Internet word of mouth

WOM (Word-of-Mouth, сарафанный маркетинг или сарафанное радио) — это распространение информации от человека человеку, включающее в себя  реальное и виртуальное общение. Использование данного метода в маркетинге недорого, однако, требует много времени на разработку эффективной стратегии. Он по-прежнему остается активным способом продвижения бренда. Положительные отзывы или любая другая информация о продукте распространяется среди пользователей устно, словесно, от Клиента к будущему Клиенту.

WOM является частью вирусного маркетинга и хорошо комбинируется с Social Proof, так как люди не считают эти подходы рекламой и доверяют рекомендациям других людей. Это неотъемлемый компонент так называемого партизанского маркетинга, который используют для распространения коммерческого предложения или любой другой информации.

Отличие классического сарафанного радио от вирусной рекламы — в каналах обмена информацией. Интернет, к примеру, открывает более динамичные и массовые возможности, когда пользователи могут быстро делиться отзывами и рекомендациями, писать комментарии, высказывая экспертные мнения или комментарии на различных сайтах, тогда как классическая формаWOM-маркетинга предполагает личное общение. В буквальном смысле — передачу рекламы из уст в уста.

Однако перед тем, как внедрять такой инструмент, WOM-маркетинг, необходимо изучить следующие факторы.

• Социальные потребности и пожелания аудитории.
• Наличие платформы для передачи рекламного сообщения, то есть форума или тематической группы в социальной сети.
• Инструменты для создания эффективного коммерческого предложения.

Стратегия рекламного Word-of-Mouth во многом зависит от социальных, эмоциональных и экономических факторов. Надо учитывать и то, что потребители могут обсуждать не только преимущества, но и недостатки товара, услуги или компании. Это скажется на формировании мнения о вашем продукте, но по-прежнему будет являться элементом рекламы.

Сегодня выделяют несколько десятков характеристик бренда, которые можно использовать в процессе продвижения маркетинга из уст в уста. Эмоциональная составляющая играет важнейшую роль на любом этапе продвижения, даже при использовании популярного вирусного видео.

От чего зависит эффективность маркетинга из уст в уста?

• Тип рекламируемого продукта или услуги.
• Возраст компании или бренда, а также уже существующих результатов его продвижения (если таковые есть).
• Способы выражения мысли о товаре и его характеристиках.
• Предрасположенность аудитории к обсуждению и обмену информацией о данном продукте.
• Имидж компании или торговой марки, уровень доверия потребителей.
• Сложность подачи информации, используемые инструменты.
• Ценность бренда для широкой аудитории.

Маркетинг из уст в уста должен стимулировать целевую аудиторию к обмену положительными отзывами. При этом Клиент даже не подозревает о своем участии в бизнес-процессе. В этом и есть суть использования сарафанного радио и распространения вирусного контента.

Это довольно выгодный рекламный канал, поскольку удовлетворенный покупкой или заказом потребитель, готов рекомендовать понравившийся продукт другим пользователям абсолютно бесплатно.

Преимущества Word-of-Mouth

• Эффективный канал рекламы, распространения информации о продвигаемом бренде.
• Охват широкой целевой аудитории.
• Эффективное продвижение через SMM при использовании различных методов в соцсетях.
• Минимальные траты на рекламную кампанию.
• Высокая степень узнаваемости торговой марки, товара или сайта.

Подделывать сообщения в рамках продвижения посредством WOM-маркетинга считается неэтичной практикой. При обнаружении обмана целевой аудитории, бренд формирует негативное мнение о себе, отталкивая потенциальных заказчиков. Но риски и возможные негативные последствия часто игнорируются рекламными агентствами. Многие из них на этапе продвижения используют инструменты крауд-маркетинга, которые подразумевают применение платных экспертных отзывов, написанных под заказ.

В сети есть десятки, если не сотни материалов на тему потрясающего эффекта word-of-mouth или сарафанного радио: по статистике, благодаря ему , популярность и продажи брендов взлетают до небес. В то же время, инструкций по WoM, его интеграции в стратегию продвижения практически нет. В статье — специалисты из команды агентства Ex Libris разбираются в том, что на самом деле представляет из себя word-of-mouth маркетинг, что нужно компаниям для его запуска и успешной работы и есть ли смысл ставить конкретные цели по достижению эффекта сарафанного радио.

Положительный отзыв на новый сервис, устная рекомендация нового ресторана в кругу друзей, пост с отметкой бренда в своем профиле — все это относится к сарафанному радио. Интерес потребителей к продукту или услуге компании находит отражение в их повседневных диалогах.

Про WoM накоплено много разной, но в целом однозначной маркетинговой статистики, например:

За крутыми и даже немного неправдоподобными цифрами стоит простая логика. В бизнесах и у продуктов, где процесс принятия решения о покупке долгий, тяжелый в эмоциональном или материальном плане, как например, выбор клиники, или требователен к экспертизе, как выбор ноутбука среднестатистическим пользователем, — мнение доверенного окружения, или даже простая, но достоверная рекомендация от хорошо знакомого человека часто играет решающую роль.

Наиболее это распространено в b2b, при выборе услуг подрядчиков, агентств, да и в целом в сфере услуг, где потребителю сложно отличить «хорошего» исполнителя от «плохого» самостоятельно, при условии, что кейсы, КП, сайты, отзывы у обоих блестящие и очень убедительные.

Хороший пример — PR и маркетинговые агентства: как правило, все они хорошо упакованы, и при первом знакомстве с сайтом или коммерческим предложением составляют хорошее впечатление. Продвигаются они, условно, тоже примерно одинаково. Однако директора в малом и среднем бизнесе в первую очередь идут к «доверенным» агентствам — с которыми уже работали или с теми, кого доверенные коллеги считают достойными партнерами — и тут начинает работать WоM.

Вспомните посты в профильных группах на Фейсбуке с просьбами посоветовать, подсказать достойное агентство. Именно в комментариях к таким постам часто и завязываются продуктивные «коммерческие» знакомства. Внутри таких сообществ уже сформирован некий пул «фаворитов», которых готово рекомендовать большинство.

Типы WoM в маркетинге

Люди постоянно советуют друг другу самые разные продукты и услуги, в самых разных ситуациях и форматах. Таким образом, установить источник и атрибуцию новых клиентов может быть непросто. Тем не менее, можно выделить наиболее значимые каналы с точки зрения маркетинга:

Peer-to-peer — одна из наиболее распространенных форм WoM. Если потребитель получает рекомендации от друзей, коллег и других людей, которых он уважает и которым доверяет, шансы на то, что он обратится к рекомендуемому бренду, сильно возрастают. В то же время, брендам сложно отслеживать эти взаимодействия и влиять на них напрямую.

UGC или пользовательский контент интересовал пользователей еще задолго до пандемии, а после 2020 года уже прочно и надолго закрепился в первых строчках медиатрендов. Отзывы, гостевые посты, опросы, конкурсные работы, ретвиты, репосты и перепубликации пользовательских сторис и видео в ТикТок набирают широкие охваты аудитории и знакомят её с брендом.

Социальные платформы так или иначе участвуют во всех перечисленных типах сарафанного радио, и все же стоит упомянуть их отдельно. Сообщения с упоминанием бренда на какой бы то ни было площадке — хорошая иллюстрация социального доказательства.

В данном случае речь не только о каналах брендов в «классических» Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn и Instagram, но о любых других платформах, где пользователи взаимодействуют друг с другом, в том числе узкопрофильных площадках, отзовиках и геосервисах.

Что помогает брендам развивать WoM

Как правило, WoM работает через укрепление доверия и увеличение медиаприсутствия, а также через позитивные кейсы и пользовательский опыт. Соответственно, все средства и инструменты, которыми они достигаются, относятся и к сарафанному радио.

Коммуникации брендов с потребителями

Без них WoM будет попросту неоткуда взяться. Конечно, можно пустить все на самотек, рассчитывая, что безупречный продукт и сервис компании сделают всю работу. Однако без общения с потребителями, без их обратной связи — представления компании об уровне и качестве обслуживания может сильно расходиться с реальностью, а сарафанное радио без участия бренда будет работать в обратную сторону.

В случае с b2b — обсуждений и отзывов может быть немного, поэтому бренду следует инициировать диалоги с потребителями самостоятельно. Как минимум, можно разместить информацию о компании на специализированных ресурсах, геосервисах, отзовиках и других релевантных и подходящих для коммуникаций площадках, а также встраиваться в тематические обсуждения в соцсетях. Конечно, простых размещений контактной информации и нескольких сообщений недостаточно. Это подводит нас к следующему пункту.

ORM и Customer Care

Закономерное продолжение работы с обсуждениями и отзывами пользователей.

В идеале, каждый бренд должен выстраивать Customer Care, в который входит мониторинг упоминаний, их отработка, и генерация отзывов от реальных потребителей — просьба оценить продукт после покупки, возможно, в обмен на небольшую скидку или подарок — для большей мотивации.

Таким образом, сарафанное радио будет развиваться в контролируемых условиях и создавать у потенциальных клиентов только положительные впечатления о компании.

Пользовательский контент

В данном случае это и цель и средство. Чем больше UGC, тем больше людей знают о бренде и генерируют еще больше UGC и так далее. Генерация пользовательского контента через всевозможные конкурсы, челленджи, а также поощрение авторов поможет компании продемонстрировать «живые» отзывы новым пользователям и выстраивать более тесные отношения с действующими клиентами.

Амбассадоры и тематические сообщества

Почему не просто «инфлюенс-маркетинг»?

Компании могут обращаться к лидерам мнений с разными целями. Условно, их можно разделить на краткосрочные, когда инфлюенсеров используют просто как рекламный «инвентарь», и долгосрочные, когда аудитории подробно, обстоятельно и долго разъясняются все достоинства продукта и опыт его применения. Второй вариант, естественно, более затратный, но именно такая работа способствует развитию WoM: пользователи регулярно сталкиваются с продвигаемым продуктом в инфополе и начинают говорить о нём.

