Real time, data driven marketing and sales

My first job was on a bond trading floor at a Wall Street investment bank. It's impossible to overstate the impact of innovations in computing and telecommunications on the financial markets in the 1980s.

Within a decade finance was transformed from a clubby, old-boys' network to a 24-hour global trading system.

With that revolutionary shift a new currency of success emerged: the ability to gather, interpret, and react to new information in fractions of a second—real time.

Today, no financial professional would ever consider making a transaction without understanding where the markets are trading right now and what’s happening in the news at that precise moment.

It has taken a quarter century. But in fields like marketing and public relations the impact of the real-time revolution in finance is finally beginning to be viable for any organization.

Here is just one aspect -- a data driven real-time website -- of what the instant environment offers:

As a buyer visits your Web site and registers for a webinar, an alert is triggered on the salesperson's real-time dashboard, providing details about the buyer based on the page that person is visiting. The alert notes that the person downloaded a white paper a few days ago.

In fact, the alert is flagged as high priority because that combination of actions (white paper download plus webinar registration) is highly indicative of a propensity to buy.

The alert automatically pulls up information on the buyer's company. Are they already a client? Have others from this company visited the site before? What do third-party information providers say about the company? News stories from Dow Jones or Bloomberg appear along with a company snapshot from an information supplier like Hoovers.

Even the buyer's LinkedIn and Twitter profiles appear. And all this happens in real time.

This is just what happens with a real-time website.

There's similar revolutions happening with real-time product development, real-time media relations, and real-time marketing.

In the emerging real-time business environment, where public discourse is no longer dictated by the mass media, size is no longer a decisive advantage.

Speed and agility win.

But you need an infrastructure much like a Wall Street bond trader to play in this new world.

More in my new book Real-Time Marketing & PR, which officially releases in North America next Monday, November 1.

Trading floor photo courtesy of Jeffries & Company

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=712406420]

I think this is a great idea. People would definitely feel better about themselves having the interaction right off the bat. It will be more about them than you at this point because you are interacting with them in real time.

[David Meerman Scott]

Absolutely. When someone is actually interacting with your site, that is the best time for salespeople to engage.

[David Townsend]

Great information. As we are just developing real time marketing it is great to have the people requirements for management discussions.

[twitter.com/vkippes]

Nice post David. We are leveraging a real-time chat component on our site that invites visitors to optin to a live conversation should they have questions. Shortened the sales cycle trmendously

[Harry Henry]

David - you are correct in that companies need to move in this direction. I would argue that (what I've seen) the barrier to getting there is more about internal discipline and process than it is about tools and $$$ for infrastructure. Most don't get that and think that buying more 'stuff' solves it all.

[Pablo Edwards]

David,

i am getting amped for the book. Can't wait to see that bad boy.

[David Meerman Scott]

Glad that these ideas are resonating.

@vkippes - let me know if you've got data that you're willing to let me share on my blog.

Harry -- yes, you are correct. The largest barrier is one of mindset.

[Keith Jennings]

David,

Since (and due in large part to) your visit to Jackson Healthcare last October, we've built a real-time infrastructure and have already "made news" and forged new relationships using it.

We've literally had players in our industry wonder aloud about how our organization suddenly appeared on the map.

I write this to say that what you're preaching and teaching around real-time really works in the real world. (But you already knew that didn't you?)

Look forward to your ongoing posts, data and examples around real-time!

[Be3d]

From the beginning of commerce, the winners focus almost obsessively on locating and resolving inefficiencies. Your excellent post describes the next level of the efficient organization. All these things are possible, today, and that is mind-blowing, truly. Cheers.

[twitter.com/vkippes]

I would say that real-time chat cuts our sales cycle in half. It takes an additional 4 to 6 weeks on average to effectively drill down on customer needs by not taking advantage of real-time dialog. Most of this additional time is spent pinging each other to open up the dialog again.

[Dcilea]

This reinforces a blog post I wrote yesterday on database governance and how it is so important for marketing success.

Organizations need to visualize, structure and manage their CRM database as it serves as the hub for all sales and marketing activities.

Adding the real-time component can only perpetuate chaos if not proactively managed.

[David Meerman Scott]

Be3d - I like the concept of "locating inefficiencies" - that's exactly what many bond traders do to find profit!

@vkippes - Wow - cutting the sales cycle in half is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

#Dcilea - sounds like a good post. I'll look for it.

[aluminium kozijnen]

I agree this.. Whatever it is real time business is best compared to others.. If our website is real time means definitely will get success.. Also this is great idea to interact with a people.. Thanks for sharing this great idea.. I think that data driven real time having a lot of user friendly features.. Really excellent work sharing with us David.. Great effort..