Originally written for and published Dec. 22, 2009, by Platform Online Magazine.

If work or pleasure takes you to Boston, and a friend suggests you go to Faneuil Hall and eat at Houston’s – for lunch or dinner (they don’t serve breakfast) – because it is the best restaurant in the city, would you believe your friend is working for Houston’s, or just giving you his opinion?

Certainly you’ve had a friend suggest a product or service before, and most likely you’ve done some suggesting yourself, but have you ever considered the implications of what it is you’re really doing?

What exactly is word of mouth marketing?

Word of mouth (WOM), as defined by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association(WOMMA), is “the act of consumers providing information to other consumers.” So your friend was giving you good word of mouth; he believes Houston’s is great and thought you would enjoy eating at his favorite restaurant in Boston.

In turn, word of mouth marketing (WOMM), according to WOMMA’s WOM 101, is “giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for that conversation to take place. It is the art and science of building active, mutually beneficial consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-marketer communications.”

So, wait: did Houston’s provide your friend with incentive to drive business once he left the restaurant? If it’s called marketing, it must mean they’ve spent money on it, right?

Carin Galletta, founder of Ink Foundry Public Relations, a full-service word of mouth marketing agency, put WOM into an easy perspective: “I’m giving you my recommendation for a product or service. If you respect my opinion, my recommendation can encourage you to purchase a product.”

What actually happened was Houston’s staff are so good at what they do, assumedly providing great food and excellent service, that your friend was compelled enough to tell you about his experience, in turn providing free marketing for Houston’s. Are we getting closer? I think so!

Advertising, public relations and marketing all cost companies money – at times, very big money – and are ultimately meant to impact business. But Galletta believes all of the money in the world won’t create a successful WOMM campaign; WOM must start with a great product.

“We tell all of our clients to make sure the product or service is the best it can be before engaging in a word of mouth marketing campaign,” she said.

Sure, Houston’s spent money on products and staff, but the food and service themselves were what made your friend recommend the restaurant. So, whether or not the business is intentionally creating it, WOM is an inherent result of a great product or service.

Is WOMM something new?

Yes. According to WOMMA, WOM has been around forever but businesses are just now getting around to harnessing it effectively within marketing objectives, resulting in the formation of WOMM. Although it is new, there are already many types of WOMM, but to better understand the different tactics, WOM should be broken into two categories: organic and amplified.

WOMMA defined organic word of mouth as the daily interaction of consumers and amplified word of mouth as the result of a WOMM campaign. Organic WOM has been going on throughout history and the only control businesses have over it is the quality of its service or product. Amplified WOM, according to Galletta, is the result of businesses harnessing and encouraging the consumer interaction and can be achieved through many different tactics, channels and strategies.

For example, two types of WOMM to create amplified WOM, defined by WOMMA, are: 1) “buzz marketing: using high-profile entertainment or news to get people to talk about your brand;” and 2) “viral marketing: creating entertaining or informative messages that are designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion, often electronically or by e-mail.”

A great example of a WOMM campaign is one Ink Foundry recently held. It was an immersive influencer event, where key influencers are identified and invited to a brand event at the Playboy Mansion for a Las Vegas casino client.

Galletta said, “We brought in gaming tables, dealers, Vegas girls and everything else that we could to recreate the casino experience at the Playboy Mansion. We even took the Vegas experience into the famous Playboy Mansion grotto.”

If that didn’t “encourage” the invite-only guests to talk over the next few days, or weeks, I’m not sure they still have a pulse.

Where does PR play a role?

Earlier I mentioned Ink Foundry is a public relations, word of mouth marketing agency. Sure, its emphasis is on WOMM, but its foundation is public relations. Galletta said that even after 20 years her parents still don’t know what it is, but that’s because PR is very misunderstood by most everyone.

“It can encompass many, many different elements including managing crises, keeping brands out of the news, community events and many other things that people don’t really think about,” Galletta said. “However, everything that PR does should support the company’s larger marketing objectives.”

It’s this supporting of every part of a company, beyond marketing, that keeps PR vital to everyday operations. WOMM campaigns rely on PR ethics and strategies to be successful and create the most positive WOM possible.

While discussing the PR foundation for Ink Foundry, Galletta said it began about 10 years ago as a public relations company that specialized in word of mouth marketing, brand immersion events and influencer engagement, and that it is still doing that today.

