Not too long ago, Catherine Taylor, one of the columnists at MediaPost, wrote an interesting piece on the problems of just-in-time monetization, raising some intriguing questions. The phrase itself stuck in my head and I’ve decided to share some of my own thoughts on the issue.

There is no denying the fact that the rate of innovation is increasing exponentially. The last decade or so has been extremely disruptive for the established advertising channels. We have seen the rise of new media, from search and display to social. Even the battle-hardened internet marketing pros struggle with challenges posed by services like Twitter. Social media sites themselves have so far been unable to effectively monetize the huge audiences they attract.

Challenges Of Just-In-Time Monetization

Besides the issues of getting social media users to interactive with a brand (not to mention monetizing them), there is also a gaping hole in advertisers’ ability to respond quickly enough in the world of real-time publishing. While online reputation management is a challenge, it is the inability to deploy ads quickly enough that is preventing companies from maximizing their ROI. How do you take advantage of a surge of tweets brought on by a breaking news story or some YouTube video suddenly gaining thousands of views? It is certainly not easy. Google is working hard to incorporate real-time publishing into its own ad-supported model and envelop as much of that content with AdWords ads as possible. Nonetheless, today advertisers have a limit ability to deploy just-in-time monatization campaigns in the world of real-time publishing.

Enter Social Media Sites

This is the opportunity for social media sites like Twitter to finally get some revenue flowing before investors become disillusioned (yes, I’m skeptical of non-existing business models, despite the $1 billion valuation). If they can come up with effective tools for advertisers to respond to real-time developments that impact their business, they will be rewarded handsomely.

Microblogging has introduced the world to real-time publishing. Now, the days of just-in-time monetization are fast approaching. Of course, even if Twitter or Google provide the tools, companies will also need to improve the way they develop and deploy ads and other marketing material. Creatives, press releases and web pages will have to be prepared, approved and launched in real-time.

Real-time publishing provides challenges as well as opportunities for businesses and marketers. As more and more tools are developed, the true just-in-time monetization initiatives will become a reality. Advertisers will be able to effectively monitor the web for breaking news and other developments that are relevant to their business and respond virtually in real-time.

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