Conversation Marketing

Photos: Kevin Lund

Kevin Lund makes a living as a content marketer. He is convinced that while content marketing is not overly difficult it is a skill that needs to be developed. Believing he had know how to share with the world he spent a year conceptualizing, writing, editing and producing Conversation Marketing How to Be Relevant and Engage Your Customer by Speaking Human (Career Press, $16.95), a 230-page softcover book published in 2018.

“Any business, entrepreneur, marketing & communications professionals, content managers, and writers, who are interested in connecting with their own audiences, creating value for them, and ultimately monetizing that relationship,” he said by email via his publicist when asked about the target audience for the book.

“Companies and brands need to focus on eye-level conversation to create actionable content,” he said when asked about the term "speaking human" in the subtitle. “Speaking human implies using the same social mores that we employ in personal conversations with our peers - i.e. no jargon and having the ability to shape thoughts and inspire action through conversational story-telling.”

When asked: In this era of hacking, privacy concerns and identity theft how do you gain or regain your client's trust? He said, “I’m not sure I have enough details to answer this question effectively. But broadly, there is a conversation happening around this subject that firms who are affected by this should be a part of. Educational articles to get in front of a potential problem are great ways to instill trust in an audience, particularly when they come from well-known brands.”

“All are effective with the right strategy,” he replied when asked: what are the most effect means and venues for communication, smartphones, tables, desktops, social media, email, online, print, broadcast? “It comes down to a smart channel strategy. The long sale process today can be through multiple touch points. Each of us have a unique preference for information gathering. Casting a wide net, but focusing on a majority of that strategy in the places where your audiences are hanging out the most is important.”

Kevin Lund, author, Conversation Marketing

“Email is still considered to be one of the most effective means for generating revenue and information-sharing for B2B and B2C firms,” he said when asked about the effectiveness of email marketing today. “Particularly when it comes to opt-in email campaigns. If a brand has a content strategy, using a blog or microsite, for example, using a lead-generation program that solicits signups for an email that is relevant to the person will have much higher open rates than unsolicited rates. The cost of creating information-based content in emails, like a newsletter or blog post, are nominal, and the ROI is very high.”

What is the best way to deal with market fragmentation? He said, “Fragmentation is a content marketer’s best friend! It’s all about relevancy, which is not the same thing as writing a couple of articles now and again that reach a smaller segment of your audience. It’s about creating multiple content strategies targeted to smaller groups of a larger audience. Go deep and niche. The more niche, the more”

So many companies talk, but don't engage or respond, is that strategy advisable? His reply: “That’s a terrible idea. Complacency kills and content isn’t going away. Brands who don’t engage with content are putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Content marketing is about engagement using two-way conversation, not one-way conversations. If brands are just talking, nobody’s listening. There’s a right way and a wrong way to engage in conversation. Putting out trite content and hiding behind the language of “you” isn’t going to instill trust and win customers.”

The book is divided into three main parts titled Planning, Talking and Learning; and 10 chapters. Chapter titles are: Earn Attention, Tell A Story, Stay Humble, Pick Your Party, Be Relevant, Open Up and Listen, Start the Conversation, Known When to Stop Talking, Get Your Customer Involved and Ditch the Checklist. The author highlights Red Bull Media as "perhaps the world's most successful content brand." Lund is the founder and chief executive officer of T3Custom, a Seattle based content marketing agency.