Social listening

Нужен для представления общей картины восприятия бренда аудиторией, а также для исследования этой самой аудитории, ее предпочтений, поведения, взглядов.

Сарафанное радио — практика, сочетающая в себе многие элементы маркетинга, пиара и репутационного менеджмента.

Достоинства WoM

1. Повышение доверия и лояльности клиентов к бренду, польза для репутации. Большая часть b2b компаний старается развивать маркетинг взаимоотношений, и доверие потребителей — одна из главных его составляющих.

Рекомендации, которые пользователи получат от «живых людей», будь то коллеги, друзья, другие покупатели — намного эффективнее, чем классические рекламные сообщения от самой компании.

2. Создание долгосрочной ценности. Последовательный и положительный поток рекомендаций из разных источников будет способствовать наращиванию базы лояльных клиентов и продолжению сотрудничества с постоянными партнерами.

Недостатки WoM

1. Сложность и стоимость исполнения. На первый взгляд может показаться что сарафанное радио, при всей своей эффективности и полезности, еще и очень бюджетное решение — люди делятся рекомендациями сами, а брендам остается только продать новоиспеченным клиентам свой продукт.

На деле, для того чтобы эффект от WoM был действительно значимым, компаниям нужно прилагать много сил и времени, — все перечисленные выше инструменты не дают быстрого результата и, в зависимости от направления бизнеса, могут потребовать серьезных затрат.

2. Измерение эффекта. Бренд может отследить лишь небольшую часть рекомендаций: многие из них озвучиваются в частных беседах, в офлайне, некоторые становятся актуальными по прошествии времени — когда появляется соответствующий запрос. Точные измерения эффективности в данном случае невозможны.

В наших силах — анализировать настроения аудитории через social listening, мониторить количество упоминаний и отмечать сообщения рекомендательного характера.

В целом, WoM — это скорее отражение всего комплекса предпринимаемых маркетинговых и PR-усилий. Если компания предлагает качественный продукт, активно общается с потребителями и следит за присутствием в инфополе — рекомендации потребителей не заставят себя ждать.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

«WOMM» redirects here. For the American radio station, see WOMM-LP.

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM, WOM marketing, also called word of mouth advertising) differs from naturally occurring word of mouth, in that it is actively influenced or encouraged by organizations (e.g. ‘seeding’ a message in a networks rewarding regular consumers to engage in WOM, employing WOM ‘agents’). While it is difficult to truly control WOM, research^[1] has shown that there are three generic avenues to ‘manage’ WOM for the purpose of WOMM:

• build a strong WOM foundation (e.g. sufficient levels of satisfaction, trust and commitment),
• indirect WOMM management which implies that managers only have a moderate amount of control (e.g. controversial advertising, teaser campaigns, customer membership clubs),
• direct WOMM management, which has higher levels of control (e.g. paid WOM ‘agents’, «friend get friend» schemes).

The success of word-of-mouth marketing depends largely on the nature of the rewards that are used. Research has shown that when the wrong incentives are used to motivate consumers or agents to spread positive word-of-mouth about products or brands, the campaigns can backfire on the organization.^[2] Proconsumer WOM has been suggested as a counterweight to commercially motivated word of mouth.^[3]

History[edit]

George Silverman, a psychologist, pioneered word-of-mouth marketing when he created what he called «teleconferenced peer influence groups» in order to engage physicians in dialogue about new pharmaceutical products. Silverman noticed an interesting phenomenon while conducting focus groups with physicians in the early 1970s. «One or two physicians who were having good experiences with a drug would sway an entire group of skeptics. They would even sway a dissatisfied group of ex-prescribers who had had negative experiences!»^[4]

With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web startups like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with the social networks that they have developed.^{[citation needed][clarification needed]} With the increasing use of the Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth has become a more powerful and useful resource for consumers and marketers. It has become possible because, with the advent of the Internet, the process of communication has been simplified due to the disappearance of such communication barriers as distance, linguistic and others. People have become more willing to share their opinions, create thematic communities, which ultimately influenced the WOM.

In October 2005, the advertising watchdog group Commercial Alert petitioned the United States FTC to issue guidelines requiring paid word-of-mouth marketers to disclose their relationship and related compensation with the company whose product they are marketing.^[5] The United States FTC stated that it would investigate situations in which the relationship between the word-of-mouth marketer of a product and the seller is not revealed and could influence the endorsement. The FTC stated that it would pursue violators on a case-by-case basis. Consequences for violators may include cease-and-desist orders, fines or civil penalties.^[6]

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, a US American trade group that represents hundreds of companies, has adopted an ethics code stating that manufacturers should not pay cash to consumers in return for recommendations or endorsements.^[7]

Research firm PQ Media estimated that in 2008, companies spent $1.54 billion on word-of-mouth marketing. While spending on traditional advertising channels was slowing, spending on word-of-mouth marketing grew 14.2 percent in 2008, 30 percent of that for food and drink brands.^[8]

Word of mouth marketing today is both online and through face-to-face interaction. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science has shown that to achieve growth, brands must create word of mouth beyond core fan groups—meaning marketers should not focus solely on communities such as Facebook.^{[citation needed]} According to Deloitte, further research has shown that ‘most advocacy takes place offline’—instead it happens in person. According to the Journal of Advertising Research, 75% of all consumer conversations about brands happen face-to-face, 15% happen over the phone and just 10% online. On the other hand, some see social media interaction as being inextricably tied to word of mouth marketing.^[9] In 2003, Fred Reichheld implemented the strategy of word-of-mouth marketing by introducing Net Promoter Score, which analyzes the number of Promoters a brand has, who recommend the brand to other people they know through such marketing tactic.

Factors[edit]

According to academic research^[10] and Jonah Berger’s bestselling book Contagious: Why Things Catch On,^[11] there are six key factors that drive what people talk about and share.^[12] They are organized in an acronym called STEPPS, which stands for:

• Social currency — The better something makes people look, the more likely they will be to share it.^[13]
• Triggers — Things that are top of mind (i.e., accessible) are more likely to be tip of tongue.^[14]
• Emotion — When we care, we share. High arousal emotions increase sharing.^[13]
• Public — The easier something is to see, the more likely people are to imitate it.^[14]
• Practical value — People share useful information to help others.
• Stories — Trojan horse stories carry messages and ideas along for the ride.

Another key psychological driver of word-of-mouth is interest.^[15] As Sernovitz suggests, “nobody talks about boring companies, boring products, or boring ads,”.^[16]

Concepts/models[edit]

Three models[edit]

When further research went into developing the concept word-of-mouth marketing, many models behind the word of mouth strategy also developed. These models include the organic inter consumer influence model, the linear marketer influence model and the network coproduction model.

When dealing with the initial and simplest form of word of mouth Marketing it is related to the model of the organic inter-consumer influence model.^[17] This means that organizations having no direct input of what is being said about the particular product, it is just one consumer talking to another about product reviews and or customer service experience. The main motivation behind this model is for others to warn and inform potential consumers of a product out of their best interest not for personal gain.^[17] This model is referred to being organic because it occurs naturally, meaning it is not planned by the firm and occurs when the consumer wants to share their experience with a certain brand or product.

As research started to progress, marketers found the importance of «influential consumers».^[17] So the linear marketer influence model was adopted. The linear marketer influence model introduces the idea of influential customers creating conversations with potential customers and consumers about how a certain product can be beneficial for them to purchase. This model allows organizations to make sure that credible influential sources are spreading the word/ message of the organization and presenting the value proposition of the organization successfully and accurately to the target consumer.^[17] This can be done through «targeted advertisements and promotions through credible sources that review the product».^[17] Marketers found this model to be an effective model of word-of-mouth marketing and it decreased the chances of negative opinions and attitudes from being spread about a particular product of the organization.

The Network Coproduction Model: This saw marketers introduce «one to one seeding and communication programs».^[17] This model encourages conversations between customers about the certain product through releasing information on a particular product.^[18] This word-of-mouth model is more focused on online activities, using blogs and online communities as sources in communicating the message of the product. The network coproduction model gives marketers the opportunity to control and manage word of mouth activity online.^[17]

• Seeding is one example of how Marketers use the network coproduction model of word-of-mouth marketing. With seeding marketers can use various techniques and approaches these approaches can be indirect like engineering WOM conversations and direct approaches^[18][19]
• The engineering approach consists of marketers constructing conversations, so there is more buzz created and the number of conversations based on an organizations product increases.^[18]
• A direct approach to seeding is targeting special selected consumers and allowing them to sample products that an organization has. This allows these selected customers to present their feelings towards these products through online communities or blogs.^[18]
• Seeding campaigns can offer marketers the ability to reach a new set of consumers. It is most effective when the product is at the beginning stage of its product life style and helps to set the reputation of the brand and product into motion.^[18][19]

Buzz[edit]

Marketing buzz or simply «buzz» is a term used in word-of-mouth marketing—the interaction of consumers and users of a product or service serve to amplify the original marketing message.^[20] Some describe buzz as a form of hype among consumers,^[21] a vague but positive association, excitement, or anticipation about a product or service. Positive «buzz» is often a goal of viral marketing, public relations, and of advertising on Web 2.0 media. The term refers both to the execution of the marketing technique, and the resulting goodwill that is created. Examples of products with strong marketing buzz upon introduction were Harry Potter, the Volkswagen New Beetle, Pokémon, Beanie Babies, and the Blair Witch Project.^[21]

Viral effects[edit]

Viral marketing and viral advertising are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of virus or computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.^[22] Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high social networking potential (SNP) – and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor—and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population. The term «viral marketing» has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on-line combined with undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word-of-mouth enthusiasm.^[23]

Analyzing WOM[edit]

Consumers may promote brands by word-of-mouth due to social, functional, and emotional factors.^[24]
Research has identified thirteen brand characteristics that stimulate WOM, namely:^[25]

