Last week I was asked to provide my perspective on what SoLoMo means for marketers. It was a great conversation to have. These technologies — social, mobile, and location — are such an important part of peoples’ lives. And, if properly understood, they represent a huge opportunity for brands.

This post is a summary of what we talked about. A lot was covered, so I’ve tried to group each part of the discussion with a sub-heading.

What SoLoMo Means to Marketers

SoLoMo is about more than having a presence in those channels. That’s because people don’t think of SoLoMo in terms of channels or technologies; they are a seamless part of their day-to-day lives. Like water or electricity, SoLoMo enables us and makes our lives better, all while hiding in the background.

To have an impact in this space, marketers must take on a new role: instead of merely delivering messages, they must be orchestrators of shared value. In doing so, they have an opportunity to form relationships with customers in ways they couldn’t before.

A great example is the Starbucks mobile app. The app enables mobile payments and integrates with the Starbucks loyalty program, My Starbucks Rewards, which is itself connected to Facebook. By bringing all these components together, they create a relationship that builds value – for both the business and the customer – over the long-term. And that’s what it’s all about.

SoLoMo and Our Relationships with Brands

Yes, SoLoMo has transformed people from passive consumers to mobilized actors. But even though marketers don’t command the undivided attention they once did, brands still play a big role in how people define themselves. People continue to use brands to express their values and as entry into a group they want to be associated with.

When thinking about “social,” it’s very much about identity and self expression. What we share defines us and it connects us to the people we care about. This is especially true for young people. Their identity is in a constant state of flux, and they use their online presence as a test bed to gauge reaction. For example, they might start following a brand on Tumblr for a while and reblog a few of their posts before they make the commitment to purchase something and really “badge” themselves as part of that tribe.

The other important implication is that an increasing amount of noise is being created. Sharing is expected to double each year, and because of that, people are getting good at filtering what they see. So, it’s no longer enough for brands to broadcast the right messages in the right places — that simply doesn’t scale. Instead, marketers need people to spread information on behalf of the brand. To achieve this, they must understand how the brand fits into their customers’ lives and conversations.

Again, it really comes down to having the right value exchange. It’s asking ‘what role does our brand play in strengthening the identity of our customers?’

SoLoMo Requires Marketers to Make a Shift 

When it comes to engagement, I agree with Paul Adams, who says, there needs to be a shift from thinking inside out to thinking outside in. What that means is it’s less about crafting your story and pushing that through your channels. It’s more about looking at existing communities (groups of people connected by shared interests) and finding ways to add value there.

That means at least three things for marketing programs themselves:

• Moving away from the “Hollywood model” of promotional bursts, and towards evergreen programs that create shared value and are self-sustaining.
• Weaving in promotions in smart ways. That means targeting and using promotions to activate word of mouth.
• Using partnerships to align with specific communities. That includes partnerships with emerging tech startups and even “partnerships” with memes and pop culture. (A great example is lululemon‘s Shit Yogis Say)

Getting Ready for the Shift

The shift has already happened. Today, marketers are competing for attention with the Angry Birds, Instagrams and Pinterests of the world.

To really excel in SoLoMo marketers need revisit their internal structures and processes, and they need to have the right goals in place — goals that sit above campaigns and drive decisions that increase customer lifetime value. That means less focus on quick hits, more focus on long-term relationship building. That means getting away from siloed thinking, and moving towards systems thinking. And finally, that means not planning around channels, and instead planning around customer and community needs.

[This post was also published on the Blast Radius blog.]