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Can marketers ever start conversations?

Antony Mayfield

5 responses to “Can marketers ever start conversations?”

  1. csven Avatar
    csven

    I’d like to point out that in my comments I included one other thing which, I believe, can be done: marketers can be genuinely passionate about their products. I believe it’s “rare” that marketers can start a conversation simply because in my experience so few are truly passionate about the product they’re pitching. For most, it’s just part of the job.

    I’ve discussed this particular issue before if you’re interested: http://blog.rebang.com/?p=427

  2. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Thanks for adding with that comment – and for the extra link: most welcome…

  3. Simon Collister Avatar
    Simon Collister

    It’s kind of obvious but for me ‘conversational marketing’ is, well, still marketing and not genuine conversation. The problem is that unlike mass comms/marketing ‘conversations’ genuine conversations don’t scale. The solution for tradtional pr/marketing types is – like you say – to act as facilitators for other people’s conversations. But then if there’s a short cut like devising ‘conversational marketing’ it’s inevitable that lazy companies will go down that route.

  4. Will McInnes Avatar
    Will McInnes

    The key is to separate individuals from organisations.

    Absolutely marketers, as individuals, can and should be starting conversations. But they should be conducted in a way that is sympathetic to the environment, and follows the old sales adage: a salesperson has two ears and one mouth – they should be used in that ratio. So marketers should and can start conversations, but they should be actively listening, learning, finding out, not shouting, prodding, promoting.

    But when it comes to the marketing function of an organisation, not an individual but at SCALE, that’s where starting conversations en masse, single point to multiple point, is very hard not to be a broadcaster shouting loudly in a new environment. That’s where it can end up being ‘ad agency thinly veiled’ type thing.

    Marketers forgot how to start conversations, and how to listen, and now they’re remembering that and they (we) should be encouraged.

    So any suggestion that marketers shouldn’t start conversations is bullshit.

  5. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Brilliant breaking down of the issue there, Will: “Marketing” shouldn’t start conversations, people who work in marketing should, is what your saying?

    That works… as long they are listening and understanding first… just like real people do.

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