“[That's] corporate speak for: we found the people most likely to enjoy a brand and found cool ways to make the introduction and let the people do the rest,” Galletta said.

WOMMA defined the basic elements of WOMM to include: researching how, when and where opinions are being shared; engaging in conversation with supporters, detractors or neutrals; and identifying key publics to educate about your products or services. Each basic element of WOMM is also a basic element of PR; where doesn’t PR play a role in WOMM?

Ethical WOMM

“Nothing is more important for a business than upholding the highest ethical standards,” Galletta said, and her Ink Foundry Web site has an Ethics section that states it abides by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code. And after review, the WOMMA Ethics Code closely resembles the core values of the PRSA Code of Ethics – further establishing the relationship between the two industries.

“We want everyone to know where we stand and how we work,” Galletta said. “We also want to set a visible example of how we believe ethical word of mouth marketing should be done. It’s not cool to try to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.”

WOMMA agreed in its WOM 101 guide, and said, “Word of mouth can’t be faked or invented. Attempting to fake word of mouth is unethical and creates a backlash, damages the brand, and tarnishes the corporate reputation.”

If WOM, at least in its organic form, has been around for so long, and is going to happen whether or not you intend for it to, businesses might as well participate proactively and ethically.

Galletta believes that WOMM is the untouched division of marketing as far as power and impact are concerned, and said, “Across the board, WOM is the number one way that people hear about and then decide to purchase a product.”

Then if engaging in and harnessing amplified WOM is the most powerful and effective form of positive marketing, certainly remaining passive and allowing uncontrolled, organic WOM must be the most destructive and critical form of negative promotion.

Galletta recommended joining the conversation whether your company is experiencing positive or negative WOM. “Get in the conversation and define who you are and what your brand is; don’t let someone define your brand for you,” she said.

If the word out about your business is negative, there is no better time to join the conversation and defend your products and services, providing accurate WOM. But remember, unethically creating buzz around a product or service, even in defense, poses far greater risk than reward; if word gets out you’re lying, customers have a far greater incentive to share negative information with their friends.

Go ahead and chime in!

Did you just feel a little power shift from producer to consumer? Now that you know a little bit more about the implications of word of mouth and the power of word of mouth marketing, why not consider vocally supporting your favorite brands more often, or more objectively criticizing one bad customer experience? Try not to abuse the power of WOM, but if the next time you’re unhappy with a product or service, speak up! You never know who’s out there listening, waiting to join the conversation.

11/25 Update
My friend Andy Woodworth wrote a beautiful piece that you simply must read. Read here. I know our lives are often so busy that we don’t even have the time to think about those whose words have touched our lives. If Andy’s words touched your heart, then consider passing on the gift by sharing your words. Life is all about one human being sharing with another human being. This is your chance to share what is good and inspirational with others. If you decide to write more than a line, feel free to send it my way.

Happy Thanksgiving. -Nancy

This is National November Write Your Own Book Month and the New Jersey State Library is taking the challenge to write a book with 50,000 words in one month. We need your help to both write and to spread the word to EVERYONE you know – friends, family, customers, co-workers, hairdressers, teachers, students. Everyone has the potential to write something that might positively impact the life of a stranger with this book!

Here is the plan:
The NJ State Library will compile a book with the collective wisdom of people sharing advice with another human being. Words of wisdom for a child, friend, politician, parent, teenager, adult, parent … The catch is, you have to text your advice and it can only be 140 characters or less. We’ll collect your text messages until we have 50,000 words of wisdom. The name of the book will be, H2H (Human to Human) wisdom in 140 characters- unless someone texts us a better title! We’ll even publish it online so you can share it with your friends and families.

Three ways to submit your H2H words of wisdom:

1. Text “H2H” to 51684, hit “space” and type your advice. Standard message charges apply. You’ll receive a message to let you know your submission has been accepted. We will keep you updated about the book but we won’t send more than 1 message per week and you can stop the messages anytime you want by replying “Stop”.

2. Tweet to: @h2hbook

We will include your initials or first name to your quote if you include it. All entries must be submitted no later than November 30.

3. Go online: Follow this link and fill out your words of wisdom online.

Guidelines:

No profanity

No personal references

While we would love to use all quotes that are submitted, we will be editing the final product and reserve the right to reject submissions.