1. Age of the brand in the marketplace: A long history of a brand or product can create an emotional relationship between the consumer and itself. This can stimulate WOM if the brand is known to be reliable or effective evident by the existence of its place in a market, this can be effective for companies for communicating their strength to other competitors.
2. Type of good: Depending on the type of product, experiences customers have with a product may mean that WOM can be used to suggest brands and products to others when in different forms of situations. An example of this could be a household or garden object.
3. Complexity: WOM is used in this instance to help explain the use of a product or its effectiveness to whether of not it will serve its purpose or need.
4. Knowledge about a brand: Similar to complexity, WOM can be used to describe the effectiveness of a brand, the history behind it and what the main purpose of the product is. WOM is also used to identify a company’s future whether it be positive or negative.
5. Differentiation: An experience with different products within a market can mean that WOM can offer solutions to others and explain which products and brands could be more effective than others when looking at similar products serving the same need. Previous consumers can help describe strengths and weaknesses of products and help make the correct decision.
6. Relevance of a brand to a broad audience
7. Quality: esteem given to a brand
8. Premium: WOM regarding premiums can refer^[26] too different packaging of a brands products e.g. during Easter or over Christmas. Different and exciting packaging and deals can stimulate a huge source of WOM communication and can lead to brands becoming extremely popular over short periods of time. An example of this would be supermarket ‘bulk buy’ deals over the Christmas holiday period.
9. Visibility
10. Excitement: WOM can be used to promote up and coming products which results in huge amounts of excitement. An example of this could be new technology being released to the public and advances in medical technology and vehicles. These examples are best used to demonstrate excitement as a result of word of mouth marketing.
11. Satisfaction
12. Perceived risk: WOM can be used to warn other potential buyers that a product is not what it claims to be. An example of this may be online buying as a result of marketing strategies from phony companies who focus on producing fake goods that look and seem like the legitimate product. An example of this would be fake iPhones and clothing (most significantly shoes and sports wear).
13. Involvement

This research also found that while social and functional drivers are the most important for promotion via WOM online, the emotional driver predominates offline.

Advantages and disadvantages[edit]

Word of mouth marketing can be very effective in the communication of the advertising campaign as it can offer a solution to «penetrating consumers guards» to get them talking about a particular product.^{[citation needed]}

Many marketers find this type of marketing strategy advantageous to the entire advertising campaign of a certain product. One positive aspect of this marketing strategy is that sources of this word-of-mouth advertising are mostly personal. This means that they are not subject to persuasion from the organization for personal gains or subject to being biased.^{[citation needed]} This has a positive effect on the advertising campaign as it shows what consumers honestly think about a product and the motivation to try the particular product or services increases, due to the consumer being recommended by a trusted reliable source.

However, there are some disadvantages and criticisms with word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing is subject to a lot of clutter. Unlike traditional word of mouth, electronic WOM is able to include not only positive reviews but also negative reviews made by former, actual and potential customers online in a timely manner.^[27] As a result, word-of-mouth marketing may sometimes not be beneficial in changing or influencing consumer’s attitudes and perception especially from an organic source as negative conversations may be held about the brand.^{[citation needed]} This is due to the organic source not finding the product beneficial and therefore has a negative perception of the product, which is then shared. Although positive word-of-mouth positively influences purchase intention while negative word-of-mouth decreases customer purchase intention, the effect is asymmetric. Compared with positive word-of-mouth, negative word-of-mouth has a larger effect on purchase intentions.^[28]

One more criticism about this marketing strategy is that people tend to be offput and feel deceived when they find out that a person who influenced their attitude about a product has been working towards or benefiting from doing that.^[29] This ultimately has the potential to make consumers change their attitude, which can have a negative impact on the firm’s product reputation. This may be the case as consumers feel that it wasn’t in the source’s interest to tell what their full perceptions were of the brand.^[29] Similarly, engineered word of mouth by internet-campaigns companies can be seen as artificial and sometime based on information considered private.^[19]

See also[edit]

• Social media marketing
• Two-step flow of communication
• Evangelism marketing
• Viral marketing
• Marketing buzz
• Guerrilla marketing
• User-generated content
• Online Brand Defense — A type of consumer behavior that has been considered creating significant impact on Word-of-mouth

References[edit]

Today’s marketplace is heavily influenced by the internet, which has changed the way consumers make decisions about their purchases: They won’t rely solely on marketer-generated information only (ads or salespeople). Instead, they look up reviews on sites such as TripAdvisor or HolidayCheck, find more product information or check customer testimonials on e-commerce websites, look at other people’s recommendations, etc. In other words, they turn to eWOM.

eWOM is a powerful market force, because consumers find it an unbiased and trustworthy source of product information. Over the past two decades, a lot of research has investigated the role of eWOM in the marketplace. In this article, we take stock of that knowledge and offer marketers a roadmap about how eWOM works so that they are better equipped to manage this marketplace phenomenon, and, eventually, boost product sales.

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What eWOM is not

Before diving into the eWOM phenomenon, it is important to delineate what is eWOM and what it is not. For example, critics’ reviews, electronic recommendation systems, and general chatter on the internet have all been placed under the header of eWOM. Even though these phenomena are related, they are qualitatively different from eWOM. In addition, extant definitions of eWOM have become outdated as they refer to “statements” or “textual postings”, while today’s consumers can engage in eWOM through other formats, such as photos and videos. We therefore introduce a revised definition of eWOM that addresses the confusion about this concept: eWOM is consumer-generated, consumption-related communication that employs digital tools and is directed primarily to other consumers.

eWOM is consumer-generated, consumption-related communication that employs digital tools and is directed primarily to other consumers.

This definition allows us to delineate the key components: the source (consumers as senders of eWOM), the message (consumption-related content), the channel (digital conversation tools), and the receiver (primarily other consumers). 

The three stages of eWOM

Having defined its key components, we further propose that eWOM consists of three key stages: creation, exposure and evaluation. For eWOM to have an effect in the marketplace, it first needs to be created. Then, consumers need to be exposed to it, because eWOM that is created but not noticed will not have any effect. Finally, for the effect to materialize, consumers need to evaluate the eWOM message and take it into account in their decision-making process.

Throughout these three stages consumers take on a dual role: They are eWOM creators, senders of information, and when they are exposed or evaluating, they are eWOM receivers. 

In our literature review, we focused on what we know about consumers’ motivations, opportunities, and abilities to create, be exposed to, and evaluate eWOM. We also described what marketers can do in each of the three eWOM stages to influence consumer motivations, increase their opportunities, and reinforce their abilities as senders and receivers of eWOM.   

How marketers can use the roadmap

Marketers can influence eWOM at any of the three stages. If they want to influence the creation of eWOM they must first ask, ”Why do people create eWOM?” Our roadmap shows that there are many motivations for doing this, and these have evolved over time. For example, in the early days of the internet, consumers wrote posts about products because they genuinely wanted to help others in their consumer experience. However, in more recent years, in line with the increased use of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, people have less altruistic motivations. Instead, they create posts for social recognition, meaning that they like to show off to their friends by saying things like, “Look at me, I went to this exclusive restaurant.” 

To make the most of eWOM and help initiate its creation, marketers need to understand these different motivations. To support altruistic eWOM creation, marketers can appeal to consumers by forwarding product-related questions asked by other consumers (ex. Amazon). To support eWOM created for social recognition, marketers can offer picture-perfect photo opportunities (ex. Disneyland) and encourage consumers to share these on their social media accounts. 

When it comes to helping consumers be exposed to and evaluate eWOM, beauty company Sephora is a good example illustrating how marketers can leverage eWOM content created about their products. eWOM messages are easily accessible through a search function on the Sephora website, improving exposure.

Customers can search for other customers reviews that are specifically relevant to them (skin type, eye colour, product benefit sought…) which helps in their evaluation of the eWOM message (is it credible, informative, convincing?) and positively influences the eWOM impact on purchase likelihood and customer satisfaction.  

Marketers must stay ahead of the game

With the rise of the internet and social media, marketers’ jobs have become more complicated. They need to stay ahead of the game to be able to influence consumers purchase decisions. Technological developments such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and personal assistants such as Siri, Amazon Echo and Google Home are becoming ubiquitous and will influence the role of eWOM. Marketers also need to keep track of legal developments, as these are set to limit what they can do with consumer information. Managing and directing eWOM may become more difficult (such as paying influencers), so they may have to find new ways to leverage it. 

Technological developments such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence will influence the role of eWOM.

Marketers often only see part of the picture when it comes to eWOM, yet they should keep in mind that eWOM owes its power to the fact that it offers truthful insight in consumer experiences. Introducing virtual influencers (such as Essence Cosmetics does: https://essence.eu/int) may seem a good idea at first sight (more company control compared to working with real influencers), but risks backfiring in the long run as consumers may feel deceived.  

At the threshold of the onslaught and brutal display of power of the internet-based word of mouth, there are many important things to discuss standing from different perspectives. The most important of which is from the standpoint of an advertising/marketing strategist, which is constantly manipulating the mechanisms of social behavior (including the word of mouth phenomenon then and now) in the name of successful market control. Word of mouth (WOM) and marketing go hand in hand in the past, largely because of the impact of interpersonal relationship andcommunicationin consumerism. Companies overwhelmingly believe in the ability of consumers to influence one another’s purchasing decisions (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). ” Today, another player comes into the picture – the internet. If traditional marketing and advertising has managed to weave its way around traditional word of mouth communication enough to successfully manipulate it, the same cannot be said about how advertising and marketing entities are dealing with internet-based sources of word of mouth communication.

The internet has shown that it is a powerful tool for word of mouth communication and the power grows vis-a-vis the growth of users, who are also the consumers. “The large number of users gives Internet WOM significant potential power for marketers. Anecdotal evidence of the power of the Internet WOM abounds (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). ” Despite the problems that go with the rise of internet-based word of mouth communication and marketing, there are still positive things to hope for. The opportunity here is for companies to find their brand ambassadors (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64),” while for others, the task is to simply be able to work well with this new social trend empowered by newtechnologythat many is enjoying at the moment. Nonetheless, this is a very important topic to discuss, break down and analyze. This paper will discuss how different internet-based sources of word of mouth marketing including web sites, blogs and other similar mediums affect the decision-making process and the buying habits of modern day consumers.

