Gone are the days when you could plan out your marketing and public relations programs well in advance and release them on your timetable. It’s a real-time world now, and if you’re not engaged, then you’re on your way to marketplace irrelevance.

“Real time” means news breaks over minutes, not days. It means ideas percolate, then suddenly and unpredictably go viral to a global audience. It’s when companies develop (or refine) products or services instantly, based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace. And it’s when businesses see an opportunity and are the first to act on it.

Caught up in old, time-consuming processes, too many companies leave themselves fatally exposed by flying blind through this new media environment. You don’t have to be among them. Discover Real-Time Marketing and PR and get a clear path to navigate and succeed in the changed business landscape.

In this eye-opening follow-up to The New Rules of Marketing and PR, a BusinessWeek bestseller,David Meerman Scott reveals the proven, practical steps to take your business into the real-time era. Find out how to act and react flexibly as events occur, position your brand in the always-on world of the Web, and avoid embarrassing mistakes and missteps. Real-Time Marketing and PR will also enable you to:

• Develop a business culture that encourages speed over sloth
• Read buying signals as people interact with your online information
• Crowdsource product development, naming, and even marketing materials such as online videos
• Engage reporters to shape stories as they are being written
• Command premium prices by delivering products at speed
• Deploy technology to listen in on millions of online discussions and instantly engage with customers and buyers

Scale and media buying power are no longer a decisive advantage. What counts today is speed and agility. While your competitors scramble to adjust, you can seize the initiative, open new channels, and grow your brand. Master Real-Time Marketing and PR today and become the first to act, the first to respond, and the first to win!

• When you start a conversation, you are recognized as someone who is plugged into the marketplace of ideas
• If you talk about an idea early, you naturally get more exposure because the threads of conversation stem from what you have said. If you’re late you get lost in the cacophony
• With a new product, if you are first to market in a hot category, your initial momentum may give you a competitive advantage for many years
• If you’re an early adopter on a social media platform, you build a larger following than those who join later
• If you’re first to engage the market, people notice and your offering gains valuable attention
• If you react early and connect with customers as their concerns arise, they see you as thoughtful and caring

Corporate World:
• Wait, to make certain
  
• Work from checklists dictated by one-year and even five-year business plans
  
• Measure results quarterly
  
• Execute based on a long-term “new product launch” mentality
  
• Organize around multimonth marketing and communications “campaigns”
  
• Get permission from your supervisor
  
• Run decisions by your staff
  
• Bring in the experts, the agencies, and the lawyers
  
• Conduct extensive research
  
• Carefully evaluate all the alternatives
  
• Aim for perfection before public release
  
• Respond to customers on your timeframe
  
• Engage with media, analysts, and commentators only when it’s convenient and comfortable for you
  

Real-Time Business:
• Act before the window of opportunity vanishes
• Revise plans as the market changes
• Measure results today
• Execute based on what’s happening now
• Implement strategies and tactics based on breaking news
• Empower your people to act
• Move when the time is right
• Encourage people to make wise decisions quickly, alone if necessary
• Make swift inquiries, but be prepared to act
  
• Quickly evaluate the alternatives and choose a course of action
• Get it done and push it out, because it will never be perfect
• Respond to customers on their time frames
• Engage with the media at the moment they need your input