Questions? Nancy Dowd: ndowd@njstatelib.org

Nancy Dowd
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
New Jersey State Library
609-278-2640 ext 122
www.njstatelib.org

Traditional media concepts of Reach and Frequency apply very well to Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

I’ve been studying social media accounts for some time now and the similarity between broadcasting ontraditional media and social media platforms Twitter and Facebook:

• Those who have more Friends and Followers, get more Replies, Mentions and are Retweeted (RT) more often. (Frequency)
  
• The more often you receive Replies and RT’s, the more new People you reach, and the more Friends and Followers you acquire. (again, Reach)

Remember the Fabrege Organics Shampoo Commercial from the 1970’s? (I know, now I’m REALLY dating myself). This commercial provides a visual for WOMM (word of mouth marketing) that has sustained for decades. In fact, you can view it on YouTube:

Faberge 1970’s Organic Shampoo Commercial Video You Tube

However, to the many hundreds of thousands of corporations, businesses and individuals using social media to develop relationships with customers, strategic partners, employees and employers, Reach and Frequency will play a  vital role in reaching target audiences in a meaningful way.
(meaningful = ROI)

Tips to To Promote Reach and Frequency Using Social Media:

• Be True to Your Brand (whatever it is)
• Post updates that are Relevant (create qualified audiences, even easier when you optimize social media updates)
• Be Consistent (to build a following)
• Be Diligent (update frequently)
• Be Gracious (build relationships)
• Sustain and Value 1 to 1 Relationships!

More on meaningful social media conversations to follow.

Will you Look at the Reach and Frequency of YOUR Social Media activity differently?

Por: Margarita Oest Álvarez Tostado  

A diferencia del marketing offline y online tradicional, el WOMM no trata acerca de a cuanta gente puede llegarle un mensaje de forma directa, sino más bien de cuánta gente puede pasar el mensaje a otros y comenzar una conversación al respecto. WOMM se basa en una intensa participación de los usuarios y comienza principalmente por encontrar y capacitar a “personas influyentes”, líderes de opinión que cuentan con amplios conocimientos en un área específica, para difundir el mensaje. Para que el  WOMM tenga éxito se requiere más que una experiencia de marca o producto promedio, demanda un excelente “influyente” que pueda utilizar, entusiasmar y hablar sobre un producto o servicio.

El WOMM Online es una evolución de la comunicación oral, e incluye actividades de los consumidores 2.0 utilizando las tecnologías de Internet como blogs, foros en línea, videos y Podcast para crear nuevos canales de comunicación creados por los usuarios (Consumer-Generate Media, CGM). A diferencia de cualquier conversación Offline, las conversaciones generadas por el WOMM no se disipan, sino que se archivan como CGM y son indexadas en motores de búsqueda para que puedan ser encontradas por consumidores u otras personas que buscan información.

Ya sea en línea o fuera de línea, una campaña exitosa de WOMM involucra personas apasionadas que estén dispuestas a difundir el mensaje y hablar sobre las experiencias que tuvieron con una marca, producto o servicio.

Sangat disayangkan, kejadian seperti ini menyebabkan tercorengnya kebebasan berekspresi di Indonesia, dan berakibat buruk terhadap industri rumah sakit pada umumnya. komplain yang seharusnya dapat di handle dengan baik dan damai menjadi suatu isu besar yang berakibat Word Of Mouht Negatif karena tindakan gegabah pihak hospital. Complain handling sangat pentig bagi industri yang sarat dengan penuh resiko seperti ini. WOMM negatif yang datang melalui media dapat dicounter dengan PR yang baik melalui media juga, tak perlu sulit ke wilayah hukum yang mengeluarkan banyak biaya dan mengakibatkan WOMM negatif. Ambil contoh Aqua saat menghadapi tuduhan air keran dan serangan air nonmineral, juga melalui media yang tepat, dan berakibat konsumenpun tetap loyal. Penanganan melalui Public Relation yang baik akan mengakibatkan Word Of Mouth Positif yang merupakan strategi marketing jitu dalam dunia kesehatan. So, jangan gegabah.

So we’ve been chatting about engagement these last few days, and particularly vertical action (essentially brands addressing their communities from the top-down, and creating mechanisms through which their communities can communicate vertically with them using the same channels). When you look at corporate blogs, Twitter accounts and most branded community sites, this is mostly what you see: Vertical engagement between companies and their customers/fans/friends/users.

