David Meerman Scott, author of Game Change - The New Rules of Marketing and PR, kicked off the second presentation of the Vocus online conference "Retweet: Engage or Die!" which focused on the power of realtime interaction and response.
Overview Scott's main example was based around Dave Carroll's beef with United after his guitar was broken by some butterfingered luggage handlers on a flight.
Carroll wrote a lil' country song about his frustration with the subsequent "indifference" from United - the video soon went viral on YouTube.
United gave no real response, missing a massive opportunity to put things right before their reputation was irrevocably sullied by the ensuing media landslide.
Engaging in realtime is not an unreachable goal - many companies online work in a realtime sense - for example United's own realtime adjustments to flight information and prices - so why not communicate in the present too? United missed a trick.
In contrast, the makers of the Carroll's broken guitar, Taylor, responded soon after the video's release with a freebie for Carroll to replace his broken one.
Instant press and brownie points for Taylor.
Then the "Dave Carroll Traveller Edition" flight case was released by an entertprising company, who struck a deal with Carroll the very same day the video was released.
Someone was on the ball and they benefited from their quick reactions.
Working in public relations and marketing, especially online and with social media, we need to be responsive to what is happening right now, and grab the opportunities that will trigger a domino effect of reactions, conversations and engagements.
Earn Attention Previous methods of PR revolved around looking back into past successes and forward into projected aims - modern marketing needs to operate in the now, in the present, and work in real time.
Scott explained traditional methods of PR to gain attention with the 3 Bs:

• Buy it - with advertising, mailing lists, even paying for Scott to put your company's sticker on the back of his laptop for all at his business meetings/conferences to see...
  
• Beg it - with news releases, press releases and pitches to the media
• Bug for it - basically: sales

Earning attention means posting great content, via blogging, e-books, links, micro-blogging, commentary and communication.
The media and the public will find you if your story is interesting enough.
"On the web, you are what you publish.
" Make sure it represents you and engages your audience.
Working in realtime means taking chances and making the most of moments that you can turn to your advantage.
Another example Scott cited was the initiative of musician Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn), who was stranded in Iceland during the volcanic ash cloud grounded air traffic.
Rather than catching a nap or moaning, she asked for ideas and help on Twitter and managed to secure a lift to the Blue Lagoon for a quick relaxing dip, free dinner and drinks and an impromptu 'ninja' gig with a borrowed organ in front of over 100 people.
In the age of social media, customers can divulge, discuss and dismiss your company's reputation just from one interaction.
You need to listen to what's being said about your business, see what works, what people love, what needs fixing, and get involved.
Stop a crisis before it gets out of hand.
Answer a question and make a customer happy.
Broadcast some breaking news.
Publicise a great competition.
Share some fantastic information.
Put right a bad customer service issue.
Show that you are there and you care! Successful Realtime Marketing

• Nobody cares about your products (except you) - speak to your customers normally, don't use gobbledygook and clichés.
  Give them the information they need in the shortest possible time.
  (A nice point here was the use of meaningless, overused language in press releases, such as "unique" and "innovative" or "leading provide of...
  ", and fake images of happy employees and customers.
  These shouldn't represent you - speak to your buyers in their language, not yours.
  )
• No coercion is required - the back button is the 3rd most used web feature...
  because we are constantly lured onto pages which we don't want to visit.
  Don't use hooks or gimmicks to bamboozle customers onto a site which has no real value.
  Get your content right, and people will want to visit you.
  
• Lose control - don't worry about your sales.
  Freebies create traffic and sharing.
  Scott's example was the Grateful Dead's live tour allowing the audience to record gigs, even providing specific space and mics for the purpose, creating thousands of content shares around the world and massive publicity.
  
• Create triggers - back to inspiring content - if you have great content, you immediately encourage people to share, talk, link, get the media involved and make it go viral.
  
• Point the world to your virtual doorstep - Scott used "The Best Job in the World" example, which was a viral hit and increased flight bookings to Queensland by 34%.
  

Tips and Hints (from the live chat) >Use social media monitoring tools such as twitter affiliates and searches to keep tabs on and respond to relevant issues and keywords.
>Designate a "realtime communications officer" (and possibly separate points of call for global realtime relations - operating in different time zones and languages) >Sometimes it's best to sleep on a decision - reacting freshly can be the wrong action - sit back and see how things unfold a little before you make your move in the best way for your company >Turn negatives into positives.
Great customer service is one of the important aspects of any business, and it's what customers are most likely to talk about online.
>Respond to the "thoughtful negative" (ie someone who has considered their negative comment and is genuinely displeased) rather than reactionaries (ie someone who is looking for a hotheaded response and trying to rile you up...
) >Fight fire with fire - respond in the same media, eg: don't respond to a video with a press release.
Well, that's all from us today - thanks again to David Meerman Scott for a great presentation.
Come back every weekday this week for the rest of the webinar summaries, and check the blog next week for our Q&A session comprised of all the questions that couldn't get answered on the day.
You can read other summaries of the Vocus Online Conference with Deidre Breakenridge, Beth Harte, Lee Odden and Brian Solis HERE.