Methods and Systems for Managing Promotional Campaigns Based on Predicted Consumer Behavior
OwnerCharles Carter Jernigan, Seth Priebatschinventors
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Abstract
Systems and methods for running a promotional campaign in which publicly available information on social-media websites regarding member preferences and individuals with whom they socialize is computationally analyzed to drive selection of a cohort to whom a promotion will be directed by identifying individuals clustered into groups with shared preferences and habits directly associated with the subject matter of the promotional campaign.
Claims23
A computer-implemented method of conducting a marketing campaign to identify consumers for a promotional offer for goods or services offered by a merchant, the method comprising:
- identifying, with a computer, at least one seed prospect likely to redeem the promotional offer and subsequently purchase goods or services from the merchant;
- obtaining, by the computer via a computer network, information regarding social connections of the at least one seed prospect;
- identifying, based on computational analysis of the social-connection information, additional prospects also likely to redeem the promotional offer and subsequently purchase goods or services from the merchant;
- according a weight, by a computer, to at least some of the additional prospects based on at least one of (i) a history of their past purchases or (ii) their past purchases in response to promotional campaigns;
- screening, by a computer, the additional prospects based at least in part on the weights;
- and
- transmitting the promotional offer to one or more of the seed prospect and the screened additional prospects.
The method of 4, wherein:
- the strength is based at least in part on a number of interactions between prospects;
- and
- the further screening is based at least in part on the strength of at least one connection between an additional prospect and a screened prospect.
The method of 4, wherein:
- the strength is based at least in part on a type of interaction between prospects;
- and
- the further screening is based at least in part on the strength of at least one connection between an additional prospect and a screened prospect.
A system for conducting a marketing campaign to identify consumers for a promotional offer for goods or services offered by a merchant, the system comprising:
- (a) a prospect database for storing information regarding a plurality of consumers;
- and
- (b) a processor for executing:
- (i) a first identification module for identifying, from among the consumers in the prospect database, a seed prospect likely to redeem the promotional offer and subsequently purchase goods or services from the merchant;
- (ii) a query module for obtaining, from at least one social media website, information regarding social connections of the at least one seed prospect;
- (iii) a second identification module for identifying, based on computational analysis of the social-connection information, additional prospects also likely to redeem the promotional offer and subsequently purchase goods or services from the merchant;
- (iv) a screening module for (A) accessing stored data indicative of past transactions of the additional prospects and (B) screening the additional prospects based on at least one of (i) a history of their past purchases or (ii) their past purchases in response to promotional campaigns;
- and
- (iv) a distribution module, responsive to the screening module, for transmitting the promotional offer to the seed prospect and the screened additional prospects.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.