Editor’s note: Kevin Layton is CEO of Denver digital marketing firm Data-Dynamix.
Brands want to hit the bullseye with their marketing but often we see them just hitting the wall instead. Today’s digital landscape changes frequently and has so many options for digital marketing that many brands feel overwhelmed and end up campaigning instead of conversing. The brands that actually end up conversing and engaging their audience are the ones that get close to hitting that bullseye.
But what’s so wrong with campaigning? Campaigning is not necessarily bad but it is a little outdated when you consider how our culture operates today. Campaigning involves a lot of talking, hard selling and offers. Often, there is little personal connection and the emphasis is on the sale or offer alone. Today, people want to interact with the brands they purchase from. The rise of social media is one main example of that, as brands are more relatable, humanized and interactive. It’s time to stop focusing on shiny marketing campaigns and start focusing on understanding and conversing with the people you are trying to reach!
Improving your conversational marketing approach
Listening to your audience: A huge piece of any conversation is listening. It’s really not a conversation if you’re the only one talking. Apply this same principle to the concept of marketing and you will start to see a positive shift. Stop for a second and listen to what your market truly wants and needs.
Active listening is important during the entire process of any research and marketing venture – even before starting a campaign to see what the industry and the market truly wants. Getting a pulse from the beginning is crucial to starting in the right direction. Then, listen during the campaign. Pay attention to the cues that your audience is giving you. For example, you may see that people are responding to your video ads more than your banner ads. You may decide to tweak the ratio of video to banner midway through your campaign. If something isn’t working, don’t waste all of your efforts in one bad direction. Be careful, though, not to tweak too much during the middle of a campaign and steer your project in a completely new direction. Finally, listen at the end, which is arguably the most important time to take stock. Once you have completed a campaign, evaluate what worked and what didn’t. Look at the big picture of the campaign to see trends and patterns. This valuable intel gives you the foundation for any future marketing campaign.
Listening is a good habit to build for a brand at any stage. With today’s social media outlets, brands have more insights into customers than ever before. Do you want to know what your fans think about a new product? Why not ask them directly on social media? Are you getting a lot of negative reviews and comments on social posts? Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate how you do other fundamental tasks or services. You won’t know these things, though, unless you are looking out for them and listening to your followers.
Building client relationships: Relationships take time, and that’s true with any digital relationship between a company and its customers. Today’s consumer wants to know and trust the brands they do business with. This sometimes means building relationships with followers for a long time before they convert to being a customer. Today’s consumers want to feel some sort of connection to a product or service before they purchase and they will reward you for building that relationship first.
Brands that focus on building relationships will ultimately build a stronger following. Perhaps the best example of this in today’s culture is Taylor Swift. Swift understands that it is the personal connections her fans make with her and her music that will continue to make her money. By surprising unsuspecting fans at their home and posting videos, selfies and other pics, she brings the relationship directly back to the central focus. Swift knows that by doing these things, she is not only creating a lifelong fan in the one fan she surprises but to all who see that video or picture as well. Does Swift say, “Hey! Buy my newest single!” when she dances around? No, she doesn’t verbally say it but she tells fans that she cares about her relationships, which turns into big sales for her.
Providing value: Perhaps one of the biggest things a brand can do to converse rather than just focus on converting is to provide actual value to their audience. We live in a me-focused economy that often wants something for free first to see if the company offering the free “something” really knows its stuff. Not only that, we live in a culture that knows when something is given but is not truly valuable. Giveaways that don’t actually provide any value are easily spotted. However, brands that give away something that truly solves a problem for customers gain credibility and long-term loyalty.
Personalize your conversation: When you meet a friend for dinner, do you consider what types of food he likes, how noisy an environment he prefers or his budget? All of those considerations are things we analyze subconsciously when we invite a friend to grab a meal. So, why not do that in digital marketing too? We have the ability to customize a consumer’s digital ad experience with retargeting ads. This means that ads for the same or complementary products are served to them based on certain sites they visit or products they view. Rather than serving display ads for pet products to someone who is allergic to dogs, why not serve up pet product ads to people who have purchased other dog products or have read certain articles on dog ownership? Personalizing the experience makes the conversation in your marketing more relevant to your audience!
Repeat your conversation: Most friendships and relationships involve spending time together and usually multiple social settings. It’s rare that you meet someone once and tell them all your secrets. Repetition is key in digital marketing today, as it usually takes at five-to-seven interactions with a brand before a conversion. Conversational marketing says that you need to build a relationship, which means talking about something in slightly different ways multiple times to your audience.
Use language they understand: There’s a difference between speaking to a group of Ivy League professors and a college freshman sorority. The professional jargon you use with an audience of professors is not going to be as relevant for the young college students. The acronyms and slang college students relate to are likely not going to be effective when communicating to professors. While they may walk the same paths on campus, they speak a very different language. When you approach digital marketing like a conversation, you need to make sure you have done the research and are speaking your audience’s language. Understand how your audience views the world and you’ll get your message through much faster.
Digital marketing moves fast but people are still looking for connections. Conversations help you make those connections and ultimately, build lifelong customers. When you stop seeing your marketing in terms of the campaign and instead focus on the people you are marketing to, you will start seeing real results!