This paper will be discussing the special and important relationship of three factors – the internet, consumers and the word of mouth communication – because how these factors affect each other is an important aspect that shapes how consumerism takes place today. Since the day that humans were able to understand and execute the system of selling items or services for a profit, the consumer segment of the society has already been created; and today, everyone is a consumer.

With the creation of the consumer section and the start of the flow of local economics via sustainability through the sale of items or services that other people are willing to pay for is the creation of word of mouth communication. What is word of mouth communication, or WOM? There are several yet similar explanations about word of mouth communication made by experts. Here is one: “Word-of-mouth communication” is used “to exchange post-purchase experience among the costumers (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 09). ” Providing that this explanation is correct, the very first word of mouth communication is the very first time the very first consumer who bought something from another person told another individual what he or she thinks of the recent item he/she purchased. This trend has not changed since. All over the world, part of thecultureof consumers is to let other people know how they feel about the product they purchased.

Usually, neighbors who have pleasant relationship with each other include in their casual conversations appraisal and assessment of the things or services that they recently bought or paid for. It could be about anything and everything -food, clothing, equipment, accessories, home appliances, medicine etc. Word of mouth communication happens everywhere: as neighbors and friends talk to each other during social gatherings or everytime they pass by each other in malls, grocery stores, at work or when they bump into each other in leisure locations like in beach, gym, arcade etc.

Word of mouth communication is a product largely a personal face-to-face conversation, although sometimes telephone conversations, even mails also become sources of word of mouth communication. This happens when friends or relatives suggest or advise for or against a particular item or brand, or if they simply express how satisfied or dissatisfied they were in a particular brand or item even without the conscious effort to affect the personal belief of the listener in the item or brand in question.

Word of mouth is everywhere, it was an everyday experience which, at one point, was believed to be strong enough that it can affect consumer attitude. At the onset of media advertising in radio, television and print, commercials took to mimicking word of mouth phenomenon to reflect real life and make it appear that in real life, people are really talking positively about the brand featured in the commercial so that the consumers are influenced towards imbibing the same mindset about the product.

Word of mouth style in advertising in media is one of the important types of advertising approach because it was successful and effective. When people see individuals in a commercial enjoying a bottle of a popular soda and talking about it and recommending it to other people, they feel that the people in the commercial are directly talking to them; and for most part consumers who are exposed to television are influenced into trying the product because the commercial made them feel/think that the product was great and it was worth trying.

At this point, there was already a genuine word of mouth communication happening between individuals, as well as artificial word of mouth communication, which happen when commercials try to influence and manipulate the thinking, mindset and attitude of the consumers through the help of commercials. Word of mouth, at this time, was still powerful but it was not an unstable power that cannot be controlled. For one, word of mouth communication moves around a particular network and does not extend any further that it cannot immediately create a nationwide attitude for or against a product or brand.

Secondly, advertising agencies and marketing professionals managed to control consumer attitude and buying preference largely because of the ability of commercials and marketing efforts to convince people to patronize a particular brand. And then, there was the Internet. The internet was not created primarily to alter the previous status quo in the consumer world. The idea behind the internet is to provide an information highway for everyone to use. But the inherent characteristics of the internet made it an important aspect in how word of mouth, marketing and consumerism would change.

The internet gave word of mouth communication renewed power by giving the consumers power communicate with each other and let other consumers know how individuals feel about particular products being sold to the people. The society was introduced to a new set of culture that included blogs and websites, emails and chats, forums and websites which all provided new platforms where information can be made available, information which included the personal thoughts of other consumers about products.

It turns out that other consumers are very much interested in finding out what other people think, especially about products that other people are thinking of buying. Because of this, consumers knowingly or unknowingly focused more attention online, looking for the opinion of individuals about different products and letting real life experience and not paddedadvertisementact as the source of information about products. This information is used to assist the individual in the formation of the individual’s buying attitude and consumer behavior upon a particular product.

Some of the examples include the browsing of Internet users in sites that feature blogs on consumer appraisal on products, found in websites like www. oxygen. com and its message board; www. leftgear. com and its style chat; and other websites like www. consumerreviews. com and www. epinions. com. The entry of the internet complicated the relationship of consumer world with world of mouth communication, and most of the problematic aspect of this social change targeted the companies which are finding different ways and means to be able to regain control of this new source of word of mouth communication. I.

The Consumer and word of mouth The consumer and word of mouth has been together and closely related to each other for a long period of time. “Verbal consumer-to-consumer communication, often referred to as simply ‘word of mouth’ (WOM) has long been recognized as an important factor in consumer behavior (Schindler, Barbara, 2005, p. 35). ” Word of mouth and consumers are symbiotic and intertwined, each other directly affecting the other. Without consumers, word of mouth communication, at worst will lose its essence and its ethos, especially if the information disseminated are merely results of company-led propaganda.

Without word of mouth communication, consumers will have to rely on how much information they have for them to be able to make the best, educated decision when buying products or services and selecting which brand to pick from the shelf. “The word-of-mouth communication between the consumers is crucial (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). ” Getting the opinion of other people first before making a decision is one of the innate characteristics of many individuals, and their particular attitude in buying is no different.

For some people, they want to know first how other people ahead of him or her in buying the product feels about the item, and then uses this information to assess whether or not he or she will pursue purchasing the product, opt for other brand of the same product or shelf the idea of purchasing one all in all. “Innovators first seek information from other people in the purchase of an innovation and such behavior is similar across various new product categories (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 73). ” This particular attitude of consumers is the main vein that connects consumers to word of mouth communication. For most experts, they believe that there are many enough individuals who follow this pattern of behavior in buying that it is important for companies to know how word of mouth communication.

The consumers react and interact with each other so that the companies can make adjustments that enable them to use the presence of word of mouth communication to their advantage. If marketers were to realize the intended results of their efforts, they would benefit from understanding the manner in which consumers process WOMC (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). ” This is crucial for consumers because information sharing and dissemination is accomplished through this. But there is more to that. This is also crucial for companies relying on positive word of mouth from consumers to improve how the public perceive the product they are selling, or simply, marketing. The best marketing that ever was, or ever will be is word of mouth. There is no dollar value you can assign to having someone else talk positively about you, your company, and your services (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). ” This realization comes from the consideration that companies also has to rely on word of mouth communication because in several instances, the public/consumer is not interested or affected anymore by commercials and are instead more interested in word of mouth communication.

Internet-Based Word of Mouth Seen by Consumers as a Fresh Alternative versus Product/Service Commercials There are many reasons why people find the internet-based word of mouth tools like blogs and forums more reliable, dependable and useful for information gathering. One of the possible reasons is that individuals are already tired, fed up or already calloused by the traditional commercials that they are not as affected anymore as in the past in being exposed to product commercials in television and print media.

The feeling of being detached and impersonal by these commercials only improves its quality as something that is feigned and artificial, and because people wanted more, particularly something more personal and more genuine, word of mouth via the internet communication became the suitable answer to this consumer need. “Instead of fake artificial commercial messages, people can now get real-life comments from peers on anything they want (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). ”

II. Word of mouth and the Internet. Word of mouth was a social phenomenon even before the age of Internet. But in the entry of the internet in the social structure and global culture, word of mouth communication, no doubt, was influenced by this new technology. “The development of the Internet has led to the appearance of new forms of word-of-mouth communication (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). ” Today, the internet and word of mouth is connected with each other; online word of mouth communication is expected by experts to increase as long as the users of the internet continue to increase.

As online word of mouth communication increases, so is the power and influence of online word of mouth to affect consumer behavior and buying attitude, making word of mouth dependent on its online breadth for its power and influence, and the internet’s source of power dependent in part in how individuals like consumers utilize this medium and give it power by exercising the newfound consumer power (word of mouth communication) through the internet and its features. “The importance of online WOM increases as access to and usage of the Internet continues to grow (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). ”

Understanding how word of mouth works is one thing. But making word of mouth result favorably towards a particular product or item is more complicated. And with this knowledge, companies ensure that their initial task is not to make the most out of the word of mouth phenomenon by manipulating it in the onset; but rather to ensure that any marketing strategies outside word of mouth considerations do not become a source of negative publicity which in turn would be a potential negative feedback that can be fed in the word of mouth network and would generate more negative publicity and blow the problem out of controllable proportion. The companies’ task is the fine tuning of the advertising strategy driving the demand using sugarcoated advertising claims but paying attention not to initiate negative word-of-mouth effects (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). ”

In the age of internet-based word of mouth, this is a task which is not as difficult as controlling a publicity crisis that went public and became the subject of many blogs and forums that can devastate and destroy the reputation of a product; there is just no ethical way to stop the bloggers from publishing online what they think and feel and how they respond to negative publicity, regardless of the notion that “bad publicity is still publicity. There is just too many bloggers, blog sites, forums and chat rooms in the information highway that controlling what comes from it is impossible, but making sure bloggers cannot say anything bad about the product, compared to the earlier task, appears more doable, workable and possible. At least through that, companies can hope that they have something they can use to attempt to equalize the impact of internet-based word of mouth communication.

In this line of thought, it is easy to see that one of the effects of the powerful internet-based word of mouth communication is forcing companies to either make something flawless and good all in all, or be good in covering up foul ups and problematic aspects that can be used as topics to start communication threads and negative word of mouth streams of conversation that can be devastating.

Simply said, this situation can translate to better quality control, with companies trying to play it fair with the consumers as much as possible, lest someone notices how things do not add up and publish it in the internet and create an online buzz that can negatively affect the image of the product and the company. Traditional or through the internet, word of mouth among customers and the consumer is a very powerful aspect of the mechanism of marketing and consumerism.

