I like this article from Socialmediatoday not only reviewing the stages of integrated marketing but touching on the disconnect between organisational expectations and time frames for returns vs. what the customer’s expectations are. According to this piece, the process is said to take 2 years! Considering the high turnover workforce, how many businesses actually have the opportunity to see a full strategy like this through?

This is where I highlight the difference between Sales and Marketing. Sales driven organisations would place rigid monthly time frames for these tactics to work. In such organisations, if tactics do not show returns in a short period of time, they would be abandoned.

I pasted the proposed process below from the article.

SETUP   (0-3 months)

• assess touchpoints
• build online environment
• establish baseline
• setup digital media infrastructure
• establish listings on search engines
• gain followers
• initiate relationships
• develop content strategy
• assess digital footprint
• increase member interactions
• begin gaining new referrals/leads
• initiate brand mentions

TRACTION   (4-9 mo)

• transform touchpoints to conversation points
• gain traction on social media sites
• integrate mobile with social media
• gain responses to call to action
• place on search engines
• gain new sales/members
• gain initial thought leadership interactions
• build member satisfaction/feedback
• increase customer service  

POSITIONING   (10-15 months)

• convert conversation points to conversion points
• gain positions on search engines
• gain thought leadership interactions
• gain new sales revenue
• develop brand loyalty

EXPANSION   (16-27+ months)

• stabilize position on search engines
• establish some recognition as a thought leader
• gain brand  power
• gain consistent stream of revenue

VIRAL GROWTH (future)

• expand networks exponentially through fan/follower networks and social communities

ROI Measurement and Modeling

How does one measure ROI from all of this? Here is another good article that discusses measurement being applied to TOUCHPOINTS to get a proper assessment.

Proposed cycle: Listen -> Converse -> Convert -> Analyze -> Evaluate

See visual below:

Cheers,
Rick Speciale
MyCMO – Director