Why 2-way Communication Is a Must In 2007?
Posted on April 25, 2007
Filed Under Internet Marketing
Two-way cooperative interaction. Interactivity. Immediacy. Transparency. Co-creation. Collaboration. Authenticity. Trust. Consistency in time. Now you sit, read and wonder what this sequence of terms is supposed to stand for? In a nutshell, these words define the core of a current trend in web promotion that is getting more and more attention in 2007 aˆ“ the engagement marketing.
Engagement marketing, defined by the originator of the term and founder of the concept Alan Moore, steps on the idea of postmodern human beings “as highly social animals, who have an innate need to communicate and interact…have many selves, as we undertake a quest for self identity“. Translated into plain words aˆ“ Alan Moore believes there is a major transformation in the role postmodern people play in their lives in 2007, compared to what they strived for in the past era. More than ever in the previous times, people now have the ability and the overwhelming desire to communicate freely and express their mind on various topics, to have the feeling of inclusion in what is going around them, i.e. to be a part of “the community generation”. The evidence of the tendency is obvious aˆ“ Web 2.0 is so live and kicking with the mushrooming various social networks, blogs, vlogs, etc. aˆ“ “stages” to have your say heard.
In engagement marketing this brand new vision of the postmodern man is applied to the web aˆ“ and more precisely to what people these days seek online and how their desires may help an initiative grow in business. In two words - people now seek and expect direct participation and influence online. Engagement marketers know it and they make it happen by actively involving consumers in both the creation and the production of a given brand/service/company following the basic principle that people embrace projects they actively involve in.
How engagement marketing may enhance your project in practice? Not so hard to have it working aˆ“ just follow the terms in the very beginning of this article. Build two-way communicative flow, boost your interactivity using all possible informational channels (forums, corporate/personal blogs, vlogs, etc.). Mind your immediate responses, build a transparent vision of what your project is all about, what your values and mission are. Let your consumers create and collaborate in your branding and productive processes - their share will help you outline the authentic look of your company. Trust your customers’ opinion and make that needed tweaks based on their constructive opinions. Keep your “engagement policy” consistent in time and don’t forget it is a long-term strategy and not a single marketing campaign limited in time.
Some companies have already done it right and serve as excellent examples how engagement marketing is working: let’s elaborate on a Coca Cola’s recent campaign aˆ“ to attract teenage client mass, the company sunk into an intriguing contest asking people to design a new graffiti logo for one of their drinks aˆ“ Sprite. The contest ran as a brilliant interactive campaign aˆ“ the designs were submitted to the corporate website, transparent to all the visitors there, voted and commented (the interactive principle pictured here), and then the number one aˆ“ chosen by the visitors themselves. Indeed, the example above comes very handy to picture the basic rules of engagement marketing with only one characteristic to add aˆ“ such campaigns need to be implemented in the companies long-term strategy.
However, engagement marketing principles are not applicable to all types of initiatives aˆ“ some brands/companies/project base on a completely different strategy aˆ“ they prefer to be “closed” rather than open to their audience. Those slightly conservative media usually stick to this principle and, obviously, they have some reasons to follow such a path of development. In business it is always a balance of profit and loss and definitely in their case, openness is seen as a loss.
To sum it up, the very idea of building a two-way communication is a naturally born tendency in web projects with its solid foundations seen in the development of Web 2.0 and it is for sure - it will dominate the online stage in the years to come. The companies that will cope to keep their finger on the pulse of contemporary marketing and build wholesome communication with their audience, run higher chance to increase their profit by simply exploiting the postmodern web characteristics.
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