Mashable CMO: Real-time not right for all brands

Speaking to Marketing Week at Cannes Lions 2014, Mashable CMO Stacey Martinet said that brands thinking about doing it should ask if it makes sense for them and they should query if they know enough about their own social media followers.

Talking about metrics for content marketing on social media Martinet said brands need to set their goals at the beginning, whether that is regarding share of voice, number of views or wanting shareable streams.

“A lot of online measurement tools are still not mature but there are ways you can measure success if you are more specific on the goals.”

As an example of a successful social media campaign she cited work Mashable did with the Broadway show If Then that focused on videos and creating awareness on Instagram. The campaign involved asking the Mashable audience to illustrate their own ‘If Then’ moment in their own lives.

Mashable, which describes itself as “the leading media company for the connected generation” has just signed a partnership with the agency 360i to give access to its digital media tracking and viral prediction platform Velocity.  It is claimed the platform can predict which topics and content will go viral so brands can capitalise on the marketing opportunities ahead of rivals.

Elsewhere at Cannes, Coca-Cola North America president of sparkling and strategic marketing Wendy Clark has outlined the company’s approach to content marketing and real time conversation at a session called Winning in Real Time.

She said: “Operating in real time is the mandate and remit for all of us. Our goal is to operate in real time on any given day. Silence is not an option in a socially networked world. We learnt our lesson the hard way.”

But she added: “We are not willing to delegate our proxy in that brand conversation. We have a role and online we can come together with fans to create a one plus one equals three situation.”

Clark warned that that was no point in just creating more content – what is needed is “more good content” and to achieve this there needs to be investment in social monitoring, analytics and seizing the moment when the opportunity arises.

“These are the capabilities that brands must think about for their marketing.”

Clark illustrated the need for speedy response by referencing the launch of New Coke in 1985. She said it took 79 days to decide to reintroduce Coke Classic “and I guess we’d have about 79 hours to make that same decision now.”