June 14, 2012

To read part 1 or 2, click which one you missed.

With the maturing of Social Media, the stakes are getting higher: The average Facebook user has 140-150 friends; but he only likes 10 brands. How do you become one of these brands?

• Earn my loyalty by showing yours
It is in quintessence of “earning one’s business”. J Walker Smith sees that part of the ‘reverse segmentation’ the tables have been turned. Brands have to show that they deserve to be in the inner circle. They can do that by taking service to the next level, by knowing their customers, by offering customized value. A recent IBM study of 28000 costumers came to the conclusion that “the imperative is for (brands) to re-orient the relationship and learn what it means to be loyal to the customers.” (Source: Winning over the empowered consumer, IBM Institute for Business Value)

What does all of this mean for marketers? Which technologies will we be using in 2020? How “smart” will technologies have become? How will we reach our customers? There will be clouds, there will be more mobile devices, but with the speed of change the future is hard to predict, even just a few months ahead.

And with all of this change, the definition of “here” – where customers can be reached – gets very broad. According to Ralph Vega, AT&T, marketers need to be very nimble to find the opportunities, to create the connection, the togetherness with the consumer anywhere they are, near or far from the product, the store or the sales person. Smart technologies and Social Media can certainly help, but with the speed of change getting faster, marketers need to be ready to adapt and move fast.
AMA Atlanta Chapter published this and more in a white paper.
To read the full study, click AMA_2012_Whitepaper.