Most businesses and companies function in a “transmission” mindset. When they have a new product, they exhibit some kind of advertisement—be it a sign in the window out front or a national television ad. They try and create buzz by displaying SALE ! in advertisements and in the window, in great big letters that are impossible to miss. The reality is that people don’t want to be talked at, they want to be talked with.

Companies around the world are beginning to realize that while transmission-based communication is an important part of getting out your message, far more effective tools are at their disposal. Dialogue is a powerful way to broadcast your message while simultaneously getting customer feedback.

Before blogs, press releases were one of the best ways to communicate news about your company. You’d send the press release to a local paper or wire service, hope that some fraction of journalists would pick up on it, and then you’d gain some exposure for a fairly low cost. The problem with press releases and similar transmissionstyle endeavors, though, is that after the press release leaves your company, you rarely see any return. Traditional response rates for transmission-based advertisements, such as television ads, radio campaigns, and press releases, is reported to be a measly 1 percent. At best, you might see an article or two in the news, though most likely it will just be a regurgitated piece from your press release. Or worse, you hear nothing at all.

Tools such as blogs allow you to go beyond the press release and traditional media coverage. They help you engage with your customers and create a real dialogue. These dialogue-based initiatives don’t replace press releases, advertising, or focus groups—they compliment them.

Consider Boeing, a leading aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, which began ramping up the production and marketing of its new plane, the 787 Dreamliner. The company used the traditional transmission-style marketing: press releases, launch parties, media tours, interviews with engineers, and the like. However, Boeing also allowed Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing, to blog (www.boeing.com/randy). Through his blog, Baseler was able to extend the message into a dialogue that included information about a Boeing competitor’s offering, the Airbus A380.

Baseler responds to posts on other blogs, discusses what other blogs are talking about, and reads a vast cross-section of flight and aviation blogs. This blog allows Boeing to use a transmission-style message, which is great for getting the cold hard facts out to the world, as well as a personal dialogue, which is great for communicating passion, having a conversation, and listening to what customers and aviation enthusiasts think.