Because the end of a flat couple of years is likely a cliff without innovation.

I put together the slides you see above almost five years ago, documenting the early successes by the brands that were ahead of the pack and specifically to demonstrate that you can move the needle through communications.

In the years that followed I became more interested in how social data and insights actually help inform product decisions and provide precious feedback to improve the customer experience at critical decision points when not throughout the buying process/user journey.

Many of the insights along the way taught me that for marketers optimization alone, while a worthy exercise, is not as valuable as in combination with innovation.

Taking away friction from a process is one thing, providing a reason to opt in/act/return time and time over is entirely another. The first makes it easier, the second makes it worthwhile.

It is not either/or; it is a both/and proposition. Performance is the result of simplicity and a strong value proposition — this quarter and over time. 

This is similar to what I said about why listening is much more than monitoring.

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Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effect on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here.