The marketing message is evolving. The pendulum is swinging from the ‘many’ to the ‘one’ and back again. If you’re still mass marketing then you’re probably a couple of generations behind.

1 One to Many

Shotgun marketing relied on spraying your message to as many people as possible and praying that someone would respond positively. Think mass marketing, command and control.

The marketing message of ‘One to Many’ originates from one central source and is then distributed en masse.

2 One to One

From shotgun to rifle. Let’s get out our Customer Relationship Database and pretend we’re talking to each person individually. Well, we all known the software manages the data and merges the fields…

This approach is based upon the fundamental belief: a brand or a company can be a million things to millions of different people. Fat chance!

3 One from One

From rifle to Google. Search engine marketing is pull based marketing. It’s based on permission. Can I send you my email newsletter?

This is a step toward conversation as the consumer is just as likely to initiate this as the marketer. It stops short of back and forth banter.

[Tweet “The History of Marketing Messages #marketing #conversations”]

4 Many to Many

From Google to Social Media. Many people start talking and many people can join in. There’s no dominant player, just lots of influencers and connectors. And, your brand message is merely one amongst many conversations on the web. Can you see why your traditional message is losing its impact?

There’s an endless supply of meaningful conversations out there already. Isn’t it time you joined in?

Source

This is from the Book Rapper issue Talk With Me that is derived from: Joseph Jaffe’s fabulous book Join the Conversation. This shift to Conversational or Many-to-Many Marketing is the central premise of this book.