I don’t think we are under any illusions here. Moving from a pre dominant offline marketing strategy to an online one is going to be tough. Not least because we have to go back to the drawing board and start again, forgetting almost everything we have been taught about marketing.

That’s not a bad idea though is it? Structurally things are shifting and essentially we have to move from a transactional relationship with our customers to one of engagement. In 2007, Forrester offered the definition of ‘engagement’ which included four elements; involvement, interaction, initimacy and influence. Now there’s a start. For me ‘influence’ is probably the most significant and exciting. Scott Gould has posted a fab article that’s a must read on influencers and translators. Catch it here at http://scottgould.me/influencers-and-translators/

There are three challenges here. Design a strategy that incorporates the four elements and embeds them in the culture of the organisation. Secondly, that those elements are implemented at every stage of the customer process and, thirdly, that you measure them to ensure it translates into meaning for you and your customers.

Tom Peters, is a bit of a hero of mine. I’ve read his stuff ever since an ex boss got me a copy of “In Search of Excellence” for my 21st birthday….boy was that a long time ago!!

Tom’s still got it! Read his blog here www.tompeters.com Recently, for old times sake, I read a couple of his old books. In reality, it was to go over old ground to see how much we had listened and possibly progressed. My word was he making sense. Stuff we still haven’t got our heads around but, maybe now, with the advent of social media, we can see the first rays of light. Some of Tom’s nuggets:

- “Humanise the relationship with our customers.”
- “People can smell emotional commitment from a mile away.”
- “Competitive businesses must lead their customers.”
- “Hire curious people – the gumption to do something exciting, something extraordinary, something that breaks the mould.”
- “Bringing clients into the process early makes them co-conspiritors in the creation adventure, which often edges them towards embracing exciting (and risky) ventures that promise a wow-scale payoff.”

If you are reading some leading edge books and are starting to play with social media, these phrases will sound all too familiar. Times are changing and for good. Whole sweeps of business models are broken. Lots of what we learnt at college, university or, that course we went on last week are outdated and outmoded.

The walls are breaking down; in many cases the opposite of what we have been taught is now the way of doing business. Shifting sands yes, troubled times yes, exciting times yes and, opportunist times, you bet!