What do you do if customer networking platforms, technologies, and customer communities change faster than you can plan for?

Last night at our Denver CMO CLUB dinner, as we went around the table each sharing an important challenge we have as CMOs, this notion of keeping up with consumers and where they engage was a big challenge. Think about it. Two years ago, photo sharing sites were hot only to give way to Facebook ( aggregator of all these technology specific sharing sites for photos, videos, etc.). Shopping sites come and go. Hot fashion, cooking, cycling, etc. this year will be quiet a year from now. So what do we do as CMOs?

I think in these times of constant change, less loyalty to brands and sites, identifying, engaging, getting to know and building loyalty with your Net Promoters is more important than ever. You have a subset of customers that love you, support you, and like sharing your value to friends and colleages. Do you know exactly why they like you, what drives their movement to new sites and communities? Do you have good relationship with them where they will tell you whats new, better, etc.

Another approach to this dilemma is to provide solutions/products that can be purchased or leveraged regardless of the delivery platform or community site. So not site specific but consumer value specific. When you develop your marketing plans for the year, ask the question, “what happens if all the media vehicles we plan on using no longer carry the traffic or customer segmentations we care about?". Your answers may become part of a marketing adaptability program.

Finally, a number of CMOs in the club place company flexibility and speed to change, speed to delivery as a key competitive advantage. What are you doing as CMO to ensure your company is more flexibility and quick to respond vs. last year?