Chapter 4 of The Marketing Plan Podcast

The Age of Conversation is a myth, at least in title; the way it’s been named. There’s just not much conversation going on. If you take a look at your Facebook stream, for example, you’ll find, that about ninety percent of your Facebook newsfeed is conversation-less; just people just sharing miscellaneous stuff. So really this is more appropriately “The Age of Social Sharing” or “The Age of Social Connectivity.”

In fact, this generation has about only 1/20^th of the human interaction than previous generations.  There is actually less real conversation taking place in the Age of Conversation. Brand-related conversation (word-of-mouth) happens mostly face-to-face, with only 2% of it taking place on social media.

One goal of your marketing plan is to get people to have conversations about you. How do you earn word-of-mouth in the Age of Social Sharing and Connectivity? In Chapter Four of The Marketing Plan Podcast, special guest Andrea Goulet Ford joins us to earn customer conversations through brand engagement.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

(Email Subscribers and Feed Readers, click here to listen: Brand Engagement Podcast)

Chapter Notes and Links:

Andrea Goulet Ford’s Three Ways to Create an Engaging Brand:

1. Create a strong foundation -This happens when the organization is aligned through mission statements, core values, understanding your audience by envisioning a fictional character, and understanding your product and service.

2. Keep your message consistent – Knowing your message and documenting so that other people throughout your organization can repeat it.

3. Create a Microcopy -Find tiny places to make your brand come alive and stand out from competitors.

Ultimately, our goal is to have conversations with our brand. But how much conversation does a brand need to have with its customers?

One way to control interaction with a customer, is to give them options. If you send frequent newsletters for example, give customers an area when subscribing to choose the send frequency. This prevents customers from feeling bombarded and gives them some control over interaction.

Show Links:

BrandVox
VoiceandTone.com
CultureandContent.com

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