Conversational Communication Replaces Advertising

Conversational Communications Conversational Communications

When people share information, ideas, and sentiments, it’s called “co nversation.” If people were not equipped with the natural ability to listen, think and respond, then “co nversation” would be called “ad vertising.”

In the past, companies had to use advertising to communicate. But today, with all the advancements in communication technology, companies, like people, can listen, think and respond. It’s time for these companies to stop advertising. And start a conversation. It’s time for Conversational Marketing.

Conversational Marketing isn’t a completely new idea. Perhaps the earliest sign of Conversational Marketing were those ads fifty years ago that sported body copy that was c o nversational.

Instead of flat, lifeless copy that espoused the features and benefits of the client’s product, some copywriter began speaking to consumers like they were really there.

That copywriter was Bill Bernbach, the man who radically revolutionized advertising creative as we know it.

<< Bill Bernbach

And because of Bill’s insight and creativity, advertisers learned that they could be more effective if they talked to consumers instead of themselves. Advertisers learned to talk to consumers as if they were really having a real conversation with them. Right there in their own living room.

The Last Ten Years

Direct marketing

Relationship marketing

The world wide web

Conversational Marketing is the natural endgame in advertising’s compromise between genuine communication and fabricated communication. The advertising industry has been heading in this direction for the last fifty years. And headed even faster for the last ten years.

Consumers Begin Initiating the Conversation

One to One Marketing Which basically describes an e-commerce transaction. Suddenly every other advertiser out there learned about the value of customer data. Not only did marketers sell to consumers online, but they learned so much in the process. What’s your favorite color? Who’s your favorite band? How many glasses of Ovaltine do you drink in a day?

CRM Customer Relationship Management. It seems that businesses were getting so much genuine dialogue with their customers that they needed entirely new systems to be built just to manage it. Of course, the first order of business for the marketers of these businesses was to make the term “CRM” completely meaningless.

Everybody in the industry, clients and agencies alike, began calling just about everything they did “CRM” . If they sent out an email newsletter, it was called “CRM” . If they collected information about a customer and added it to a database, it was called “CRM” . If they did a customer survey, it was called “CRM” . Of course all of these things can be part of a “CRM” program. The problem is that for most marketers, there isn’t a program in place—just some Convenient Jargon

Clients Are The Ones Who Care And can you blame the ad agencies for ignoring this profound sea change? After all, what do email newsletters, surveys, and databases have to do with advertising? Who cares about that stuff anyway? As it turns out, the clients are the ones that care. And so now you have everybody and their brother crafting “CRM” campaigns. Customer Relationship Management campaigns?

Ad agencies just don’t seem to get it.

Bill Bernbach Was Right

But No One Was Listening

What would have happened if fifty years ago, the industry would have looked at Bill’s ads and said, “Wow! This is great! People are going to talk about this one. We better come up with a way to pick up on their conversation. ” What would have happened to advertising as we know it if all the energy that went into to trying re-create Bill’s magic had been spent trying to support the next part of the conversation. The part where the consumer gets to respond.

Consumers Win

Whatever the forces are behind this communication revolution, one thing is clear. You can’t have a relationship with a customer without having a conversation. The good news is you already know how to have a conversation.

The first step in Conversational Marketing is to make sure you can listen. Here are some obvious signs that your marketing communications are ready to listen.

You have a specific call to action. Write. Call. Email. Click. You make a specific invitation. Join. Register. Sign up. Opt in .

You ask a question. Survey. Poll. Vote.

You open yourself to questions. Search. Feedback. Chat.

Here are some signs you are really paying attention.

You have a single customer database . It’s not divided up into separate databases serving separate departments in your company or performing separate functions for your customers.

Your customer database not only collects data important to your business goals (name, address, payment method) but it also collects data important to your customers’ interests (survey answers, search queries, comments).

You make intelligent responses . You send a thank you email when they leave a comment. You customize your newsletter by highlighting content you know they are interested in. You reply to their emails with a personal response as often as possible.

Numantra is a very unique and results-driven advertising & marketing agency that was started on the crest of a tidal wave of change that ushered in the 21st Century. Our founding partners recognized the coming of this change and purposefully created a company shaped in the image of the unstoppable future. Find out what Numantra can do for you. Visit hire.numantra.com for more information.