Likewise, the breadth and depth conversation we had last week also relates to vertical action: Brand managers, Community managers and/or Social Media managers finding ways to engage customers from a brand-to-community perspective. Even when dialog exists, even when the communication channels are truly 2-way, most of what happens is vertical: Brand-to-customer and customer-to-brand. And that’s nice, but it is only half the story: In order to understand the power of the social web, the power of communities and the power of truly engaged fans, you also have to tip your hat to lateral action.

What is lateral action? Simple: Lateral action is simply peer-to-peer engagement that happens within or across communities. A brand or community manager may have planted a seed along the way (a tweet, a blog post, a comment, a promotion, etc.), but once it has hit the community, the message/info/conversation is spread from customer to customer without having to be prompted by any official brand representative.

Another example of lateral action is WOM (word-of-mouth): Peer-to-peer recommendations are classic examples of lateral action. Rumors are examples of lateral action. Community tweetup invitations are examples of lateral action. RT’s on Twitter tend to be examples of lateral action.

Lateral action is what happens when the brand, the company, the official presence of a business gives its community the opportunity to BE a community by taking a step back and letting people share what is important to them with peers.

And lateral action is often the answer to the question raised last week about breadth and depth of engagement: Once a brand has managed to scale its community to several thousand or tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands, even), how can a team of community managers possibly engage so many people properly? It’s impossible, right? (This being the logic behind some Social Media directors’ decision to focus on depth at the cost of breadth.) Truth: Vertical action alone cannot serve the purposes of engagement (breadth mostly, but depth also) in the Social Media space… or even when it comes to fostering vibrant brand-centric communities in the “real” world. Lateral Action is the yin to Vertical Action’s yang. Lateral Action is how community engagement actually scales and transcends any breadth-related engagement limitations.

And though Lateral Action is nothing new, it is not a typical strategic mode of thinking for most Marketing professionals who have spent most of their careers working in traditional media (yes, even in the world of the web). This is why MANY Marketing folks still talk about the challenge of creating “content” even in the Social Media space. This is why advertising, messaging and marketing products are still among the first things marketers try to “plug in” when it comes to leveraging Social Media “channels.” This is all top-down thinking. Vertical Action thinking. And though it has its place here, it cannot succeed in the Social Media space without an equal (and in many cases greater) measure of Lateral Action.

Brand managers, Social Media managers, Community managers – whatever their designation may be – need to understand that their job isn’t just to produce content and constantly stimulate vertical engagement. There is only so much they can accomplish this way. What they must also do is empower their communities to manage themselves to a great extent and generate conversations and motion from within. Community members have to reach out to each other. They have to reach over to other communities. They have to share and discuss and debate and organize themselves. Brand Managers in the Social Media space have to learn how to be good hosts and patrons and supporters without being mother hens 24/7. This lateral action has to be fostered, nurtured, and built into their online and offline communities.

This is a crucial point for all brand managers to understand if they want to be successful in the age of Social Significance and Community Marketing. I hope the video and this post help you understand the difference between vertical and lateral action… and their importance our ongoing discussion of community “engagement.”

Tomorrow, we will bring our engagement discussion to a close with some far less strategic yet much more valuable advice than what we’ve touched on so far.

Have a great day!

Bonus Footage: Oui, en Francais! (For my Francophone readers, a question: Since I can, should I also start shooting videos in French?) And since a few of you have asked me if I would say my name in its original French so you can hear what it sounds like – Two birds, one stone. You ask, I deliver. (And yes, I take requests.) Check it out:

womm

Çok T.V. izlediğimi söyleyemem ama ablamlarla falan takılınca bi yerden sonra mecbur kalıyorum. Mesela dün ablam T.V.’da zapping yaparken Kral TV’de durdu. Sarışın bir hatunun (ismi Nazlı‘ymış) klibi dönüyordu o esnada güzel de bir parça. Tarzı pop müzik idi, ablamın tabiriyle ‘tam Serdar Ortaç şarkısı’ymış. Bu arada kardeşim Metin bu bayanın klipte giydiği tişörte dikkat etmiş. Ve dediki ‘Kadının tişörtünde Serdar Ortaç fotoğrafı var.’ Hakikaten de gördüm ki öyleymiş. Ablam da hemen ekledi ‘Zaten söz – müzik: serdar ortaç, bu kızı da serdar çıkardı piyasaya. Baya bi yardım etmiş.‘ İşte o an kafamda çaktı şimşekler; millet artık reklamı afişle, broşürle yapmıyor. Herkes artık yeni methodlar buluyor. Baksanıza eskiden millet bu camiada birbirini bitirmek için uğraşırdı, şimdi aynı tarzda olmalarına rağmen yeni yüzler çıkarıyorlar piyasaya. Kendi elleriyle yeni rakipler oluşturuyorlar kendilerine. Burda işin esprisi şu; o Sanatçı yeni yüzü piyasaya kazandırıyor ama kendisi de O’nun ustası olarak çıkıyor meydanlara ve tabiri caizse o keşfettiği kişi kendisi için yeni bir billboard oluyor, tabii bir süreliğine.

