Open Doors Blog: Conversation Rules

When the internet first became mainstream some 10 years ago marketers had one objective: place ads. Since that time internet advertising has become a more important part of an overall marketing strategy to reach consumers. From pop ups, to road blocks, to ads that come falling down from the top of the screen that no one knows how to close…..advertising gets in the way of using the internet. In addition to what they experience on the internet, on an average day customers will see or hear 3,000 marketing messages. With that amount of information coming our way every single day you have to wonder……who is listening?
 
Social Media sites are no different. With the sudden explosion of Facebook and MySpace, marketers wasted little time in buying as many ads as possible. It’s ironic that companies and restaurants were so quick to place ads on a network that is all about conversation and connection, not interruption marketing. Here’s what we know….there are millions upon millions of people on Facebook all interested in two things: conversation and connecting. We also know that Word of Mouth Marketing is the most cost effective and powerful way to drive traffic to your business and build sales.
 
Therefore the strategy to build sales should be simple: use Facebook to connect to customers and engage them in a conversation. Here is where so many companies falter…they believe that because there are 200 million people on Facebook that they should either advertise constantly or push down messages to people who aren’t interested. The real advantage however is in using Facebook for what it was created for: conversation. Facebook is the perfect medium to use word of mouth marketing tools to spread your brand. This is how you win customers and build your brand: you talk with them, not to them. If you haven’t already created a Facebook Fan Page now is a good time to start. Once you get it up and running (it shouldn’t take you long) you will need to promote it through your website, e-mail blasts and your current customers, then once you have acquired a fare amount of fans you can start the conversation….and most importantly keep it going.
 
You will find that this method of communicating with your customers may be the most powerful you’ve ever experienced. For the first time you’ll be talking with customers who are interested in your brand, want to hear from you and most importantly will give you their feedback. Today, it’s about finding people who love your brand and engaging them in conversation…..it’s not about pointless ads.