Being able to understand this aspect is critical especially for market strategists and for the company themselves, so that they can, in turn, prepare for the possible trend in the word of mouth phenomenon, how it will affect the product and how they would hand this situation in a manner that benefits them more than harms them. Clemmer, Sheehy (1994) explained what the Washington, D. C. based group TARP or Technical Assistance Research Program found out, particularly that “while only a small percent of your unhappy customers bother to tell you about their dissatisfaction, they are eager to tell lots of your potential customers about the problems they have had dealing with you (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). ” This is just one of the many proofs that customers talk to each other, share each other’s experiences, and more often than not, take to heart the input they receive from other people and use it to affect their future decision making when it comes to buying or patronizing a product or item.

Through word of mouth phenomenon, many things come into play and not just patronage of products – sometimes the success of the new things being offered to the public is also dependent on word of mouth, regardless of whether or not the outcome resulting from the word of mouth is good or bad publicity for the product. “Favorable WOM has been found to be positively related to new-product diffusion… Even negative WOM is found to increase credibility (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). ”

Increased Role of Word of Mouth Today. As years go by and as the attitude of consumerism increases around the world, the power of consumer input through different channels including the use of word of mouth communication (WOMC) also increased in significance. Partly, this is one of the means by which both the consumers and the companies in need of genuine product, service and performance appraisal can have real, first hand information about how the public as consumers really feel about a product, service or item sold to them.

Word of mouth has become one of the gauges, not just of product appraisal but of the performance as well, of the companies to be able to deliver to the public what the public genuinely needs, and not what the companies want the people to need. “In the past decade, word of mouth and its more formal manifestation found in many consumer and industry protection movements have been playing a much bigger part in broadcasting what kind of service/quality a company is consistently delivering as perceived by its customers (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 5). ” The increase in this trend is due largely to the growth and increase in customer participation. “The influence of blogs and podcasts is increasing due to fast expansion of the audience and contributors (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 9). ” Word of mouth has become an important point of concern for marketing.

This is because at the entry of the internet and the weakening hold of traditional advertising and marketing effort to influence the public, the consumers found in the World Wide Web a new source of information, as well as a place where they have the chance to speak about their experience as consumers, in the process empowering consumers and making them not just mere recipients of the messages of the advertising and marketing strategies but also a source of information that can seriously compete and challenge traditional marketing and advertising when it comes to reaching and affecting the consciousness of the audience.

Professionals know about this already, but they are careful not to openly admit how consumers of today rely on word of mouth in the internet blogs and forums. How they are very cautious not to make internet-based word of mouth push their carefully and delicately laid out advertising and marketing plans out of order by making sure that even the consumer has fully ignored the commercials, the word of mouth results still puts a particular product in a positive light.

Nacht and Chaney (2006) quoted Paul Beelen who said that a positive comment is very important, more important compared to commercials or print ads especially if the comment was something that came from “someone you know and trust (Nacht and Chaney (2006, p. 64). ” Beelen, as quoted by Nacht and Chaney, went on to explain by stressing that word of mouth became more potent now than it was before because of the fact that “millions of consumers are now also publishers (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4)” and the traditional word of mouth that was once left in the party huddles now jumps off and lives on longer and extends towards a wider audience via “the World Wide Web, in the form of podcasts, wikis, forums, and most importantly: blogs (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). ” Word of Mouth Marketing and the Power of the Internet Why is word of mouth very powerful? One of the reasons is that because it happens as part of a very simple and common human experience. It is an important part of constant everyday interaction between individuals.

Because the efficacy found in the word of mouth phenomena is the fact that there is a sense of commitment and the value of trust and credibility that people are willing to put on the line, making people trust the appraisal of the person who have already used a particular product. This power is a very important power that marketing strategists need to have if they want to be able to control and predict the outcome of buying attitudes and consumer preferences, the result more favorable to the product they intend to sell to the market.

For example, the traditional word of mouth phenomenon happens between friends, between relatives or peers in the house, in the neighborhood, in the office or in locations where human verbal interaction is possible. A housewife may rant to a neighbor and fellow housewife how the recent upholstery stain remover did not work for her and how it messed the sofa more.

Of course, housewife #2 do not have any way of finding out if this was true or if the worsening of the condition was caused by other factors (i. e. wrong use of the cleaner, etc), but there is a very large possibility that housewife #2 will shy away from the particular brand being discussed and select another brand (not unless the brand being talked about is something that housewife #2 has already used in the past and depended on for quality and performance).

Nonetheless, this illustrates what is in play in the word of mouth phenomena. It becomes more credible because people believe that the appraisal/assessment of a product/service is based largely on true, first hand experience without any manipulative motive from the source of information besides the need to share the experience with another individual.

The same effect marketing and PR professionals try to produce everytime they use common or ordinary looking individuals to comment on their products or everytime they use the everyday man randominterviewwherein the individual endorses a product based on his/her own true experience, which some individuals may not easily believe knowing that actors in paid ads are mere puppets and totally unreliable sources of information in a pseudo-word of mouth approach.

This traditional word of mouth model is no different from how word of mouth communication and word of mouth marketing happens today in the online world or through the internet. “In recent years, the opportunity for consumers to generate WOMC (word of mouth communication), and the rate at which it is disseminated, has increased significantly due to penetration of the Internet (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). Bloggers talk about items they recently bought or thinking of buying, and more often than not replies to the subject thread will generate different opinions about the product being talked about, and this series and streams of ideas racing back and forth between individuals involved in conversation through blogging affect the perception not just of the bloggers involved but also those who come across the blog site and gets to read it (i. . those who searched for the particular product in the search bar to get more information about the item, who will soon have different notions and particular mindset about the item which was unknown to the person prior to reading the blog and message threads that influenced the individuals thinking and perception about the product).

Word of mouth marketing and communication placed in the plateau or realm of the internet is more influential and powerful as it is more dangerous because the spreading of word of mouth through the internet is easier and can target and reach more individuals compared to traditional word of mouth experiences. Because of this, marketing strategist are all the more concerned about the power of the internet-based word of mouth phenomenon. “Chat rooms and message boards, for example, allow individuals to share experiences with relative ease (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). ”

For example, talking about a particular product or item in a chat room with 50 listed participants (something which is not impossible or difficult to achieve, especially with the growth ofsocial networkingvia the internet that links more and more people together in a tightly knit web of online community that connects one to another in many different links) already puts the source of the information in a position wherein he/she can influence 49 different individuals, especially if the topic/item/product is about something that is of common interest to everyone in the chatroom (i. . the newest electronic entertainment gadget among young individuals or a particular product or item among hobbyist, like the newest GPRS gadget among outdoor enthusiast). Imagine the impact of influencing 49 individuals, something that is not easy to do traditionally since it is not easy to gather 50 individuals in one location on a particular time only to rant about product appraisal (not unless its the annual Tupperware Party, where the preferences of the individual on a particular common interest is already a given).

Manipulating Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Because of the power of online word of mouth communication, there are several efforts to cheat word of mouth communication by planting individuals that will act as sources to create a stir in the internet and in the process allow people to talk about a particular product or item in the internet through blogs and forums and chat rooms, in the process creating word of mouth communication and marketing the product/item/service to the consumer.

A perfect example is what happened in the internet during the effort to create popularity for a former pop star. “Students hired to post questions and comments on teen-oriented chat rooms and bulletin boards generated discussion and interest in pop singer Christina Aguilera (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). ” The power of word of mouth found in internet tools is very potent that companies are also trying to find ways on how to combat the presence of negative inputs directed at company products resulting from online word of mouth communication. Trademark owners may be able to suppress or excise negative word of mouth (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). ” This can be also considered as manipulating online word of mouth, largely to protect the interest of companies who are in danger of bad publicity and bad public standing if word of mouth in the internet is not properly handled. Because of the power of online word of mouth and the collaboration of the word of mouth culture with the internet technology, several changes happened.

One of which is the challenging the traditional market cycle power players. Experts believe that online and offline word of mouth communication functions differently. And because of that, control is something that companies are struggling with as word of mouth in the internet increases. “Offline, trademark owners have a fair amount of control over consumer perceptions of their brands. Online word of mouth undermines that control (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). ” Challenging the Traditional “Expert-Review” Notion Another important characteristic of word of mouth communication in the internet that makes it very influential and significant in the consumer reception and patronage of a product in the shelf is because of what experts believe as the shift of credibility from the traditional “product experts” to the everyday, everyman blogger in the internet where word of mouth is mostly prevalent.

Even if companies pay for the opinion of respected “product experts,” it hardly matters now because it seems like individuals who want information about a product read about what other individuals like themselves has to say about the product before creating their own mindset and perspective about the item. “Nowadays, customer reviews posted in different forums or virtual communities, web blogs and podcasts are much more powerful and believable than expert product reviews (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8). ”

This is good news for those who will be affected by word of mouth in a positive manner, especially those whose appraisal that was transferred via word of mouth through blog(s) commend the product and encourage other people to use it, because this phenomena evens out the impendingfailurein credibility of perceived product experts. This can also spell doom and worst case marketing crisis management for those which were appraised negatively in the blogosphere. Word of Mouth as a Source of Important Information One of the sources of power of word of mouth is because people rely on it, generally for information.

In this age where there are many things being offered to them, each type of item available in different brands, customers wanted to have more information until they are satisfied that they know what they need to know after making the purchase. “A second source for consumers to learn about a new product is through word-of-mouth (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). ” This was true during the pre-internet age, and still holds true now that Internet became part of the social culture and took an important part in how word of mouth is undertaken today.

Word of mouth, particularly internet based word of mouth communication has been an important source of information that some believe that it has already overtaken the significance of the traditional mass media platforms when it comes to consumer preference on where to find the information that they want to know. Take for example, the case for the diffusion of new products in the market. Some experts believe that in this particular area, word of mouth is very important factor in how the sales and marketability of the new product will turn out after consumer reception to the product is gauged. Awareness of new products primarily came from personal communications, with mass media only consulted when more information was desired (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). ”

That people rely heavily on the input of other people rather than the impact of mass media advertising and marketing strategy only points to the idea that large sections of the items, services and other things for sale – particularly those which is in its initial launch level – depend the level of consumer saturation based on how the consumer and their preferences and buying habits will react to the input of word of mouth in their consciousness. Some studies have shown that innovators engage in more WOM communication than do imitators… and are more dependent on WOM (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). ” III. The Internet and the consumer One of the best things that happened to the world is the internet, as much as the internet is one of the best things that happened to consumers because of many different reasons. First, the internet improved purchasing, making the buying and selling of things faster and more convenient both for the vendor and the customer.

