“Sales pitches”… “Funnels” … “Marketing ideas” … “Call to action” …“Placement of text” …how often have you found yourself pondering over the nitty-gritty of so-called “perfectly planned digital marketing”? I bet way too often.
It is common for an entrepreneur to dive deep into this jargon in the quest of taking a potential customer along this journey to the end. But does that work?
While innovation and formulas are good, one factor that’s often missing is the value of conversations.
Before coming across the concept of embracing storytelling to fuel marketing, I believed that marketing only worked when the ‘right’ formulas were applied ––like a mathematical equation that has a fixed answer if you follow the steps correctly.
Since then, I’ve learned that marketing is a language and if you cannot connect to your customers, it’s going to be very hard for you to sell.
Let me first explain what digital conversations are and why they are relevant to a successful marketing campaign. Remember how direct marketing used to be the go-to marketing technique? The seller would come to your door and have a conversation with you. He or she would take the time to understand where you were coming from and what you needed.
The idea of simply sitting and listening to the customer’s side of the story is to understand various aspects of the customer. Why is this person not willing to buy, what is this person accustomed to, and on top of that, are there any past experiences that influence their feelings, actions, and decisions?
A digital conversation takes this idea of knocking on the door and having a conversation with someone into the online environment.
In the words of Adam G. Force, co-founder of Change Creator and co-creator of the Captivate Method: –
“Customer funnels don’t matter. What truly matters is, how you are filling the funnel with relevant conversations.”
Adam G. Force
The reason why digital conversations play a vital role in that they offer a two-way street between you and your audience. Here you are not just focused on the conversion but, instead, on the conversation. When you get to know the customer in this way, you can gauge where he or she is in the digital funnel and tailor your conversation according to what they need to hear at the time.
It would be an understatement to say that digital conversations are changing the idea of customer funnels. It is easy to get stuck in the vortex of digital marketing best practices… but in reality, if we strip down to fundamentals, a business and its customers are like a ping pong game –– which can end quickly if there is no give and take!
Knowing what your customer needs to hear can be transformative knowledge for your business and to dig that, you need the shovel and spade of relevant conversations.
To help guide this new way of thinking about online marketing funnels, we developed a concept called the Story Map. Within the Captivate Method framework, the Story Map works like a compass. It helps you determine where your customer is in the funnel and what possible relevant conversation topics you can start with. It is not manipulating your customers but is rather giving them the information they need to know, at the right time.
If you think conversions are tough, try conversations to make it easier!
This could be the missing skill in your digital marketing engine.
As I meet more entrepreneurs and hear their stories, it makes me wonder how simple the world around us is. We, humans, are nothing but the piece of puzzles in a network where I may have what you want and you may have what she wants – voila! That’s business.
To learn more, watch this Facebook live with Danielle and Adam:
