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What is a Conversation Network Map?

Rather than identify a single target segment, Conversation Network Maps profiles the different conversations that influence a decision. 
Consider the purchase of entertainment technology. The prototypical target is the “Indulgent Young Man” and many have developed campaigns targeting him. But the reality is that this person talks to several other people – Friends/Peers, Big Box Sales People, as well as searches out information like product reviews.   This web of information provides a wide large number marketing opportunities, but which are the critical ones? And what role should marketing take?
The answers come from research and the ongoing monitoring of online conversations.   To develop the Conversation Network Map Recipe 31 provides answers to the following questions:
  • Who are all the resources that contribute information to the purchase decision?
  • How important is each resource in the decision making process?
  • What is being said in the conversations?
Based on the decades old discipline of Social Network Analysis we describe how the decision is made and who is contributing what kind of information.
Given a good understanding of the dynamics of the purchase decision, where should marketing pay attention?
That answer comes from strategy:
  • Establish the marketing objective each conversation
  • Define the role that we, as the brand, should take in each conversation
  • Identify the appropriate tactics used to support, facilitate, amplify or create the conversation. 
 

 "About 2/3 of all economy in the U.S. is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand or service."

McKinsey & Company
 

".... consumers trust other consumers above all else.   78% of respondents said they trusted the recommendations of other consumers."

Nielsen BuzzMetrics