Loyalty. It is the final stage of the customer journey that is victory. Nothing is more valuable than when a consumer becomes a repeat customer and advocates for a product or service.

Landing in this auspicious place only happens after the arduous task of brands guiding a consumer through tried-and-true marketing stages: 1) awareness, 2) consideration, 3) decision, 4) purchase, 5) post-purchase, and finally, 6) loyalty.

Connecting with the customer in all stages of the online journey takes data analytics translated to the understanding of the needs and wants of each customer. Behind the myriad of interactions of getting just one customer to become loyal to a brand is a well-oiled marketing machine.

And a marketing machine is not different than a supply chain or a manufacturing plant. In manufacturing, the end result is a product. In marketing, the end product is a relationship built on trust.

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However, consumer loyalty to a brand is not fixed. In our March 2023 survey on summer shopping, it revealed that more than half (55%) of consumers said they were at least “somewhat likely to purchase” summer items from a new or unfamiliar merchant, with 28% saying they were at least “likely” to do so. Plus, consumers said they do buy from a new site at least once per month. Again, it underscores that consumers are not steadfastly loyal. So, loyalty and trust must be perpetually earned. It requires a marketing machine that continuously improves.

The problems with a well-oiled marketing machine – even in an AI-driven world – are, first, humans – but second, the idea that a marketing machine is proven and fixed in place. Quite the contrary, a marketing machine should not be fixed but evolve. The marketing systems that work today need to be incrementally improved tomorrow.

The path to great marketing teams and systems is one of continuous improvement. The idea of continuous improvement is well-documented and researched. For example, author Eliyahu M. Goldratt discusses manufacturing and supply systems in the book The Goal. He addresses the importance of managing bottlenecks in a factory setting. Goldratt underscores that the goal of an individual or an organization should not be defined in absolute terms. He explains that a good goal sets a path of ongoing improvement. And achieving a goal of continuous improvement requires more than one breakthrough. It needs improvement in the system to create better and better outcomes.

And before Goldratt, Dr. W. Edwards Deming was the master of continual quality improvement, which changed manufacturing. He taught top methods for improving how managers and engineers worked and learned together. Plus, he assured quality across the entire ecosystem of a product — internally between company departments and externally, with their suppliers and customers. A break in the chain meant a break of trust.

Marketing and manufacturing are not inherently different. Great products are born from great systems and people committed to continually improving the processes. Excellent process begets excellent products.

When marketing teams commit to continuous improvement, they can effectively identify issues in the current marketing machine and make profound systemic changes.

As noted earlier, humans create bottlenecks in marketing. And bottlenecks in the marketing system are the root cause of disconnects between a company and its customers.

Below is a top-line view of a marketing workflow similar to the stages in an industrial factory process. In marketing, the marketing process helps the customer in their online six-stage journey guided by data analytics that translates to an understanding of the needs and wants of each customer.

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Here is the typical marketing process from solving customer data to campaign execution and the bottlenecks encountered in the marketing system:

 Bottleneck #1: Lack of customer data. 

Action: Start collecting first- and zero-party customer data and store it in a data warehouse.

Bottleneck #2: Inability to access data to segment customers. Often beholden to another team to get access.

Action: Institute a customer data platform (CDP) or CDP-like tool to freely access customer data without needing help.

Bottleneck #3: With multiple customer segments, there are content constraints.

Action: Use AI to help create content and make product recommendations to lower the barrier. Implement intelligent content repurposing.

Bottleneck #4: Inability to manage content to meet customers’ specific needs. As campaigns are loaded in a journey builder, the marketer needs to manually determine each ones place.

Action: Implement flexible frameworks to blend human logic and AI to alleviate putting each campaign in the journey. Just activate it and let the machine decide the best campaign for each customer at every moment.

Of course, as the marketing system continuously improves, it is paramount that the company has a clear marketing strategy. Having no clear strategy is the ultimate marketing bottleneck. With a clear direction, the marketing team can create effective campaigns that align with the company’s goals.

Great marketing systems, like manufacturing, thrive with a commitment to continuous improvement in the process that continually addresses and clears bottlenecks. Great marketing systems result in loyal customers staying and leveraging opportunities to gain new loyal customers. And for marketers, that is perpetual victory.