The radical shift from selling to listening

12/29/08 04:33 PM

There has been more change in the media world in the last five years than in the previous 500-Pete Horan, President Media and Advertising

We've been talking to people like they're morons and now they're punching our light out -Joseph Jaffe Co-Author "Join the Conversation"

I love these two quotes because they speak to the radical shift in marketing that for some reason marketers have failed to notice. This has not been a instant change but one that has come gradually although it is being fueled by the growth of the Internet and the need to be heard.

What is so hard to understand about tapping into the conversation? Simply put it's that marketers have never been taught to listen to consumers, except in focus groups and then they hear only what they want to hear. The other key issue that is bothering marketers is that they are no longer in control of the conversation but like Ted Mc Connell said, the Interactive Innovation Director of P&G, "how much control do you give you up? That's like asking the person holding you up at gunpoint how much money to give them".

According to Paul Gillin, author of Secrets of Social Media, each social media platform has unique benefits and marketers need to understand these benefits before they embark on a social media strategy. Blogs are a great social media platform because they allow for a distinctive voice and marketers can somewhat control the conversation. It's also possible to do some marketing on BLOGs as opposed to sites like Facebook and Twitter where users laugh at any marketing attempt. In fact social networks most social networks are the least effective social media marketing platforms because marketers always try and turn the conversation into a sales pitch which drives people far away.

When using social media it's essential to think like a consumer rather than a marketer. This means engage, don't sell, and be prepared to hear some nasty things about your product or brand. A

Another area that marketers need to unlearn is in campaign management. In an era of instant gratification takes too long they need to think long term past 60 second spots and 14 week campaigns. It takes time to build a relationship because the cornerstone of any relationship is trust and today trust is hard to come by.

The art of listening and engaging in conversation is not an easy one for marketers. We have been taught to develop messages and to measure media with antiquated terms like reach and frequency. This means that the MBA education that I paid for was based on the past not the present (I wonder is it too late to call American Express and challenge my tuition charges?).

Marketers are supposed to have a pulse on what consumers and customers are thinking but too many of them rely too heavily on market research to tell them things they should already know. I have been screaming the message of social media and consumer empowerment for a long time but most times it fell on deaf ears. Speed is a competitive advantage and those marketers that can react to changing marketing environment by changing their organization to better compete will be better prepared to meet the challenge of marketing.

Tags: Branding