Marketing for Conversation vs. Consumption

I'm tired today.

Tired of all the marketing efforts that only focus on consumption.

• TV or digital ad views.

• Emails receipts.

• Post impressions.

• Radio ads on air.

• Times my brand was promoted as part of a sponsorship.

It's ALL about consumption. So humans have become all about consumption.

We live to consume.

The next season of Ted Lasso. The next flavor of Doritos. The newest iPhone.

And where has that gotten us?

Addicted to consumption.

Now, I'm going to leave the mental health impacts of this for more knowledgeable people to address. But it's equally become a problem in sales and marketing.

All of the marketing efforts above are focused on consumption. How many people SAW a thing.

But how many people SAW a thing is mostly irrelevant if they don't DO something with it.

On both sides of the relationship.

Creating Content for Consumption

If using AI has hit the top of your marketing To-Do list, you're probably already focusing on creating content for consumption instead of value.

Now, that doesn't mean your content doesn't HAVE value. It might.

It's just not created FOR that.

It's created for someone else to read it. Or watch it. Or hear it. Whichever.

But ONLY for them to consume it. NOT for them to do anything with it.

But Tracy, I have a call-to-action in every piece of content I write. That's me asking them to take the next step.

Yeah, OK. If you think people are actually going to take the next step ON THEIR OWN. If you leave them hanging like that, people MIGHT take the next step on their own, but they're more likely to forget about it, about 10 seconds after they've seen it.

Also, are you asking them to take a next step because it's actually helpful for them? Or because you're trying to track where they are in your funnel?

I've been in the marketing industry long enough to know that an email click or a whitepaper download, is all about creating a Marketing Qualified Lead, and less about actually figuring out how you can help a person.

That's the problem with marketing focused on consumption.

It misses the opportunity to build a two-way relationship with a person.

Consuming Content, but doing nothing

Now, the people consuming content are equally guilty here.

Yup, I'm looking at you pretty much everyone (myself included).

Maybe we're not really sure what we should do next, so we head over to Google and find out what other people are saying or doing. We read some stuff (by no means everything). Maybe we come up with a new way forward. Maybe we don't. But the important thing is we consumed a bunch more information, right?

The number of people I talk to who have watched countless YouTube videos and follow countless marketing "experts" on LinkedIn; yet are feeling overwhelmed with information and STILL haven't found something that works for them, is shocking.

Because we make notes, and the notes pile up, and then some of them conflict, and then we don't know which way is the RIGHT way, and we finally just put all the notes in either a digital or physical file folder, and go right back to doing what we always did.

Because that's our habit. We've been building it since elementary school.

And it keeps us in the cycle of consuming, but not THINKING.

But as we've all experienced, CONSUMING doesn't solve a problem.

EXPLORING what you consumed does.

Yet we still don't make TIME for that exploring.

So, what if our marketing program actually baked it in? In fact, what if it WAS the time for exploring?

Exploring Ideas through Conversation

When it comes to our marketing efforts, I think that we often forget that we have Thoughts and Ideas.

We spend so much time thinking about what other people want to CONSUME, that we forget what WE want to say.

Exploring ideas through conversation is about flipping that script.

It's about deciding what WE want to talk about, finding places where we feel comfortable talking about it, and then inviting other people to come talk about it with us.

It's interactive. It's un-scripted. And it maybe even challenges the status quo.

And it's GOAL is to GET PEOPLE TALKING.

Whether they agree, disagree, agree to disagree, or disagree agreeably (where my Dale Carnegie peeps at?), they're IN the conversation.

And you have an opportunity to REALLY get to know them.

Because after all, how many clients do you REALLY need? Especially for you coaches, consultants or B2B companies out there, it's probably not that many.

And if you're first ask for a person is to, "join a conversation they're already interested in", well, I'd say that's a pretty easy YES 😉

A conversation can move business forward. Straight consumption cannot.

NOTE: this is where marketing and sales start to overlap. Now we're ALL having conversations that can lead to a sale. Which means, Sales and Marketing are actually ONE team, not two. But that's a conversation for another article.

What do YOU think?

Now, some of you will read this and think I'm out to lunch. That marketing is and always will be about who can get the most consumed.

GOOD! At least you've put your beliefs to the test.

And THAT'S the point more than anything else. To get people thinking.

Because I believe that when people THINK more, better things happen.

So put your beliefs to the test the next time someone tells you what you SHOULD do. Maybe that's what they say, but is that what you believe?

Maybe yes. Maybe no. Either answer is good.

There is no right and wrong when it comes to marketing. As much as the experts want you to believe THEY are right 💡

You know things. So tell people them. And find the people who agree with you. And invite them into a community where they can feel safe, seen and heard. Because THOSE people are worth WAY more to your business than the people who just scrolled past your ad.

If you're looking for ways to start a meaningful conversation for YOUR business, let's chat.