There is a UK insurance company that has been pretty innovative, their name escapes me right now. My impression is that they were a start up and were catering to the solo-entrepreneur (they call it something else in the UK) darn wish I could remember their name. I will repost when I remember – but they got it.

The power is n the hand (mouse) of the consumer and CEO’s had better get it soon if they want to get free from the earnings trap.

Chris

Good questions.

Blogs, RSS feeds, and poscasts are part of it. So are websites (if they’re structured correctly), forums, or any type of social media in which two sides can work together to understand one another more through, well, a conversation.

So it mostly focuses on the way they communicate with prospective customers than what tools.

The internet gives greater control to customers. No, we’re not completely ‘in control’ like some seem to feel. But through we can pump in a few keywords in Google or join a forum about a subject or check out a few pertinant blogs about something and we have access to a tremendous amount of information.

So wouldn’t make sense for, say, an insurance company to be part of those conversations then just just run a series of :30 second spots and have a stand alone brochure on the web? They NEED to be having conversations us because their products/services are often life critical investments.

Today, we can shop more effectively, intelligently. It means that companies (such as insurance companies) can’t just place TV spots and put up brochureware. If they somehow engage (and I get sick of that word too) their prospective customers to find out what their needs are and what their fears are and how they want to be treated, then they are getting ahead in the game. This can be done via blogs where they are interacting with people. They could sponsor a campaign in which consumers can explain thier concens when buying or having insurance. These are just a few quick examples coming off the top of my head.

Traditionally we would meet with an agent and they’d go over all of the good points. Our choices were limited and we didn’t have many sources to get background info. We’d feel pressured to buy, buy, buy. That era hasn’t ended, but it’s changing fast.

No. “conversational marketing” includes all social media, forums, twitter, social utilities, social networks, web sites, IMs, and virtual worlds like Second Like, etc…

Are you saying that insurance companies ‘should’ direct some of that money towards conversational marketing? Also is that what you call blogging?

Sorry for all the newbie questions but I have not previously heard the term conversational marketing. Cheers!