Online purchasing is also now an option to consumers, thanks to the internet. Another important impact of the internet in the world of consumers is how the internet gave the consumers the power by providing consumers with a new platform for word of mouth communication. In the past, the consumers are left with very little options and chances for their opinion and thoughts to be heard by the companies that sell items, by their fellow consumers and by the rest of the world.

With the entry of the internet, the consumer section is once again empowered because they have now, through the internet, what they did not have when the transfer of information was controlled largely by manufacturers and vendors. “Using the internet, consumers can now easily publish their opinions, providing their thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints on products and services to the public at large (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). ”

A place to speak and influence other consumers through online word of mouth was made possible by the internet, and the consumers are now not merely the end-recipients of the products of capitalism and manufacturing. Consumers, with a more powerful type of word of mouth communication through the internet, can make people boycott brands and products and seriously affect the sales of different items simply by convincing individuals through blogs and forums and chats why such products should not be patronized.

Consumers will never see fellow consumers as someone with an agenda, and because of this, they will take the input of fellow consumers and allow it to seriously influence them. Influencing Brand Perceptions Through the use of the internet, the consumer is not only provided with a new way to purchase goods and items, but also given the chance to influence other consumers towards brand perception. “The broad reach of online word of mouth gives consumers tremendous power to influence brand perceptions (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). ” The Power of the Internet in Consumer World

There are many proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world. Some of the proofs include the fact that through the internet, consumers are connected with each other. “The Internet helps create new word of mouth content and disseminate word of mouth to new and previously unreachable audiences (Goldman, 2008, p. 404),” while another significant proof of the power of the internet in the consumer world is the entry of internet and how it impacted trademark law, “Online word of mouth poses the most important challenge to Internet trademark law (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). ” These proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world particularly through the internet-based word of mouth only highlights the limitations found in traditional and/or offline word of mouth communication. “Offline, consumer word of mouth plays a major role in the marketplace by disciplining some brands and rewarding others, but a person’s views typically reach only a limited number of people (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). ” Proof of the Power of Internet-Based Word of Mouth

The effects of word of mouth among customers and consumers have been studied extensively for years. Ever since market analyst identified the power of word of mouth in the market value and market success of products and other things for sale to the consumers, many entities like TARP have undertaken studies in order to understand more how word of mouth works and how it actually affects things. “TARP has studied the ripple effects of dissatisfied customers and word of mouth testimonials. The results will rock anyone concerned about sales and marketing (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). But studies are not just the sole proof that can validate the claim that internet-based word of mouth is effective and is being seriously used today in aggressive marketing. Other proofs may include the cases in the past that pointed to the role and power of internet-based word of mouth and how it influenced the outcome of consumer/public patronage and support. Other proofs of the power of the internet-based word of mouth communication are identified by experts by naming instances wherein internet-based word of mouth communication was important in the marketing and in the ensuing success of the product/item/services for sale to the public.

One of the industries that depend on positive public acceptance of what they sell for them to survive and sustain themselves is the entertainment industry, particularly movie making. In the past, many different movies saw what the Internet-based word of mouth can do for particular movies to make it big in the silver screen, including popular titles like the hit Blair Witch Project. “After the success of the use of Internet buzz in promoting the movie The Blair Witch Project, studios are increasingly relying on online WOM to develop interest in new films (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 5). ” The movie acted as a perfectcase studythat indicate the impact of internet-based word of mouth and how it can create a stir among consumers that can lead to consumption of the product (in this case, leading the people to watch the movie). Because of this, many other marketing strategists of other film outfits followed suit, including this particular formula in the overall marketing strategy to guarantee the success of the movie based on patronage and public support.

The same was the case in the more recent movies, like the global smash hit epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings which, according to Schindler and Bickart (2005), relied on the role and impact of the internet and how it can diffuse word of mouth information via its many different features. “New Line Cinemas encouraged the development of unofficial web sites about the movies, providing these sites with interviews with the film’s director in order to generate discussion and excitement about the movies (Schindler and Bickart, 2005, p35). Blogs – a Powerful Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Tool The creation of blogs and the blogosphere, and how the consumers were quick to embrace and utilize this new, internet-based form of interpersonal interaction is one of the main reasons why the internet has become a very potent source for word of mouth communication, word of mouth marketing and advertising, and word of mouth communication that can either seriously improve or damage a particular product or brand.

While blogs are not exclusively focused on product and services analysis, it is easily noticeable how the traditional trend occurring between neighbors who chat and compare their thoughts on different products and services (in the process producing word of mouth communication) transformed into online neighborhood chat. Only this time, the people involved in the conversation of product and services comparison are bigger in numbers and not limited to geographical boundaries.

An American youth can blog about his assessment of the latest mobile phone or media player, which can get different reactions from other individuals who may or may not be directly related or connected with the blogger from as far as Asian or European countries. They can converse via their entries and replies in the blog and talk as if they are next door neighbors even when offline they are mere strangers to each other and live thousands of miles away.

It is for this particular power to “spread the word” that marketing strategies and companies make sure that they make sufficient consideration and leg room to accommodate the possible input of blogs and word of mouth communication in the internet in their overall market strategy and the overall performance of the product they are trying to sell.

Generally, what every company can hope for is that the bloggers in the blogosphere have mostly good words to tell to each other when it comes to appraising the product/services that they are trying to sell to the public. “Not only will consumers talk to you via your blog, they also will talk to one another. Your readers can become your best brand-building evangelists, helping you to spread your message and your presence throughout their networks (Nacht, Chaney 2006, p. 64). ”

Being able to get an online ally and brand evangelist (directly or indirectly) is important because it does not only make one’s product or services look good, but it also helps in selling the product/service to the people. As what most experts believe, what people read in the online blogs focused on product and services assessment and appraisal greatly affect the individual in what he or she might want to buy in the very immediate future. “For consumers, blogs are like customer reviews on Yahoo! ocal or Amazon, which are helpful in making decisions about what to buy and whose services to use (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 65). ” This is the needed push so that consumers can take it to the next level – to actually buy an item, and to start the foundation of a long lasting brand patronage and to trigger the start of new word of mouth by using the new consumer as the new source of information for other people whom the consumer can convince to either try the brand or opt for something else.

Of course, marketing and advertising people have since made it their task to provide that necessary push to (1) make the consumer buy, (2) start the foundation of brandloyalty, and (3) make the consumer new sources of information that can influence other consumers and expand the network of word of mouth communication that delivers a very positive message favorable to the product/service being sold to the public. Today, experts believe that this task is something that advertisers and marketing professionals cannot achieve solely by themselves and their efforts.

Internet-based tools like blogs provide the crucial word of mouth communication that heavily influences consumers. Blogs, one of the most popular and user-friendly internet-based tool for word of mouth communication, is proving that it is one of the forces to reckon with, flexing extensive power that dictates the movement in consumer attitude. “Blogs are word of mouth supercharged (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64)! ” Add to this trend the consideration that most people outside of the marketing and advertising business is fast catching up with what advertising and marketing is trying to do.

They sense the artificial push given to consumer and in the process, making consumers less and less dependent on advertising and more and more difficult to be influenced by advertisements especially when it comes to consulting other people about product input to affect buying attitude and preference. With internet-based tools like blogs, consumers feel like they are genuinely talking to another person who would give them an honest, first hand, experience-based opinion without any motive or agenda to influence the consumer’s buying preference other than to provide information.

It is something that most believe they do not actually get from advertisements and marketing campaigns geared at making brands look good and pleasing to the senses and covering up areas which maybe problematic or undesirable for the consumer in real life. In their book, Nacht and Chaney (2006) used as an example the result of a North Carolina survey, and wrote that “one third of all consumers would prefer to receive product information from friends and specialists rather than from advertising (Nacht and Chaney, 2006, p. 65). The idea of “friends” in this particular idea would likely include peers and contacts in the online/internet network of an individual. The exchange of information between “friends” to substitute the information gathering from advertising-based sources most likely happens online, including the use of blogs through writing blogs or reading other people’s blogs about the product, in this case blogs act, according to PR strategist Steve Rubel, as a “24/7 focus group that’s transparent and out in the open (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64).

Companies also understand the significance of blogs and have a particular role for blogs to play in how consumerism works, in the hope that blogs can assist them in making sure consumerism and its related socio-economic conditions interact together favorably for the company and its products and items it sells to the public. “Smart businesses will pay attention to blogs, using them as kind of informal network of consumer opinion. Blogs have become a word-of-mouth marketing channel that allows companies to keep a pulse on their marketplace (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4). ” The Internet Versus the Traditional Tri-Media So how does the internet and its features (i. e. websites, blogs etc) actually become another important source of word of mouth marketing and in the process have the capacity to influence the buying attitudes and preferences of the consumers? The internet, like the radio, print media and the television are all platforms used for the movement of information. The first three types of information platforms – the tri-media – nearly had the similar effect that the internet has.

While the tri-media, no doubt, had immense effect on buying attitude and preferences and overall marketing, there is something that the internet has managed to give to the target consumers that the tri-media failed to provide them: interactivity. Because the websites and the blogs and the podcasts feature interactivity by allowing ordinary individuals to have a say on products or items for sale, people listen to what they have to say more.

And because the internet is an accessible and available platform for discussion between and among customers (something that is not available for the other tri-media since the information direction here is one way – from the companies to the target audience), consumers who tried the product or service feels good that they have an avenue where they as ordinary consumers can appraise and assess a product, without the restrictions of companies and without the marketing scripts and paid appearances by individuals posing as ordinary consumers in the tri-media marketing which, as years went by, became passe and hardly credible a style for word of mouth marketing to convince the consumer/audience.

