A Common Theme at BlogWorld: Conversational Marketing

This was the first annual BlogWorld conference held in Las Vegas on Nov. 8th and 9th.  It was a two day conference and was filled with marketers, bloggers, PR professionals, etc.  I attended the following sessions:

·    Tracking Reputation in the Blogosphere

·    Picking a Blogging Platform and How to Leverage Blogs, Podcasts, Video, Social Media, and Other Channels for Traffic Conversions and Profits

·    How Online Conversations Change Markets

·    The Future of New Media Publishing Tools

·    Social Media versus Pay Per Click

·    Creating a Coherent Social Media Strategy

·    Building Relationships with Bloggers

One of the common themes of this conference was that of published a few weeks ago about the growth projections of conversational marketing stated that over the next 5 years, 81% of marketers will be spending as much or more on conversational marketing vs. traditional marketing initiatives. The trickle effect was apparent at the conference. 

A few sessions stood out for me. The first was “Creating a Coherent Social Media Strategy” facilitated by Chris Brogan; where they spent about an hour educating the audience about various aspects of social media marketing from a tactical perspective.  They posed the question of whether of not marketers are “listening” to who is talking about them online; and shared several tools that will help get this information.  And, we all know that “listening” is just one element of a conversation – probably the most important.  I would also add that marketers must not only listen, but also engage and act on those conversations if it makes wise business sense. A great example of this is what Dell is doing with Brian Solis and Paul Gillin; where he compared old marketing activities to the new marketing landscape. He basically said that conversations are key when dealing with consumers; and that these online conversations are going to take place whether marketers want to participate or not.
 He also said that marketers must seek and act upon feedback from these conversations.  Great point.

In summary, it was nice to see that conversational marketing is now being discussed amongst the marketing community. Now, let’s not only write about it and discuss it amongst ourselves, but let’s join the conversation and participate with our communities.

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