world events.
Triggers and Sensors: There are so many ways to track customers, from their web browsing behaviors online to their physical location via store beacons. You need to keep your eyes and ears open to these signals and be ready to act when the moment is right.
The MITM framework offers a solution to the challenges of static marketing to help you become more agile. It envisions:
Contextual Intelligence: Understanding what a customer needs at any point in time by collecting, analyzing, and cataloging real-time data signals.
Proactive Engagement: Ensuring your marketing technology infrastructure is set up to quickly ingest real-time data signals so that they can be read and actioned by your customer engagement tools (like Braze) without any friction.
Personalization Enablement: Understanding the customer as a whole by factoring in their declared preferences, transaction history, real-time behaviors, and anything else that will allow for your message to be as relevant as possible.
Embrace the Benefits of Change
The shift from static to agile marketing is not merely a trend, but imperative for survival in this modern marketplace. Embracing the MITM framework empowers marketers to break free from the constraints of outdated practices, by seizing opportune moments for engagement and forging genuine connections with customers. By prioritizing real-time relevance, personalization, data-driven insights, and most importantly, impeccable timing, you can transform your marketing strategy into a dynamic, customer-centric powerhouse.
The question is not whether you should adapt, but how quickly you can embrace this new era of marketing. The future of your brand, and its ability to connect with customers at the precise moment they are most receptive, depends on it.