Marketing - A Conversation, Not a Monologue

I had a student ask this week, "What is the future of marketing?" That is definitely the $1 billion question for marketers. Marketing will continue to evolve into a social interaction that marketers have to be involved in, rather than pushing interruptive messaging out from the company. This means marketers have to incorporate audience opinion in their messaging — both negative and positive, and must provide a personal connection — not just information.

As Entrepreneur says in "Adding Value", "Instead of interrupting their day with ads or emails, advertisers must create something customers will choose to engage with...Imagine a local bank that teaches customers how to avoid fees." Like Southwest Airlines does on Twitter, or Reason Magazine does on Facebook. It is a conversation, not a monologue. It is NOT the "celebrity" posting that "I am brushing my teeth right now", but it IS about kristin_tweets at SWA telling someone on Twitter what the impacts of the weather will be for a certain flight, or that she will see them in row 14 on flight 27 if they want an extra drink coupon.

With the audience interactively in control of the messaging, everyone will need to pay attention to recency and relevancy in what the internet is showing about their "brand", whether they are a marketer for a corporation, or they are simply an individual who is out there. Marketers (and individuals) will only be able to control messaging that they themselves put out there, so the key will be to consistently be involved in the ongoing online conversation, post recent relevant information, and stay on top of what others are posting -- whether that is a "gotcha" photo on Facebook in which they have been tagged, or a press release in the local media with their name.

Chief Marketing Technologist says, in listing 5 great skills for marketers of the future, "...the real skill to have is the ability to look beyond the numbers to see the underlying patterns and trends — to coax out explanations and ideas from the endless sea of bits. This is data analysis, but as intuitive as it is analytical."

PR Squared gets it right in their recent blog..."In the future, the Web you know will be based on the Web that knows you...The reason Facebook and Google will be the long-term winners: it’s not just the fact that they have critical mass, but that that critical mass comes at a time when Social Networks are not justdestinations (a la the old AOL and MySpace), but are becoming integral to the holistic Web Experience."

What does "holistic Web experience" mean? This means that the entire internet exposure for anyone will be their "brand" — everything will be connected. Every individual, as well as every organization, will have to consider whether their total presence on the internet provides a consistent "brand" — how they are positioned in the minds of those people that search them out — friends, companies, recruiters, etc.

The product or service no longer matters — it is not features and benefits people want, but what it will do to enhance their living. Rick Robinson, an E Lab cofounder, says on FastCompany, "People use products to make meaning in their lives and make statements about who they are...Nearly all the tools of conventional marketing — focus groups, customer surveys, segmentation — are designed to measure what people think. But the secret to breakthrough innovation, E Lab believes, is understanding how people behave: what they do and how they live...don't ask people what they want, watch how they live. Let's go to the videotape!"

So, what does this mean for a marketer —get a Twitter or Facebook account for your company? The future of marketing is to create a sort of Luke's Diner online —people want the guy behind the diner counter to be Luke, not a faceless corporation that they don't trust.

Customers want personality, attention and fun. Your job as a marketer is to make your company accessible and, most of all, human.