Why Marketing Needs to Cultivate Conversation and Community: Revisiting 'The Cluetrain Manifesto'

We lost something when we let marketing attribution mean more than connecting with people. At the MarketingProfs B2B Forum in 2022, I spoke about making marketing more personal—not personalized. The trend toward machinated marketing automation and intrusive digital advertising is not awesome. I'm now two years in as head of marketing for a software development consulting agency, and we're doing things a little bit differently: showing up in communities we care about, sparking interest and connections with humans behind the screens, and engaging in conversations about things that cause a commotion in our heart.

We can regain our humanity and community-building by rereading The Cluetrain Manifesto, which focuses on two deeply human qualities: the engagement and passion-for-quality of genuine craft, and conversations among recognizably human voices. It argues that markets are conversations and that businesses must engage authentically in them as a person with a name, point of view, sense of humor, and passion.

We can create online and physical spaces that foster genuine community-building. People appreciate connections, conversations, and community because they want to connect with people who care about similar topics and philosophies. Our goal should be to show up as a kaleidoscope of individual voices, to make marketing more human in an increasingly digital-only world.