It's been a hot topic.
Marketers I believe don't fear conversations. Word of mouth has been going on for centuries. What marketers fear of is the negativity of their brand or product.
The traditional marketing approach has been aspirationsal. The brand being pinacle of all things. It's brand heaven. Buying my brand makes you feel good.
Brands were never built to be conversational. Now with the rise of digital, consumers are empowered to have a voice.
They now have an opinion and word of mouth is now spread over the globe. Positive and negative comments are being made. Could Brand equity be eroded... are we losing control of our brand? What tools do marketers have in tracking and reacting to conversations that are happening outside? Only the last 12 months we have seen the rise in blog tracking tools. Even I've looked at building one with AIMIAs funding due a need for one in Australia. I made it to the final round but decided not to progress. I'm not a technology person.
So the question is, what should brands do about these conversations that are taking place and should we have a dialogue?
Conversations are important and in todays markets, brands need to be nimble and have a rapid response strategy. Marketers need to engage their resources to start listening to their customers beyond feedback forms on the fast food counter.
Do we need to have a conversation? That depends on the brand. Depends on the business. And depends on your resources. Conversations are developed over time and involves a lot of trust and consistency. Do you have someone to speak to your customers on a daily basis? Someone who has experience beyond the Press Release. A Chief Community Officer.
Remember, Apple did not have direct conversations with their customers and are still successful. But Dell also grew their business through conversations.
Posted from my iPhone
2 comments:
Brands were never built to be conversational.
It is funny cause I still always say this point, but for a different reason. I think that brands are not meant to be conversational because they are not human. They dont have REAL interaction with a person, it is all in our head. It is like trying to have a conversation with a tree. It just wont happen, you can have someone pretend to be the tree but you will never actually have a conversation with the tree.
Also, I cannot believe you wrote a whole post from your iPhone, that is quite a feat!
Ben Barren wrote me an email that was probably 1000 words long... and he did it all through his blackberry!
I find my best thoughts come when I'm moving around. So the iPhone has been convenient.
Thanks for the comments!
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