I just watched the movie Fight Club (again) and it inspired me to adapt Tyler Durden’s ‘8 Rules of Fight Club’ and create the ‘8 Rules of Conversation Marketing’. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, I highly recommend you do. So here we go…
#1 The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club.
#1 - The first rule of Conversation Marketing, is you do not market AT people.
Forget what you learned in Marketing 101.
Times have changed. People are no longer sitting back and having their wants and needs dictated to them. They are now speaking up and telling you. Listen to them.
Believe it or not, there are people out there that have a better understanding than you of how to improve your product/business/service, and also very willing to share it with you. Learn from them.
Your customers are also now closer to you than ever before. This creates an incredible opportunity to establish trust and create relationships with them. Be authentic in your communication. Fewer scripted emails. Quicker response times. Ask them questions. Share with them your process. Interact with them.
Conversation marketing practices provide for a two-way dialogue, where traditional marketing practices are one-directional, only sending information out. When a company opens itself up to having a two-way conversation—listening, speaking and sharing—with all audience members—Influencers, Participants and Listeners—the benefits are beyond what traditional approaches can provide.
#2 The second rule of Fight Club is, you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.
#2 - The second rule of Conversation Marketing, is you DO NOT market AT people.
This bears repeating. You must participate in the conversation with content that enhances the Influencers’ conversation topics, motivates Participants, and addresses the Listeners’ needs. If you just simply blast out your marketing messages via social media tools, you will be viewed as a SMAMer (Social Media Spammer) – losing the attention and loyalty of your audience. Be sure to interact with, not market at your audience.
#3 - If someone says stop, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
#3 - If someone says something, pay attention.
Here’s a great quote I came across:
“In the old days, brands wanted everybody to pay attention to them. Now, brands need to pay attention to everyone else.” – Anonymous
Listen to what is being said before joining the conversation. Find out what people are talking about, what they like/dislike and what’s being said about your company, your competitors and the overall industry. Learn from what you gather and participate in a way that addresses the current market conversation.
Be sure to also identify who are the ‘influencers’ behind those conversations. Understand where they converse (blog, twitter, conferences, etc.) and what their views are. At a point where you can actually add value to the conversation, participate.
#4 – Two guys to a fight.
#4 - Two or more people are needed to have a conversation.
Conversation Marketing is not one-directional. It’s about the dialogue. Many companies take the first step of posting, sharing, uploading, tweeting, etc. – but jump to the next initiative without paying attention to the conversations that emerge. If you ‘say something’ - be committed to listening and responding to others.
#5 - One fight at a time.
#5 – Participate where it makes sense, not just because it’s available.
Being everywhere can be dangerous as it can spread your resources thin. Remember, it’s about quality versus quantity. Sometimes it will make sense to get involved, other times it won’t. Have a clear understanding of why you would participate and the resources needed to do so. Have a strategy.
#6 - No shirts, no shoes.
#6 – Be transparent, be authentic.
Don’t be afraid to share your experiences—positive and negative—and your insights as you grow your company and evolve your product lines. It’s also OK to make mistakes as long as you explain/apologize/learn from them and communicate that. People appreciate transparency and authenticity. This type of interaction will add a personal touch to your brand that is greatly lost through mass-marketing.
#7 - Fights will go on as long as they have to.
#7 - Conversations will go on as long as they have to – monitor them.
Just because you’ve moved on to other things, doesn’t mean people have. Use monitoring tools to keep up-to-date on new developments of old topics/conversations you’ve had, as well as current topics. There are plenty of free and paid tools to help you monitor the conversations that take place.
#8 – If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.
#8 - If you join the conversation, you must be committed to follow through.
Even if you don’t choose to get involved, the conversations about your product/service/industry will go on with or without you. Pretending they don’t is dangerous.
Just as bad is initially getting involved, but not following through. I’ve seen plenty of companies jump onto the hot new trend (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), but after some time, fail to be active (or even reactive). To the audience, it’s as though you’ve set up a store, with the front door open, but no one is working inside.
This is why it is essential to have a strategy. Social media is not a strategy; social media are tools and locations where communication takes place and where you can interact with your audience. Social media should also not be looked at like a campaign.
Conversation Marketing identifies the people behind the market conversation, locations where they interact (online and offline), and how businesses can become qualified participants and influencers in that conversation. Creating a conversation marketing strategy is a holistic way to align your marketing efforts and be sure they support your business goals.
As Tyler once said, “Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on.” So listen to them, learn from them, and get to know them. Otherwise, you may get knocked out…