Blogs and the websites has proven that it is a fresh new approach that meant empowering the consumers, allowing them not only to be informed but also to speak about the products and services they bought. The absence of pretentiousness and feigned positive approval in the world of blogging has made it a very influential tool because people speak based from their own appraisal of the product or services. And if the appraisal is good, then this type of word of mouth marketing can indeed help a product to gain more followers and patrons. Similarly, the bloggers who are not impressed by something they bought may speak about the product negatively. This is a serious threat to the market power and credibility of the product.

Since the time of television, print and radio advertisements, marketing personnel are already conscious of the impact of having an “ordinary and common” individual talk about the product. This is why many brands have opted to pick someone that is not popular, someone that represents the common folk, to speak positively about the product as if what they are saying in the television, print or radio advertisement is a genuine personal appraisal and not a scripted one. Of course, to be able to get a space in television, radio or print media, one has to pay a hefty sum, and because of that, it is impossible an d impractical for the real common folk to talk to the masses via the avenues of mass communication about how he or she felt about a particular detergent brand or hamburger chain.

The internet, through personal websites and blogs, is a very cheap way to make one’s own assessment of products through product reviews. In this particular sphere, the genuine essence of the idea of word of mouth is maximized because blogging meant that the entire worldwide communities hooked in the internet are talking to each other. This explains the idea that an important aspect of word of mouth marketing information transfer traffic is highly dependent on how the need to interact with peers and friends is facilitated and consumed by the consumers themselves. “Interaction with peers triggers new customer needs and alters buying attitude (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8).

By blogging, people can influence other people not just about particular brand preferences. They can also influence other people about starting to want to buy something which an individual did not know or want in the past prior to the onset of the influence of the input of blogging or of a particular blog article. Through blogs they tell each other what products they find best and what products they find disappointing. They talk to each other, and the speed by which their messages are sent to each other is something that the traditional tri-media cannot match, making the bloggers and what they say to each other more powerful and more influential. Conclusion

How the world is recognizing the true impact of the optimization of a potential of the internet as a powerful tool in marketing particularly through word of mouth marketing today just goes to show that, similar to the case of the traditional tri-media during its early years, new information platforms are always important avenues that affect the people and the different aspects of their lives, one of which is buying attitude and buying preferences. Add to the fact that compared to the era of the early years of the traditional tri-media, the world today at the apex of the influence of the internet on modern day life is also characterized vis-a-vis by the heightened sense of consumerism and capitalism that more and more people are investing in businesses that create new things to sell to the people because they can make people believe they need to buy these things.

As products and brands compete for the limited budget of consumers, elbowing each other to be able to find a place in the grocery or shopping bag, what peers in the internet world has to say to each other about particular items and brands is an important word of mouth marketing hinged on electronic/digital medium of information dissemination that should be consistently studied so that they can have the knowledge on how they can use this tool for their own advantage, marketing-wise. This endeavor has, no doubt, started. But the study of this phenomena brings to light the prospect that the media and platforms of information and interactivity will always be an important tool to shape social attitudes, including consumer attitudes towards buying, brand preference and item selection. “

The social effects of thesocial mediaare, by and large, a fascinating research area and a field most likely to shape future consumer or even human behavior (Swoboda et al, 2008, p. 9). May it be traditional word of mouth phenomena or online, internet-based word of mouth, what serves as a constant truth is that word of mouth remains an important and influential aspect of social interaction that affects market power of items for sale because word of mouth affects the buying attitude and consumer preferences. “It appears that electronically transferred or face-to-face WOMC has the potential to alter carefully planned marketing communication programs, depending on how consumers process such information (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). ” This leans towards the understanding that marketing strategies should always take into consideration word of mouth experiences and its impact and how word of mouth can be controlled to favor a particular product and act as a useful support mechanism in a marketing strategy.

“Three hundred years ago news traveled by word of mouth or letter, and circulated in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets, newsletters and broadsides,” wrote The Economist in an insightful article titled “Back to the coffee house” – about the impact of the internet on news.

“The internet is taking the news industry back to the conversational culture of the era before mass media,” proclaimed the subhead.  By “internet” the article of course, means social media and the way word-of-mouth travels among users that generate their own content.

It’s true – and it’s a path that strikes me as amazingly similar as the journey from mainframes — to distributed workstations – and now back to cloud-computing. In other words, what’s old is new again and social media IS word-of-mouth.

This is what amazes me about an eMarketer study published today which found that small businesses are apathetic about social media as a marketing vehicle, but ironically, it also says they are clearly committed to word-of-mouth.

“More than half of the small-business decision-makers surveyed in June by small-business insurance provider Hiscox said they used social media for business purposes, but a plurality also declared that it wasn’t necessary to their business,” according to the study.

However, word-of-mouth was deemed essential.  “At the same time, though, 50% of respondents said the marketing tool they could not do without was word-of-mouth. Just 4% said the same about social media, even though the goal of most social media marketing efforts is to create word-of-mouth.”

I’ve seen over and over examples of social media, particularly Facebook, used exceptionally well for small business marketing.

1) A martial arts school uses social media to foster community, promoting events, competitions and mixing in a bit of sales for both classes and merchandise. Moreover, the school appeals to segments:  content catered to MMA fighters, but also self-defense classes designed for women and children, alongside fitness programs like CrossFit and Yoga.  The content is sticky for the target audience.

2) A SCUBA diving school is another example, which provides tourist travel information, event invitations and most engaging of all – photographs of their students in the water learning to dive.  People are both surprised and love to see themselves in such photos that they in turn share.

3) A Skydiving school has even turned it into a revenue source where customers actually pay the school several hundred dollars to have a photographer (or videographer) jump out the plane in front of them and film their adventure. 

What do you suppose the first thing those customers do when they get home?  They post those videos on YouTube and Facebook – and embed those videos in blogs to show off their skydive to all their friends.

Social media is word-of-mouth – and it travels at a speed and velocity that could not have been dreamed in coffee houses 300 years ago.

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Photo credit: Pixabay (CC0 1.0)

It’s no secret, the Internet has changed the way customers buy products and the ways marketers engage with their audiences.

But, despite the constant change, the following statement has held true for hundreds of years: No marketing tactic can match the influence of word-of-mouth. In fact, word-of-mouth is the primary factor behind 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions (source).

Think about the last book you read or television show you watched. Maybe an advertisement or commercial influenced your decision. But more likely than not, you made your choice based on the recommendation of a friend, family member, colleague or online review. Therein lies the power of word-of-mouth marketing. And, in the digital age, the phenomenon is more prevalent than ever.

In today’s article, we explain word-of-mouth marketing, its unique benefits, and we offer several specific tips to get people talking about your products. Keep reading!

Word-of-mouth is the natural passing of information from person to person—whether they’re telling a story, sharing a piece of news, or recommending a product or experience. Word-of-mouth marketing, on the other hand, refers to marketing initiatives that actively influence and encourage word-of-mouth discussions about your brand, company, or products.

Why is word-of-mouth marketing effective?

We’ve already told you word-of-mouth influences purchase decisions more than traditional marketing. The question is, why? Let’s look at three key factors:

• Trust: The modern buyer is increasingly skeptical of traditional marketing tactics for obvious reasons. For this reason, it’s much more influential when a friend recommends a product because they do so without an ulterior motive. In fact, customers are 92% more likely to trust their peers over advertising when it comes to making purchase decisions (source).

• Social currency: As a business concept, social currency refers to the perceived value of a brand or product based on the level of conversation surrounding it. For example, if two of your friends constantly talk about a specific clothing brand, that brand has a large amount of social currency among your group. As a result, another friend who doesn’t own any clothes from that brand may feel inclined to purchase some—because they perceive the brand to be valuable and they don’t want to miss out.  

• Subconscious triggers: The impact of word-of-mouth is often subliminal. Let’s explain through an example—say your friend buys a new electric grill and raves about how efficient it is. Two months later, your grill breaks. While shopping for a replacement, you see the electric grill your friend recommended and decide to purchase it. Even if you didn’t consciously remember the conversation, word-of-mouth influenced your purchase decision.

Any combination of these factors may influence a purchase decision. But it’s important to understand each concept on its own—as there are specific ways to leverage each one in your word-of-mouth marketing strategy. Keep reading and you’ll see what we mean!

5 Word-of-Mouth Marketing Tips

Word-of-mouth may seem purely consequential—you sell great products, so your customers talk about you to their peers. But, marketers can take a more active approach to generate positive buzz. Here are a few tactics to consider.

1. Encourage online reviews.

Before the rise of the Internet, word-of-mouth spread through conversations between friends, family members and colleagues. Now, a person can log into their computer and see hundreds of product reviews. And, these reviews matter! In fact, 72% of customers don’t take action until they have read reviews about a product (source).

• Make it easy: Include a review option on each of your product pages. And, include a call-to-action in your emails to customers so they don’t have to seek out a method to leave reviews on their own.
• Ask at the right time: Ask for customer reviews shortly after they receive their order or product. You want their (hopefully positive) experience to be fresh in their minds so they feel motivated to take the extra time and leave feedback.
• Consider all review channels: From Yelp to Glassdoor to G2 Crowd, there are so many platforms your customers can use to leave reviews. When you send review requests, alternate between these channels so you can generate a more comprehensive collection of reviews across the web.

A quick word of advice, negative reviews can be just as influential as positive ones- how you handle these negative reviews is critical.

Learn more: The Definitive Guide to Addressing Negative Business Reviews

2. Leverage user-generated content.

User-generated content (UGC) is content created by your audience, for your audience. UGC is an effective tool to boost word-of-mouth on social media and other digital platforms—as customers trust and engage with content from their peers more than they do with traditional marketing content.

Encourage your customers to create UGC by offering an incentive. For example, contests and giveaways are a fun way to boost engagement among your users. From Instagram posts showcasing your product to video reviews on YouTube, UGC will catch the attention of other users and facilitate organic conversations about your brand.

3. Connect with influencers and thought leaders.

A customer who praises your product to a few online peers won’t spark widespread conversation. An established influencer, on the other hand, can make a massive impact simply by commenting on your brand or product.

