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The Art Of Conversational Marketing

social media

I just finished reading an excellent post by Brian Solis regarding conversational marketing.

Brian writes:

“If it’s one thing that we can learn about Social media is that people and the markets they represent have rallied against marketing and slick marketers and have demanded personalization, transparency, and sincerity.

Social Media is about breaking down barriers to engage in conversations.

Conversational marketing isn’t a bandwagon or a golden ticket. It is a call for reform, evolution, and humility.

We’re witnessing the shift from B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) to P2P (peer to peer) marketing – or better described as conversations between people, not companies doing their best impression of adults in the Peanuts cartoons as they talk to audiences in a monotone, robotic, insincere voice, “wah wah wah wah wahhhhhh.”

No longer are companies controlling the message to their audience but the audience has taken control over the conversation. Each social media platform has its own unique audience with its own opinions and ideas and the marketer must find his place within this network. People are not looking for catchy slogans or traditional advertising technics – they are looking for sincere interaction with the community.

Many traditional marketers have a hard time understanding this new form of conversational marketing and this situation provides a great opportunity for those marketers who are social media experts to step in and lead the way.

However although there are quite a few people who call themselves social media experts, only a small number really understand the art of conversational marketing. This type of marketing is influenced mostly by sociology. As Brian writes: “Relationships are the new metric for ROI.”

Are you as a marketer able to build many long lasting relationships with other members in the network? This is the key to conversational marketing. Engaging in conversation with individuals – commenting on their content, sending them personal messages, interacting with them.

Marketers must remember that they are not welcome within social networks. Many are seen as intrusive if they do not truly know how to become members of their community. Marketers need to earn their right to become members. How can they do this? By learning as much as possible about each network and its members – their likes, their dislikes, their views, etc. Think of each network as a country with its own culture and remember that you are entering a living, breating community made up of diverse individuals.

Doc Searls  writes: “The framing for conversational marketing should be conversation, not marketing. Think about what you want in a conversation, and let that lead your marketing…[conversations are] about paying attention, not getting attention.”

In the end of it all, the success of your efforts in any network will depend on how much you give back to the community. The more you give of yourself, the more you’ll get back.

 

 Thanks to Somethin’ New for the pic.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • It's all great and good, but there's a misrepresentation that's worth noting, namely that marketing is not shifting, it's expanding. the "old ways" of doing marketing will not go away, there are simply more ways to do the same things and more contexts for marketers to operate in. eventually, as the hype around social media will diminish, as is bound to happen, the traditional marketing operations will incorporate the SMO elements that fit their specific contexts. For example, while it's easier to see it happening in B2C, B2B is a bit trickier to nail down. Saying that B2B marketing will simply "shift to P2P marketing" is no more than an empty slogan.
  • It seems to me the best thing for companies to do with their social media initiative is to try to help the consumer. And I mean truly help, not just set them up for The Pitch. The last corp. I worked for did very well because they provided a truly consultative service for their customers in the pre-sales process. Customers are so, so welcoming to simple honesty. Just help me, don't make me endure your "sales process". Just give me what I need, not what you want to sell. Your reward is a friend made, a good-will ambassador for your brand.

    But this strategy is one of planting seeds, not harvesting. The payback comes much later. Unfortunately, corporate minds want to see immediate results, measurable ROI. That's unlikely. The company I keep pointing out as truly understanding this mode of operation is Blip.tv. They're fanatical about support and listening to what their users need. It's a company built by listening, not talking.
  • Idan:

    I must say that I disagree. I think that marketing is expanding and shifting as well. Marketing methods are changing. A good social marketer knows that in order to reach his audience, he cannot use the same traditional tactics as he used to. He must become a genuine member of the community - no longer is he the outsider who tries to sell slogans and show banners.

    Joe:

    I completely agree with you. The process of gaining a dedicated user base is a long one and comes from listening to people's needs, as you say. Unfortunately most companies have yet to understand this. They look for immediate results rather than focusing on their marketing strategy for the long run.
  • Very interesting article Noah. Shows us exactly how people view advertising these days.
  • Ayelet: Nevertheless, at the end of the day, there will not be two corporate entities, one marketing and the other social marketing. the two will merge. I agree there's a window of opportunity for people who got an early start on the whole social net phenomenon, but it's not a permanent window. it will close at the rate traditional marketing incorporates new media methods. how fast is that, views differ.
  • Idan:

    I think that's quite a pessimistic view of looking at things. I believe companies are understanding that they can no longer use traditional slogans and banners to reach their audience. People are not buying these tactics anymore. In order for companies to survive and gain a dedicated following, they must transform their ways of marketing and the way they speak to the public.
  • Dio
    Nice article.
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