E-commerce Link: So Hot, You're Cool

“It’s the long-term things you do to gradually convert your prospects into customers in ways they may actually welcome,” says Hrastnik.

Stated plainly, he suggests that if you’re selling mattresses, don’t limit yourself to talking with customers about sleeping—talk about sex, relationships, health, productivity, motivation, success and other things that people actually care about.

Although Bazaarvoice’s Decker is invested in the concept of customer-generated content, he admits, “Customers won’t create content in all the places you need to reach the market and at the times you need to hit your goals. The key is to leverage their voices, either in the creation of your marketing or by using their words directly, to make your ‘talking-at-them’ more authentic, credible and relevant.”

Just Do It
“Get operational, not conceptual,” says Decker, who worries that too many marketers invest time in planning and not executing.

He also suggests creating a “council” focused on forward-thinking ideas—working to drive them forward across multiple functions. This will foster the required cultural shift that crosses multiple departments.

All of this can be scary. Yet, by tying even the smallest baby steps to their impacts on profit and loss, progress can be made. Marketers simply must take a little risk.

Jeff Molander is CEO of Molander & Associates, a digital marketing and media consulting firm. He can be reached at jeff@molanderassoc.com, and he blogs at www.jeffmolander.com.