Are
you skipping the critical first step?
Last month author John Battelle was the closing keynote speaker at the national DMA conference. He illustrated in two words what I have been trying to articulate for eons:
We
used to want: conversion
Now we want: conversation
Conversion used to be the Holy Grail: Get them to your Web site and get them to buy (i.e. convert). It's not so simple any more. Too many choices, too much distrust, too easy to click away without ever buying anything.
Marketing
builds trust
Why is Battelle's simplicity so right on? Because
marketing is about relationships: People want to buy from someone or some
company they know, not some generic, faceless corporation or ecommerce
site.
So your first goal should be starting the conversation. Then working towards conversion later, after you've earned trust, proven yourself credible, and become someone they want to do business with.
You might read these words and think, "Sure, that applies to the little mom-and-pop shop, selling directly to consumers, but not my big corporation selling software to enterprises." Don't be so sure. Think about it:
- People buy with their hearts, not their minds.
- People buy from salespeople they like.
- People talk about their experiences and purchases, both good and bad.
These are emotional truths. They apply across the board, from B2C to B2B, from little corner deli to big corporate monopoly. And relationships are an intrinsic part of marketing as a result.
Jumpstarting
a conversation
To start a dialog, figure out what can you do to
give a person the chance to raise her hand and say "Yes, please converse
with me." The easiest way is to offer something for nothing,
like:
- A useful e-newsletter
- Tips
- Whitepapers
- Cost analysis tools
- CD demos
- Webinars
- Self-evaluation quizzes
- Checklists
- Complimentary consultations
- Third-party reviews
- Pocket-sized booklets
And if you take the conversation analogy a step further, you'll see that most if not all of these possible offerings also have the potential to be viral, to be passed along from one potential client to another…and there's nothing wrong with a little word-of-mouth marketing!
Until next month,
Sharon
