In the real world, you may have a variety of things to say about life, business or practically any topic you can think of. But just because you have the ability to say it, it doesn’t mean that anyone is listening, wants to discuss your topic further or is willing to share it with others. It doesn’t mean that anyone will be engaged enough to interact with you on this topic. In a competitive online marketing environment, the same can be said in the long debate over what is more important, content versus conversation.
I can’t go as far as either Michael Greenberg or Catherine Novak who offer up compelling stories as to why they believe content or conversation is king. I wouldn’t even say that there is a definite line to the throne for either. It’s more of a democracy where the two complement each other. But I do think that conversation has a little more weight in the marketing arena, especially when there is competition involved. Ultimately, what‘s the benefit of having great content about your product or service if you can’t get your target audience to tune in and pay attention to it? As Novak notes, we need a good “conversation starter.” Often it takes time to stimulate a conversation into an engaging relationship.
Let’s examine the impact of conversation on content in the perspective of two rival retail electricity companies. There’s not much differentiation within the product category, as both sell a commodity product - electricity. Both have a great deal of similar content and boast how their customers can have a low price and help save the environment with a 100% wind electricity plan. The messaging and content could easily be attributed to either company. But their “conversation” tactics are how the two companies differ.
Company A has all their content about their renewable energy products and relatively low pricing on their website. There’s even a page on their website that provides energy conservation tips and other helpful hints. But this company has not embraced the full potential of social media. Consumers are finding the website through paid and organic search. But there is no conversation with customers until they begin the purchase process on the website. That’s if they actually make it there.
Company B has all the same type of content on their website. But instead of a static page with conservation tips and hints, this group delivers the information through their blog on the website. The company has also adopted a robust social media strategy that includes:
- Daily insightful keyword specific posts on Facebook and Twitter that link back to relevant content on the website or in blog posts; and
- Monitoring social media posts for special phrases like “high electricity bills” in order to insert themselves into the consumers’ conversations.
Both actions engage and direct consumers to the website for more information on how they can save on electricity costs by switching to Company B. In this case, the conversation with the consumer starts even before the customer gets to the website and leads to well-informed conversions. Plus, these conversations are likely being shared to others who will be led to the content on the website.
Once the customer makes it to Company B’s website, the conversation is validated by the credible content. Thus bringing us back to my comment earlier about the two (content and conversation) complementing each other. The conversation aspect of social media provides fast, real time interaction with users. It works to engage with them and whets their appetite for the more detailed content on the company’s website. From my perspective, it takes both to achieve true success. In a world with cluttered media and less differentiation among some product categories, a good conversation can lead to great sales numbers.
Sarah Kessler wrote in a blog post,
"If social media continues to become focused on real-time conversations around professional content, it could become a more powerful distribution channel than print, television, radio or static web pages ever were."
Final thoughts... “How could conversations leading to content have helped?”
I am currently in the retail electricity business in Texas where there are over 40 retail electricity providers competing for roughly 5 million homes in Texas. Many of which have very similar messaging. In many cases, you can fill in the following blank with the name of at least half of the providers: “(Electricity Company name here) offers Texas consumers affordable power and a variety of plans to meet your needs. “ But it is the way they initiate conversations with consumers that will stimulate the greatest success. To answer the question, I’m living in this world now, striving to follow the example of Company B.
Give me your feedback and let me know, “how could conversations leading to content have helped” you with a past marketing strategy.
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