The Switch to Continuous Marketing

Before the arrival of social media, marketing campaigns used to have a well-defined timeline, with a beginning, middle and end. The first step traditionally would be to identify the audience and create a message, with content for in-store, print, website, and possibly trade show outlets. The next step was to place the content as planned, and then sit back and wait. Finally, the last piece of the story would be to evaluate the effects of the campaign by analyzing the change (hopefully an increase) in leads or customers.

Problems in the Classic Marketing Cycle

This model has been in place for many years with most marketing departments built around it. There are some intrinsic drawbacks, however. First, it's opaque: if the marketing message isn't working, you can't find out until you wait for a reasonable amount of time and then look at the analysis. Second, the classic method of marketing mostly ignored "influencers," those trend-leaders with significant networks whose buying choices influence other customers.

Continuous Marketing

Social media platforms and analytics provide an immediate, continuous feedback loop that puts marketing into an entirely new cycle. It's now possible to get a faster, deeper sense of your potential customer and to tailor marketing materials to a highly specific demographic. Because customers are constantly sharing their experiences with a product, the opinions of influential trend-leaders amplify the effects of brand messages. The open line of communication also allows a marketer to become aware of new needs that the brand may be able to integrate into future product design.

Feedback from Analytics

Because you can view analytics on an ongoing, real-time basis, you are able to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular page, campaign, or even a change of wording. Integrating analytics into your social media marketing is like having a nonstop focus group continuously providing feedback, so that you can hone your message until it achieves maximum effectiveness. The other advantage afforded by social media is that if something in the external environment changes, the conversation and analytics will immediately reflect that change. You can literally turn on a dime, pivoting to seize opportunities and fine-tune content.

How Social Analytics Build Customer Relationships

Social analytics such as SumAll offer quantitative tracking of what customers are thinking, through their real-time browsing, sharing and purchasing behavior. The social media platforms provide an opportunity to make use of what you learn through the analytics, so that you are able to craft a continuously improving loop of customer relationships, messaging, content creation, message placement, amplification through trend influencers, and evaluation.

The high speed and low cost of this method of engaging with customers reduces the risk involved in being experimental – it encourages innovation, since little is at stake with any one single approach. The continuous interaction model is transforming the shape of marketing, while enabling brands to develop personal relationships with customers.