Nov
04

A tough switch

Author // Ann
Posted in // Culture, Future Trends, Management behaviour, Marketing, Social media

I don’t think we are under any illusions here. Moving from a pre dominant offline marketing strategy to an online one is going to be tough. Not least because we have to go back to the drawing board and start again, forgetting almost everything we have been taught about marketing.

That’s not a bad idea though is it? Structurally things are shifting and essentially we have to move from a transactional relationship with our customers to one of engagement. In 2007, Forrester offered the definition of ‘engagement’ which included four elements; involvement, interaction, initimacy and influence. Now there’s a start. For me ‘influence’ is probably the most significant and exciting. Scott Gould has posted a fab article that’s a must read on influencers and translators. Catch it here at http://scottgould.me/influencers-and-translators/

There are three challenges here. Design a strategy that incorporates the four elements and embeds them in the culture of the organisation. Secondly, that those elements are implemented at every stage of the customer process and, thirdly, that you measure them to ensure it translates into meaning for you and your customers.

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Ann

Ann Holman is the founder of the Ann Holman Company who are social architects and strategists. She is a leading thinker, educator, speaker and consultant in the world of social business, social media, marketing, leadership, strategy and communications. Ann has a passion for understanding how 'social' and 'digital' are changing the landscape we live and work in. Please connect with her on Twitter @annholman
  • http://scottgould.me Scott Gould

    Ann thanks for the shoutout.

    The idea of ‘involvement, interaction, intimacy and influence’ is a nice one, although I do find that the edges are so blurred with social media that it is hard to chart where people are on this progression.

    I’m still munching through how we practically work this out

  • http://www.annholman.co.uk Ann Holman

    I think we are all ‘munching’ through it. The great thing about social media and technology is that we can start to build individual and intimate relationships with our top 20% of customers who should also be influencers and promoters of your business.

    If we get to that point it’s powerful and marketing budgets could be slashed too! Exciting times tho’