The
advertising and marketing industry has gone through many changes over the last
decade or so due to the rapid growth of technology. Brands used to be able to produce a great
commercial and reach the masses with TV advertising. In today’s fragmented world, the same
commercial would reach only a fraction of the audience. Due to this fragmentation, brands are segmenting
advertising, targeting unique sub-sets of its audience through targeted online
channels. Overall, this shift has moved brands
from broadcasting to engagement marketing.
It is not enough to just have the content created, consumers need to be
interacting with it, talking about it, or sharing it for the content to truly
be effective. Social media is where the
majority of this engagement is taking place.
Social
media is the channel on which brands can share content with an audience. Millions of people are having conversations
and sharing content across multiple social platforms, and brands can benefit
from getting involved. How does a brand
get consumers to share and talk about it?
It starts with content. Not just
any content, but rich, compelling content.
According to Novak (2010), good content “has action, emotion, and
personal experience, and those are the key ingredients to starting a conversation”
(para. 5). It must be valuable to the
consumer and interesting enough that they feel the need to share it with
others.
In
the debate of which is more important between content and conversation, I would
have to say they have equal importance. Greenberg (2009)
stated “without content, there is not a whole lot to talk about” (para. 4). Content breeds conversation. One does not exist without the other.
For
example, HBO posts a new trailer for the upcoming season of True Blood on
Facebook. Within 24 hours, the post has
been shared a couple thousand times and has a few hundred comments. HBO replies to the comments and maybe even
asks users for their favorite scene from the last season, continuing the
conversation. Users might share images
or video clips of their favorite scenes from the last season, posting more content
and breeding more conversation.
While
both content and conversation are important, conversation is what deepens the
relationship with consumers. Having a
lot of good content is beneficial for brands, but it is the conversation driven
by the content that creates a connection with consumers. That connection is where the future of marketing
is headed. Relationship marketing is “a
strategy designed to foster customer loyalty, interaction and long-term engagement. It is designed to develop strong connections
with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their
needs and interests and by promoting open communication” (Olenski, 2013, para.
1). Relationship marketing creates brand
trust, which leads to brand loyalty.
Creating
good content should be the foundation for any engagement plan. Content breeds conversation, which is crucial
to developing connections with consumers, including current and non-current
customers. Conversations are the key
ingredient in relationship marketing, fostering customer trust and
loyalty. Marketing is no longer a
one-sided conversation. Brands need to
engage with consumers, through content-driven conversations to make those
lasting connections.
References
Greenberg, M. (2009, October 20). Content is king of
social marketing. MultichannelMerchant.com. Retrieved June 9, 2013 from http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/1020-content-social-marketing/
Novak, C. (2010, July 27). Why conversation, not
content, is king. SocialMediaToday.com. Retrieved June 9, 2013 from http://socialmediatoday.com/wordspring/152636/why-conversation-not-content-king
Olenski, S. (2013, May 9). This is the most
important word when it comes to relationship marketing. Forbes. Retrieved on
June 9, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2013/05/09/this-is-the-most-important-word-when-it-comes-to-relationship-marketing/
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