For breaking news story these days, where will you most likely go if you want that information in a snap? You might visit your favorite social media platforms and find highlights of it in your newsfeed, or you could browse major news websites for the whole story.

Whatever the event is, you can bet that digital channels will have real-time updates on the story and its developments. The fact is that Facebook and Twitter are leading the way, as applications for news consumption and lines of communication.

The industry of digital media has advanced to deliver information streams with the latest updates any time of the day. The problem is that conventional marketing models are still mostly planned in advance, and this will not do.

Individuals are used to getting content that is relevant, quick and brief. This is where real-time marketing comes in, which aims to immediately connect the target audience with the service or product they need. Rather than formulating marketing campaign in advance and implementing it based on a fixed schedule, this type of marketing is designed on a plan that centers on instant feedback from consumers as well as any relevant and current trends.

There are too many social and digital tools available for marketers to help discover what is currently important to their market. Brian Solis introduced the first Conversation Prism in 2008, giving marketers a curated overview of the most helpful tools for research and engaging with their market. By year 2013, the Conversation Prism was updated. It has 26 social media categories with at least six brands each. Various channels are classified by their function to the end user, like “photos”, “music” and “social curation”.

Why is this method of marketing considered important?

Marketing efforts are more effective thanks to the constant evolution of social media. As companies make use of popular social websites like Twitter and Facebook, they can collect the latest information about their customers. In a short span of time, this data can be turned into a marketing message or promotion that can be shared with other users.

A lot of people want to be a part of or know about the newest fad or latest trend. If the firms intentionally build their advertisements around a current craze or happening, the service or product they are trying to sell might attract more potential buyers.

The consumers of today are used to immediate satisfaction, so customizing a significant marketing message and directing it to the target audience at the right moment may entice them to make a purchase. This is because they will notice the instant benefit that they will gain from it.

How can you make this work for your brand?

Make use of real-time marketing in your social media activities to interact with your target audience, and then use it as a guide for your marketing strategies to reflect their interests. Here are additional valuable tips:

Listen to your target audience

Put up alerts in your social media platforms to know when your brand, the merchandise that is related to your brand, and the competition is mentioned. This is an opportunity to quickly plan your marketing and immediately provide the correct services or products that the consumers need.

Be familiar with your industry

Regardless of what your business is, there is a whole industry out there that encompasses what you do. Take some time to read the latest news and trends in your industry so your marketing materials can adapt to those trends. At the end of the day, your brand will be able to keep up with the latest trends through campaign materials that look timely and fresh. Being abreast of what’s up in your industry pays off.

Know your audience

Similar to any form of marketing, it is important for you to be familiar with your target audience. They will indirectly lead you to what kinds of services and products your business will provide, as well as the method you will use to increase consumer interest in your services or products.

Be ready for anything

Getting ready for your real-time marketing campaign is easy when you know how. Get the right technologies for the job, including social media apps, pop-up advertisements, email marketing technologies and remarketing technologies.

Be ready to observe the buzz or trend and quickly post a proper reaction to it. One thing that can help here is having a schedule or calendar of holidays and events that buyers might be interested in.

Build the material

Now that you have the technology, prepare the tools of the trade for any event. Utilize SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media listening, Google AdWords, apps, banner advertisements, white papers and other forms of content marketing, PR, eBooks, Twitter, blogging and email campaigns to capitalize on the current trends and give sales a much needed boost.

Follow the tips and utilize real-time marketing plan in order to maximize the digital tools available at your disposal. If you continue to apply these strategies to your brand promotion, you will get a higher rate of conversion, a dramatic upsurge in lead acquisition, and more overall profit from sales.

Because you are making the effort of understanding your target audience and interacting with them to earn their trust and build a good reputation, these efforts will be rewarded in the end.

When the topic of Web Development is being discussed, it refers to all the mandatory aspects that are required for the production and enhancement of a website. These aspects have to formulate or create a strategy for the varied components of the project.

By performing this correctly, web designers will most likely generate a good corporate site. A lot of firms that do well in their business transactions over the internet owe their success to the development team that pulled it off.

The problem here is that some business owners are still operating without a professional site. This is probably because they decided to take the risk before, but then they find out that no potential customers are visiting their website, so the investment that they made was not worth it at the end of the day.

Other organizations might have put off on the idea with the impression that the procedure is too complex. The last possible reason would be a company turning down a website development proposal which they found too expensive.

A handful of new consumers may discover a business after performing an online search, while long-time customers will check out a corporate site to know more about its additional services and products or for contact information. Other customers can also refer their friends or family members to the business by simply attaching the web address of the company to e-mails or other forms of communication.

If your firm does not have a corporate website yet, and you need a good reason to invest in one, think of a professional site as a business card over the internet since it will let customers know about your products and services as well as how to get in touch with you for inquiries. This website is also an effective business directory advertisement that has a limitless amount of pages and is not constrained by a small space.

There are times when your organization can also post online order systems or information forms for consumers to have an easier time replacing an order or engaging in a sale (doing this will provide an additional value-added service for your customers and reduce manpower efforts).

Going back to the process of Web Development, it will most likely be an expensive investment. For example, building a corporate site requires the webmaster to purchase a domain, register for a web hosting provider, and hire a web developer to work on it. If your site needs to have articles or content in it, you might have to pay a copywriter or two to get the job done. This is why most companies normally postpone this procedure until it is of the utmost importance. Now that you know the benefits of having a professional website though, choosing to postpone it may end up backfiring on you in the end.

The good news is that constructing a website does not have to be so pricey. Here are some tips on how to keep web costs down:

Set your expectations, but be reasonable.

The financial plan that will be used for Web Development will restrict you in ways. So when electing a development team and preparing your corporate site, set a practical goal. There will be some features that will not be part of the finished product if your website is being created on a budget.

Do not overdo your hosting plan.

If you want your website to stay online and function well, you must pay for a web hosting service. Selecting an expensive host will stretch your budget, but the market for web hosting is saturated, so you will definitely find a good and cost-efficient service provider (with some research of course).

Make use of free content.

There are articles or stock photos in some websites that can be used for free. In exchange, these providers will ask for an attribution link which proves that the content was taken from them. You might not want to do this, but it is a better alternative to premium options.

Web tools need not be expensive.

Thanks to the Internet, there are unlimited sources of information, content and free software waiting to be found. These applications are governed by “open source” regulations, and they can perform tasks like managing an online ecommerce shop or maintaining a blog like the proprietary ones.

Rather than instructing your developers to come up with a custom program, why not give these free options a try?

There is nothing wrong with a website template.

Utilizing a template is one way for your company to save money on web design services because it speeds up the procedure and you can launch your corporate site sooner. Your development team can borrow some elements from it and customize it with various fonts, images or colors.

Feel free to use these guidelines to build a professional website that will help your business prosper.