You may have already heard more than you can take about social networks like Facebook and Twitter or blog marketing. These conversational communications tools are none the less here to stay. Once in a while it’s a good idea to step away from the How-to make a facebook page type article and look at the bigger picture of how online tools are redefining our customer relationships. That’s the intent of this piece.
The Broadcasting Model
It would be an understatement to say that customer communications models are changing. Old marketing and communications practices followed a we speak/you listen model. This worked out pretty well for business owners and marketers when people used to have more attention to spare or we could rely on the novelty of an advertising medium to break through the clutter. Unfortunately, the expiration date these days on novelty expires in months and not decades.
The issue now is that people don’t have the time or interest in listening. Before they expend their time and attention on your company or product an exchange of value has to take place. For today I’ll call that exchange of value, engagement.
The old model looked something like this.
Ye Old Marketing and Communications Model
The Interaction Model
Interactive online tools like blogs ushered in today’s interaction model and extends today in webinars, livestreams, chat rooms, virtual worlds and social networks. Clearly we have a lot of tools that make it possible to better listen. For those of you with businesses with retail locations this interaction model has always extended to the most powerful of interaction models – face time! The influence of online tools has grown and today small business owners are starting to see the value in listening more with online tools. But listening skills aren’t enough and far too many organizations are still stuck in the broadcast model.
The interaction model looked something like this.
The transitional model - think web 2.0
The Evolving Engagement Model
With today’s tools we have what we need to move towards a new engagement model that focuses more heavily on listening, processing, interacting, and broadcasting. Ideally, the net result is tangible engagement and then a lift in your brand and sales.
It probably resembles a formula like this.
Listening 30% / Processing 20% / Interacting 30% / Broadcasting 20% = Engagement
The evolving engagement model
I’m going to dive into the engagement model in more detail in future posts and we’ll bring it all together with an actionable process.
Julian, ed LOCAL Na8ion
where you are is where it’s at
