Conversation cause and effect

Conversational marketing is everywhere – at least that’s what you’d believe if you’re reading the marketing trade rags lately. Online and offline, even Madison Avenue is focused on getting customers to talk to each other.

But when you think about it, the conversation isn’t really our goal as marketers. What’s important is what happens after the conversation.

We assume that if something is buzzworthy enough, and people talk about it, that this will drive action – clicks, consideration, purchases, sign-ups. But that correlation isn’t automatic, and can’t be taken for granted.

The conversation is just a medium. It’s a means of communicating a message. But that media must generate a response. The response is what we’re looking for.

Yes, conversational marketing is urgently important for all marketers to understand and harness for their products, brands and businesses. But the conversation is merely the cause.

Focus on the effect.