The power of influencers speaks to the concept of social currency we discussed earlier. The influencer’s word is more authoritative than the average user’s, so when they recommend a product, their followers perceive that product to be highly valuable.

Remember: an influencer’s total number of followers won’t necessarily indicate the level of word-of-mouth they’ll generate online. Target influencers whose content speaks to the needs and interests of your ideal customers. And, while you might simply pay an influencer to create content, we recommend you partner with influencers who genuinely enjoy using your products. That way, the word-of-mouth they generate will appear more sincere and natural.

4. Establish a referral program.

Customer referrals are the most direct form of word-of-mouth marketing. Referrals transcend casual conversation and involve a customer facilitating a potential deal between your business and a peer.

It’s no secret that referrals are effective—in fact, people are four times more likely to make a purchase when referred by a friend (source).

But, you can’t simply wait for customers to refer your products to their peers. Instead, develop a referral strategy to motivate and incentivize your customers to give referrals. Here’s what we suggest:

• Identify your most loyal customers: Customers with strong connections to your company are more likely to refer you to their peers. Identify loyal customers based on their purchase history, engagement, and feedback. Then, target these customers first when it comes time to ask for referrals.
• Ask for referrals at the right moment: As with online reviews, you must time your requests for referrals strategically. You might ask for referrals immediately following a closed deal when the customer is most excited about their purchase. Other optimal moments to ask for referrals are immediately following a positive interaction on social media or after a customer submits a positive review of your company.
• Reward customers who give referrals: Provide an incentive to make it worthwhile for customers to refer you to their peers. More than 50% of people say they’re likely to give a referral if offered a direct incentive, social recognition, or access to an exclusive loyalty program (source).
• Promote your referral program: Don’t just target specific customers for referrals—advertise your referral program across all marketing channels.

Even when referrals don’t result in new customers, they still benefit your company in terms of brand awareness and recognition. Referral programs motivate your loyal customers to spread the word about your business, both online and in their day-to-day lives.

5. Generate buzz on social media.

This final tip might sound obvious but hear us out—to boost word-of-mouth online, you have to give people something to talk about. But as simple as that sounds, generating buzz doesn’t happen by accident. Here are a few ideas to spark more conversation about your company on social media:

• Tease upcoming products: Teaser campaigns give customers a sneak peek at products before they’re released. Teasers build anticipation and curiosity—so when the release date arrives, your audience has already been talking about the product.

• Run a contest: Online contests are a great way to engage with your audience and generate buzz. Not only will your followers jump at the opportunity to win a prize, but they’ll also talk about the contest and potentially get their friends involved. You can even run a contest that facilitates word-of-mouth by requiring contestants to share something about your brand on social media.

• Use branded hashtags: Unique hashtags help to curate the conversation around your company on social media. When someone first discovers your brand, they can immediately find other users with just a click of your hashtag. And, branded hashtags allow you to easily monitor and measure the word-of-mouth surrounding your brand on social media.

Of course, there are many more ways to generate buzz on social media and across all marketing channels. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and get creative. You never know which unconventional idea will catch on with your audience.

Key Takeaways on Word-of-Mouth Marketing

The right marketing strategy can help you generate word-of-mouth business. But, the best way to get people talking is to deliver exceptional customer experience. When your business exceeds expectations at every turn, your happy customers will want to share their experiences with their peers.

For more information about how ZoomInfo can scale your marketing efforts and reach new audiences, contact our sales team today. ZoomInfo is the leading data intelligence platform for sales and go-to-market organizations.

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM). Isn’t this really the original social media platform? I grew up with the famous Faberge commercial that showed a woman who “told 2 friends” about the product and how “they told 2 friends … and so on … and so on”. Hasn’t WOM always been a powerful way to influence business results?

I attended a conference where I heard several experts on different types of social and mobile marketing present. Suzanne Fanning, President of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association), gave a very interesting, data-based presentation on the power of WOMM and contemporary efforts to create experiences worthy of being passed from person-to-person. What follows are thoughts she shared with me regarding the importance of WOMM and examples of how marketers are taking advantage of its power.

Why should Marketers care about WOMM?

If you could master what has been identified as the most valuable form of marketing—the one that consumers trust above all others and the one that is most likely to drive sales for your company — would you instead choose to ignore it or leave it to chance?

Why would you simply choose to sit back and hope conversations will just happen organically about your brand? If you want to win the marketing race in 2015, you need to unleash the power of word of mouth.

Let’s look at the facts. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. WOMMA and the American Marketing Association (AMA) decided to find out exactly what brands were doing about that fact. In a recent study, 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing. However, only 6% say they have mastered it.

If consumers value word of mouth and marketers believe it is effective, then why aren’t marketers more focused on it?

The problem is that for the last few years, marketers have been focused on “collecting” instead of “connecting.” In other words, brands are too caught up in collecting social media fans and they are forgetting to actually connect with them. Having 100 really passionate fans that love your brand or product is exponentially more effective than having 10,000 “fans” who signed up just to win a free iPad from you.

Just like in life—if you have to buy your friends, are they really your friends?

And why should we stop at likes anyway? Why not shoot for LOVE.

Marketers used to focus on the 4 P’s. You probably had them drilled into your head as you pursued your marketing degree. Well, now marketers need to focus on the three E’s: Engage, Equip, Empower.  If you can master these, you can become the most beloved and talked about product in your category, which will ultimately lead to increased sales. We’ve seen a good WOMM campaign generate thousands of conversations, recommendations and triple sales in just a year (yes, even for the boring products).

Can you explain the Three E’s in more detail?

Engage—Give your fans the gift of you. Engage with them. Listen to what they are telling you. Be part of the conversation about your brand. Be a presence in your fans’ lives. @NikeSupport is a prime example of customer service done well. They constantly respond to followers on Twitter, whether it’s about their apparel, Fuel Band or other products. Every few minutes, you can watch them respond to someone new.

Equip—Give them reasons to talk. It can be amazing products, great service, insider knowledge, social elevation, incredible stories, unbelievable facts or even funny disclosures. It’s on you. It really depends on you understanding your consumers and what they like about you and providing whatever it is they need from you. Apple revolutionizes technological devices and delivers amazing products to its consumers, allowing them to naturally raze about the newest iPhone. Another area to excel in and that’s on the rise is social customer service.

Empower—Give consumers different ways to talk and share. Let them know that they are important to you and that sharing their opinions is important to you. Help them find ways to share within their circles and find ways to help move their conversations around. Lay’s is an excellent example to highlight how they empowered their fans to “Do Us a Flavor,” and allow consumers to create a new flavor of potato chips to hit store shelves. Over 3.8 million submissions were sent in 2013 making it one of the biggest marketing campaigns for PepsiCo owned Frito-Lay.

If WOMM has been around for a long time, why should it be a focus now?

You are right. It has been around, well, since cavemen roamed the earth. It’s likely that one caveman told another about a popular hunting area (… and so on and so on) and ultimately that turned the site into the most popular hunting area in their cave community.

It worked then, and it will work now. However, technology has increased social connectivity making it easier than ever for consumers to do your marketing for you. A post that takes just a few minutes for a fan to write will be seen by hundreds of friends who trust them, and it can rapidly travel out to thousands more. Very well planned messages have been shared by millions within the span of days. Look at the Epic Split video by Volvo featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, the video was released on YouTube on November 14, and on the first day the film was viewed over 6.5 million times and shared over 32 thousand times. Then in four weeks it was shared over 6 million times across social networks. It quickly became the most shared film on YouTube. The clip has received extensive media coverage from all over the world as well, and has been the subject of approximately 20,000 editorial pieces online thus far. No disrespect to our cave friends, but it was not possible to achieve those kind of results without technology. You should also consider the fact that those who read the post could potentially have millions of offline conversations with friends, families, acquaintances or even consumers looking perplexed in store aisles.

Fueling conversations and driving passion will make a huge difference for your brand.

Are there any consistent characteristics that successful WOMM campaigns tend to have?

Keep in mind that a good WOMM strategy is credible, social, repeatable, measurable and respectful. Dishonesty is NEVER acceptable.

Do you have any case studies you can share?

These three unforgettable WOMMY winners can help showcase the power of word of mouth.

Marina Maher Communications won a WOMMY in the Influencer category for their Kimberly-Clark campaign. The Depend team created The Great American Try On to take the issue out of the bathroom into the most public of places, recruiting celebrities and football players — who don’t need Depend – to try it on, tell America how they felt, and ask them to try it too and support two relevant charitable causes. Sampling requests increased by 720% vs. sample requests for a new product launch a year prior.

M Booth received a WOMMY in the Introduction category for their work on Canvas Lands’ End. The brand launched Canvas Lands’ End — a new collection geared to the younger millennial segment of the population by partnering with eight established bloggers to create the first-ever virtual «blog-up shop» series. The campaign earned $105K in sales and generated 60 million earned media impressions on blogger partner sites.

WOMMA recognized Zeno Group with an Engagement award for their Seattle’s Best «Black Friday Coffee Break» campaign, which focused on a segment of the target — retail workers — by offering free coffee to those working on Black Friday. Consumers leveraged the program through an interactive Facebook application. New fans were encouraged to «like» the page and choose from the following options: Have a free sample of Seattle’s Best Coffee sent straight to your mailbox, stop by a participating retail location for a free cup of brewed coffee on Black Friday, or print a $2 off coupon. The brand received 125 million total impressions in two weeks and 6 million YouTube impressions.

Being talked about requires a strategy and a plan that goes beyond “likes”.  It requires deeper insight about your customers. As John Moore, marketer for Starbucks and Whole Foods says, “If people are not talking about you, they are forgetting about you.” The WOMMA’s mission is to help marketers master this method, so take advantage of their expertise. To get you excited, take a look at this video montage WOMMA put together.

If you have a great example of a successful WOMM activity, please leave a comment or tweet it @KimWhitler

Suzanne Fanning is the President of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), the official trade association for the word of mouth and social media marketing industry. Her social strategies have been featured in Advertising Age Magazine, Fast Company, Forbes Magazine, and PR Week.