Word of Mouth Marketing
WORD OF
MOUTH
MARKETING
HOW-TO GUIDE
Word of Mouth Marketing
HOW-TO GUIDE
Word of Mouth is not a new promotional channel for marketers. Consumers sharing information
with other consumers is perhaps the most coveted form of promotion and one that has existed
since humans invented commerce. Think about how often you share your opinion on a product or
service to someone else. It’s a frequent occurrence and these communications are perceived as
highly credible. As a result, it makes sense to be pro-active about word of mouth marketing and
to include it in your overall marketing strategy.
Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is defined as providing people with a reason to talk about your
product or service and then making it easy for them to do so. While this sounds like a fairly basic
concept, WOMM is much more complex than one might assume.
This How-To Guide will teach you how to make WOMM work within your existing marketing mix by
providing you with an action plan that contains five steps you can use to start incorporating it right
away. This guide also highlights the importance of WOMM, the different forms it can take, and it
explains how to measure WOMM effectively.
Types and Forms of WOMM
According to McKinsey, word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all
purchasing decisions. It is a major force to investigate and harness as a marketing strategy. Word
of mouth is such a strong factor in individuals’ decisions that as marketers, you must give the
consumers something to talk about and make it easy for them share their views about you.
In today’s world, consumers are overloaded with information. When you are interested in a
product there are countless online resources to find information or opinions on a brand of interest.
WOMM provides these consumers with the avenues to deliver their message, but also suggests
messages they can deliver. Word of Mouth Marketing is all about listening to your customers,
engaging them and providing them with a voice.
There are various word of mouth techniques. A few techniques that you are probably familiar with:
Buzz Marketing Cause Marketing
Viral Marketing Brand Blogging
Community Marketing Referral Programs
Grassroots Marketing
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According to McKinsey, the following three forms of WOMM are important to marketers:
Experiential
Reflects the consumers' direct experience with a product or service.
Most common.
When consumers express their opinion, it is mainly when the experience deviates from what
they expected either positively or negatively.
Consequential
Consumers directly exposed to traditional marketing campaigns pass on messages about
them or the brands they publicize.
Stronger than the ad itself because campaigns that trigger positive WOM have higher campaign
reach and influence.
Marketers need to think about the “pass on” effects.
Influential
Least common.
Example: Celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz about a product.
Effects are difficult to measure, and sometimes marketers are unsure if they can successfully
execute.
Measuring WOMM
Word of Mouth Equity
Traditionally a starting point to measuring word of mouth was to count the number of recom-
mendations and dissuasions for a product. This method, however, does not take into account
the power of different kinds of word of mouth messages. For example, recommendations from
family members are likely much stronger than those from strangers. A word of mouth equity
formula was developed by McKinsey to include these different types of power. A high impact
recommendation would be from a trusted friend versus a low impact recommendation from a
stranger. The formula created to measure this is as follows:
Average sales impact of a brand message x the number of word of mouth messages.
There are three crucial drivers: what is said, who says it, and the environment in which it was said.
For example, tight trusted networks will have less reach but greater impact. If we understand
how and why messages work, we can craft a coordinated, consistent response that will reach
the right people. This will generate a greater impact on the products consumers recommend.
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Social Media Metrics
The growing online presence of word of mouth is easy to measure because it is all captured
online. Using social media metrics to analyze different channels will help reveal who recom-
mends products and which messages are the most effective. It is as simple as monitoring how
many “Likes” certain messages receive on Facebook, or how many retweets a message get on
Twitter. Google Analytics can track social media metrics.
You can also keep track of social media metrics using the Demand Metric Social Media
Metrics Dashboard
Bottom Line
We all know about Word of Mouth but now it’s time to make it work within as part of your
marketing strategy. Word of Mouth Marketing is giving a reason for people to talk about your
products and providing them with tools to ensure conversations take place. This concept is
becoming more important with the growing presence of consumers sharing opinions online
whether it is social networks or online communities.
In order to ensure successful word of mouth, you must find the right people to talk about your
product, create messages that will spread, provide them with the tools to share information, take
part in the conversations and measure the results. Since word of mouth is such a powerful factor in
consumers’ decisions, it is important to exploit it and make it work to your advantage.
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Action Plan
STEP 1 - Identify the Talkers
Finding the "Talkers" aka
1 Identify the
Talkers the "Influencers"
Make sure to find the people
who like to talk and ensure
2 Create Topics that they know about your
new topic of conversation.
Talkers, often referred to
as "influencers," are the
individuals most likely to
3 Provide Tools spread the word of mouth
message. They are anyone
who has enthusiasm to relay
your message to the target
audience.
4 Take Part Examples of talkers include
bloggers who cover your
topics, volunteers, and
enthusiastic customers.
5 Track & Measure
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