The context: a major cultural shift going on right now

• A redefinition of the lines between what’s private and what’s not is happening
• A generation grown up on blogging and sharing content instantaneously, 24 x 7, globally knows a good reputation comes from a good online profile
• Consumers are more cynical and rejecting the traditional marketing pitch and have access to more information than ever before to research their buying decisions
• Large corporates are having their reputations dismantled in public on a daily basis, people don’t trust big anymore
• Power is shifting to the individual away from the large corporates, the internet has given a voice to the people via blogs
• Companies need to take a bottom up approach (cluetrain manifesto) to building customer loyalty and reputation, top down messaging doesn’t work anymore
• Social networks and communities are growing at a blistering rate, the wisdom of the crowd is something to be reckoned with
• Many blogs rely on scoops to drive their traffic that digging the dirt has become a sort of mass global hobby
• The blog Spreeblick established its reputation and traffic on the back of the Jamba taking money from kids story
• Sony which put a piece of spyware on music CDs as a secret copy-protection technique, only to wind up in court when bloggers revealed that the code left their computers vulnerable to hackers
• Microsoft offering to pay people to buff up the company’s Wikipedia entry

Is traditional marketing dead?

• No (it’s just a bit ill), it’s just hard to combine with conversational marketing to build a coherent and believable picture
• Some companies have managed to build effective campaigns to combine social media with more traditional marketing tactics
• The blogosphere is just another channel, but a very fast growing and powerful one
• Traditonal marketing is based on assumptions about target audience and their desires and established, managed channels
• Conversational marketing is based on real opions and new, chaotic channels that are hard to manage
• Remember that no matter how much you pay to build your brand offline, one ugly blog post could render the investment pointless
• Remember not everyone you want to reach is in the blogosphere yet!

Message control: forget it! the word control and the internet do not mix well

• Embrace the chaos of the web its all about linkage and your reputation as built by a global mass of bloggers and social media junkies
• The more people that comment, add to your message the more interest there will be in your company or products
• The blueprint for the architecture of participation has been laid down by communities not marketing departments

Data collection: the web provides thousands of ways to track users, collect behavioural data and monetise profiles

• New methods of data collection/data types mean it is possible to build a more accurate and up to date view of who your customers are and what their needs are
• Be clear and open about data collection and the use of
• No amount of data analysis can be as useful as just keeping in regular contact with your customers and participating in the conversation

Conversational marketing means talking but listening too!

• Traditional marketing channels use more of a push mechanic
• Just like real world conversations there is give and take…todays marketeers need to listen and support channels (official or unofficial) to get conversations going
• Traditionally corporations with scale had a larger and more powerful voice, tended to overpower the opinion of the customers and hide negative voices
• When negative feedback is given actions should be taken and made visible to the online community

Is trust is required between the 2 parties in order for an open and meaningful dialogue to occur?

• People do not trust the straight marketing pitch anymore, that doesn’t not mean they do not want to buy anything though – the message has to change into a meaningful conversation and the mechanics need to be present to enable customers to build their own picture
• Companies need to be open about what they are thinking about and even give away secrets if necessary

Are we entering the age of the ‘naked CEO’?

• Large corporations will struggle to leverage the new transparency without reengineering their businesses, old behaviours die hard
• Evil corporate behaviour has nowhere to hide in a world where even the most banal celebrity secrets are online before national press even get to hear of such things
• CEO’s are now having to become active bloggers, to take part in the conversations that matter

Get you customers to become your trusted working partners

• By being open and transparent you will gain their trust and interest in what you are doing
• Like the best startups, use customer feedback to shape and give direction to your strategy, product or business

Do

• Establish conversations within vertical segments that matter to your business
• Belong to communities that matter to your business, be active and contribute content of integrity
• Participate, take part in conversations that relate to your business in other channels
• Be proactive, don’t just use blogs to respond to negative PR
• Actively encourage all conversations and feedback even ones that are likely to be controversial or difficult
• Openly admit to mistakes in strategy or faulty products, take it on the chin!
• Make changes to your business based on any negative feedback, make it visible to everyone
• Try and build your online reputation around honest and open dialogue – try and factor this back into the core essence of your brand