Method and apparatus for social network marketing with advocate referral
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- accessing, using a computing device, a datastore to obtain an attribute of a network user, an attribute of an object of interest to the user, and an attribute of each of a plurality of advocates of consumption of the object;
determining, using the computing device, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, a measure of the value of the relationship between the respective advocate and the object, denoted knowledge measure, and a measure of the value of the social relationship between the respective advocate and the network user, denoted connection measure;
combining, using the computing device, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, the knowledge and connection measures to estimate a respective expected monetary value of marketing materials relating to the object interest to the user with advocacy by the respective advocate;
selecting, using the computing device, one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy;
determining, using the computing device, an estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy;
determining, using the computing device, that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy;
in response to determining that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy, augmenting, using the computing device, the marketing materials to provide the one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy as an advocate of the object;
providing, using the computing device, the augmented marketing materials to the network user.
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Abstract
A service provider facilitates consumption of goods, brands, or services on an interactive network using characterizations of consumers, behavior, brands, consumable goods, advertisers, and advocates to determine a three-way match between a consumable good, a consumer, and an advocate. The matching method determines one or more advocates by maximizing the estimated contextual value of personalized advocacy. Further, the service provider captures the value of the personalized advocacy in each match, and distributes that value in the form of various marketing incentive.
391 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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accessing, using a computing device, a datastore to obtain an attribute of a network user, an attribute of an object of interest to the user, and an attribute of each of a plurality of advocates of consumption of the object; determining, using the computing device, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, a measure of the value of the relationship between the respective advocate and the object, denoted knowledge measure, and a measure of the value of the social relationship between the respective advocate and the network user, denoted connection measure; combining, using the computing device, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, the knowledge and connection measures to estimate a respective expected monetary value of marketing materials relating to the object interest to the user with advocacy by the respective advocate; selecting, using the computing device, one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy; determining, using the computing device, an estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy; determining, using the computing device, that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy; in response to determining that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy, augmenting, using the computing device, the marketing materials to provide the one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy as an advocate of the object; providing, using the computing device, the augmented marketing materials to the network user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus comprising:
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a processor; a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising; datastore access logic executed by the processor for accessing a datastore to obtain an attribute of a network user, an attribute of an object of interest to the user, and an attribute of each of a plurality of advocates of consumption of the object; value determination logic executed by the processor for determining, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, a measure of the value of the relationship between the respective advocate and the object, denoted knowledge measure, and a measure of the value of the social relationship between the respective advocate and the network user, denoted connection measure; combination logic executed by the processor for combining, for each advocate of the plurality of advocates of consumption in the object, the knowledge and connection measures to estimate a respective expected monetary value of marketing materials relating to the object interest to the user with advocacy by the respective advocate; advocate selection logic executed by the processor for selecting one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy; expected value determining logic executed by the processor for determining an estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy; marketing material augmentation logic executed by the processor for determining that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy, and in response to determining that the highest expected monetary value of advocacy is greater than the estimated expected monetary value of the marketing materials relating to the object without advocacy, augmenting the marketing materials to provide the one advocate of the plurality of advocates having a highest expected monetary value of advocacy as an advocate of the object; marketing material providing logic executed by the processor for providing the augmented marketing materials to the network user. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method comprising:
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accessing, using a computing device, a datastore to obtain a plurality of attributes, the plurality of attributes comprising an attribute of a network user, an attribute of an object of interest to the user, and an attribute of each of a plurality of advocates of consumption of the object; for each advocate of the plurality of advocates, determining, using the computing device, for each of the plurality of attributes, a measure of the value of the respective attribute as it pertains to the marketing value in the social relationships between the respective advocate and the network user and the relationships between the respective advocate, the network user, and the object, and calculating, using the computing device, for each measure of the value of a respective one of the plurality of attributes as it pertains to the marketing value in the relationships between the respective advocate, the network user, and the object, a contribution consisting of the product of the measure and a respective one of a plurality of tap weights, the plurality of tap weights being dependant on a marketing context; accumulating, using the computing device, the contribution for each measure of the value of the respective one of the plurality of attributes to obtain a respective total estimated net value; linearly combining, using the computing device, the measures into an estimated net value of marketing advocacy in relation to the respective advocate; tracking, using the computing device, an actual net value of provided marketing advocacy in relation to the respective advocate of the plurality of advocates; determining, using the computing device, a respective error value comprising a difference between the respective estimated net value and the respective actual net value for the respective advocate; correlating, using the computing device the error value of the respective advocate with each measure of the value of an attribute to obtain an adjustment quantity; determining, using the computing device, adjustments to each tap weight of the plurality of tap weights by scaling said adjustment quantities; sorting, using the computing device, the plurality of advocates using the estimated net value of marketing advocacy for each of the respective plurality of advocates; and facilitating communication, using the computing device, between the network user and the plurality of advocates in accordance with the sorting. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification