Idiom Strategies Conversation Marketing Approach

© Copyright Idiom Strategies, LLC. 2009

March 26, 2009

AConversa+onMarke+ngAgency

Hi, Iʼm Christine and Iʼm the Chief Conversationalist at Idiom Strategies. This is Yan and Tony. Together we work with companies to develop actionable conversation marketing plans to help them participate in their market conversation. If you arenʼt already familiar with conversation marketing as a strategy you might also find it helpful to watch our What Is Conversation Marketing video presentation. This presentation will show the specific approach we at Idiom Strategies take for building conversation marketing plans for our clients.


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• Influencer/PressRela/ons

• SocialMedia

• WordofMouthMarke/ng

• Reputa/onManagement

• ContentMarke/ng

• CommunityOutreach

• LeadGenera/on

• OnlineMarke/ng

• EventMarke/ng

We think of conversation marketing as the strategic convergence of many traditional marketing disciplines all optimized for participating in the market conversation. What do we mean by that? Well, There are many tried and true marketing disciplines that have been developed over the years and are still very effective, but there are also many practices that aren’t actually working anymore or just aren’t working for certain types of businesses. So we map all the different disciplines against your businesses’ market conversation to optimize a mix of activities for you to participate in the market conversation.


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True Participation is a mixture of activities aimed at accomplishing 5 objectives. And the optimal mix is unique to every company.* The first objective is Listening. What’s at the heart of people’s needs and wants. * The second is Speaking. Offering quality, supportive and helpful content that people want to respond to and pass on that is strongly focused on the market’s needs and wants, not necessarily about your product. * The third is Caring. Show that you care about what the market is saying about you, but also show that your company cares about helping people fulfill their needs and wants.* The next objective is Sharing. Don’t be a faceless company. Show your personality by sharing your experiences. Be proud to share accomplishments and don’t hide from errors or failures. * The final objective is Building relationships. Identify Influencers and understand who Participates and who Listens to the market conversation.


Conversa+onMarke+ng

Plan• CurrentMarke/ngAc/vi/es

• Conversa/onMessaging• Rela/onshipDevelopmentBestPrac/ces

• Conversa/onPar/cipa/onBestPrac/ces

• Measurement/Monitoring

• InfluencerIden/fica/on• Par/cipantandListenerProfiles

• MarketNeeds• MarketPercep/on• Compe//veanalysis• Conversa/onLoca/ons&Tools

At Idiom Strategies, we focus a lot of attention on upfront research with a Market Space Analysis. We developed a snapshot of the current market conversation space and review current marketing program activities To determine the optimal mix of conversation marketing activities that will allow you to meet your business goals. The amount of research needed for a thorough Market Space Analysis is highly dependent on your industry, your offerings, the competitive landscape and your current business goals, but the research will always include:Identifying Influencers, Understanding Participants and Listeners, Discovering what the Market really needs/wants and how they perceive solutions, Researching Conversation Locations & Tools, and Listening carefully to what is currently being said and what the topic trends areWith conversation marketing objective we then review your current marketing activities: Is your current mix allowing you to Listen, Speak, Care, Share and Build Relationships? How can your product specific messaging be reworked to be conversational rather than bullet points? What are the best practices for building relationships with different types of people and organizations? What are the best practices for participating in a conversation? What are you monitoring for and how are you internalizing that information? Are you measuring things to produce reports or to utilize toward making better conversation marketing mix choices. All of our findings go into the funnel for developing your conversation marketing plan. Depending your specific goals, your plan will recommend specific activities for Listening, Speaking, Caring, Sharing and Building relationships. Think of it as a


The benefits your company will receive from your conversation marketing plan include * Increased brand visibility* Decreased market research costs* Reduced impact from negative user-generated content* Increase in direct inquires and more qualified leads* Increased sales* Increased sales win ratios* Increased customer retention* Increased equity of your created content* Full equity in influencer relationships


MarketConversa+onReport• MarketConversa/onSpaceSummary

• CurrentStandingSnapshot

• GoalsandObjec/ves

• Conversa/onMessaging

• CurrentConversa/ontopictrends

• Conversa/onPar/cipantandListenerProfile

• Engagementbestprac/ces

By now you’re probably thinking, “This all sounds great, but what would we actually receive from Idiom Strategies?” Every client wants to know what the deliverables are. What tangible items you’ll actually receive so you can make decisions on starting your conversation marketing programs and measuring them to make sure you’re getting the benefits. First, you’ll receive a Market Conversation Report compiled from our findings during the Market Space Analysis. This includes* Market Conversation Space Summary* Current Standings Snapshot of your place in the conversation* Goals and Objectives* Conversation Messaging* Current Conversation topic trends* Conversation Participant and Listener Profile* Engagement best practicesIt could also include a competitive analysis and communications audit as well as other traditional marketing research practices. We work with you to determine what you need done. If you’ve done some of this research already, we can work with that.


InfluencerProfiles• Contactdetails

• Bio

• Howtheirinfluencemanifestsitself

• TheirConversa/onLoca/onsandTools

• Bestprac/cesforinterac/ngwitheachInfluencer

• Directoutreachrecommenda/ons

Next, you’ll receive Influencer Profiles. We’ll identify individuals and organizations that are highly influential in your market conversation. You’ll receive profiles that include:* Contact details* Bio* How their influence manifests itself* Their Conversation Locations and Tools* Best practices for interacting with each Influencer* Direct outreach recommendations


Ac+onableConversa+onMarke+ngPlan• Engagementrecommenda/ons Influencerrela/onshipbuildingtac/cs Topicini/a/on Conversa/onpar/cipa/onbestprac/ces Loca/onsandTools

• Conversa/onlisteningprocessesandtools• Tradi/onalmarke/ngintegra/on• Current: Valida/ngconversa/oncontent Nega/veuser‐generatedcontent Brand/Productpercep/onpoints

Finally, you’ll receive a Conversation Marketing Plan* Engagement recommendations-Influencer relationship building tactics-Topic initiation-Conversation participation best practices-Locations and Tools* Conversation listening processes and tools* Traditional marketing integration* Current:-Validating conversation content-Negative user-generated content-Brand/Product perception points


Conversa+onMarke+ngPlanImplementa+on

• Setupofmonitoringalertsandpar/cipa/ontools

• Timelyrecommenda/onsfornewtopicini/a/on

• Par/cipa/oncommentdraVing

• Integra/onwithothermarke/ngeffortsandcompanycollateral

• Regularrepor/ngonmarketconversa/onac/vity

• Quan/ta/veandqualita/vemeasurement

Conversa+onPar+cipa+onCoaching

Many of our clients engage with Idiom Strategies to implement and do continued execution and maintenance for themBut some companies prefer to do these activities inhouse. We’ll work with you to do as much or as little as you need. * Implementation can include:-Setup of monitoring alerts and participation tools-Timely recommendations for new topic initiation-Drafting market conversation comments-Integration with other marketing efforts and company collateral-Regular reporting on market conversation activity-Quantitative and qualitative measurement * For clients who are more interested in executing on programs themselves, we also offer Conversation Participation Coaching.


Chris+neFife–ChiefConversa+onalistIdiomStrategiesLLCPOBox640172SanFrancisco,CA94146415.494.8212chris/[email protected]:@chrissfife

I hope you find this presentation helpful. If youʼd like to know more about Idiom Strategiesʼ approach to conversation marketing, look over the Services and Approach tabs on our website or watch our Idiom Strategies Approach to Conversation Marketing video presentation.Feel free to email or call with any questions.

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Idiom Strategies Conversation Marketing Approach