Participate ... Don't just Communicate

Go back to your college days. Whose discourse was more impactful? The professor who placed himself at the head of the class and just finished off that day's topic. Or the college senior who agreed to spend an hour with you to explain the same topic (in exchage for a beer). Or in my case, in exchange for sharing a bowl of Maggi Noodles at a classmate's hostel.

Often most campaigns are run like communication engines. Some message is defined to be communicated. The creative guys come in... with their accented language and maverick looks. They start discussing pictures and layout on the message medium. Finally, the d-day arrives and the message is broadcasted (or in case of database marketing ... mailed across). A lot of science goes in to test and decide the most appropriate content and format for the message.

Now, the campaign owner waits... and keeps calling the analyst to check on the number of responses.

These are akin to a politician standing on the podium just communicating his propaganda. What is needed is for the party worker to meet each citizen and take part in the discussion related to the citizen's life. There is a need to participate.

This is very difficult in mass marketing. In fact, most database marketers also run their campaigns as "mass marketing". The only difference is they have a "filter criteria" and know to whom the message is going. But they have no idea of whether the time and place is a right one. There is no pre-campaign message to gauge the receptiveness of the campaign message.

It is very effective if the campaign are designed as a series of dialogues rather than as just one great message. Campaigns should start off with a message identifying the state of the customer. For example, an general insurer targeting flight insurance could start off with a message asking the customer if "he has flown in the past 5 days?". Based on his response, the next message could be sent. Its like a dialogue with the customer which slowly leads to establishing the pain, need and finally the solution.

I agree that this will increase the cost of communication... but it will offset by the increased offtake.

I will be happy to work out a pilot in my free time to establish this theory. Mail me at michaeldsilva@gmail.com if you think we can employ this strategy in your business.