About

Posted by Connie Reece on March 17, 2021 at 7:36 am

connection through conversation

At gut level, most people in advertising, marketing and public relations know that people are tired of being talked to. What people want—what they’re now demanding—is dialogue.

Communications professionals should be at the leading edge of this transition to conversational marketing, but few practitioners have actually developed the social media skills to help their clients, customers and consumers join the global conversation.

The folks who make up Every Dot Connects no longer simply direct messages at audiences. What we specialize in is making connections with people. We take a different approach—one that does not fall back on the stale “we’re excited to announce” press release or the glossy print ad featuring anorexic models or the art-as-entertainment TV commercial.

Oh, we still do public relations, but it’s the kind of PR that lives up to its name: building relationships with the public. And that’s impossible if the conversation is only one-way.

Way back in the 20th century, we discovered a new model: markets are conversations. We took to heart that mantra, first expressed in the groundbreaking Cluetrain Manifesto.

A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.

These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.

Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.

But learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about “listening to customers.” They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.

Traditional media—communications, information and entertainment—have not been replaced. But they are being augmented by what is referred to as social media, a participatory form of media in which the reader, listener or viewer becomes a co-creator and co-publisher of content.

Some pundits see this as a media revolution. We see it as more of a reformation: media is being re-formed into new collaborations, ignited by technological innovations that make communication easier than ever before—and faster than was imaginable even a few years ago.

Every Dot Connects is a social media consortium, a group of independent media practitioners who are passionate about using new technologies to build bridges between people and ideas and causes. Whether working individually or as a team, we help clients navigate through the rapids of emerging media streams.

Connie Reece, Founder
Every Dot Connects

Category: Public Relations

• Add this post to
• Del.icio.us -
• Digg

Comments are now closed.