Mesela bunun dışında bir örnekle açıklamak gerekirse; ‘Rafet El Roman & Yusuf Güney’. Sanırım Yusuf Güney, Rafet El Roman’ın bir fanatiğiymiş eskiden beri ve tam detayını hatırlamadığım şekilde tüm fanatikler arasından sadece O, Rafet El Romanla bir şarkı söyleme şansını kazanıyor. Devamında da düet & ortak klip, kendi albümü vs. vs… 

Şimdi ise Yusuf Güney’in gittiği her programa ya Rafet El Roman da davet ediliyor, ya da davet edilmese de sürekli ismi anılıyor, O’ndan bahsediliyor.. Rafet El Roman bu kişiyi desteklemese de bu kişi kendi imkanlarıyla çıksaydı piyasaya bahsedilir miydi Rafet El Roman’dan bu kadar? Tabii ki hayır. Belki de rekabete girerlerdi Yusuf Güney ile. Böylesi daha mantıklı değil mi? O izlediğim klipteki hatun da Serdar Ortaç tişörtü giyerek bi yerde piyasaya çıkarılmanın diyetini ödüyor Serdar Ortaç’a. Gittiği her yerde anlatacak Serdar Ortaç şöyle iyi, şöyle başarılı falan filan diye.. Al sana WOMM (Ağızdan Kulağa Pazarlama)

Bizim Sanat alemi de marketing trendlerini yakından takip ediyor demek ki Ne diyelim hadi hayırlısı.. 

With the continued downward spiral of the economy companies are looking for inexpensive ways to reach their customers. WOMM is the latest trend in small business and even big business marketing. What is WOMM you ask? WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING. Yes, companies are getting back to direct communication with their customers. I call it harnessing the “gift of gab” to market products and services.

Word of Mouth Marketing uses viral, buzz, blog, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing to get messages out to the public. With the rise of Web 2.0 and the development of 3.0 businesses have more opportunities to reach consumers and are using these outlets to market their products.

How often do you see people recommend  bands, restaurants or new products on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and other social media outlets. Have you ever checked out a website or googled something you saw promoted or discussed on one of these channels?

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to get your brand or business out to the public, WOMM is the way to go.

Check out: www.womma.org

대한상공회의소에 따르면 광고가 소비자 구매 결정에 미치는 영향조사에서 금융상품, 화장품, 식품, 전화/인터넷 등 4개 영역의 상품 정보를 얻을 때 소비자들이 입소문에 가장 의존한다는 발표가 있다. 기업들도 비용 대비 효과가 큰 ‘입소문’ 마케팅에 대해서 관심을 갖기 마련이고 바이럴 마케팅에 이어 최근에는 소셜 마케팅까지 주목을 받고 있는 듯하다.

Mario Vellandi's depiction of "word of mouth"

지난 3월에 미국에선 WOMM 세미나가 마이애미에서 열린 바 있다. WOMMA에서 정의하는 Word of mouth, Word of mouth marketing 은 아래와 같다.

Word of mouth: The act of consumers providing information to other consumers.

Word of mouth marketing: Giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for that conversation to take place.

이 세미나에서 Mario Velland는  WOM 마케팅에 있어서 어떻게 전파가 되는지를 슬라이드 한 장에 잘 묘사해 주고 있는데 Promoters, Passives 그리고 Detractors 의 시나리오 전개를 보여주고 있다. 여기서 Passives 는 반응에 수동적이다. 따라서 그림에서와 같이 더 이상 전달되지 않고 소수의 사람들로 구전효과가 끝나버리는 유형이고, Promoters가 바로 촉진을 통해 word of mouth 를 제대로 실현시켜주는 사람들, 매개자들이 된다. 이들은 기업, 브랜드 이하 그 상품이나 서비스에 대해 좋은 경험을 가지고 있다. 하지만 문제는 Detractors들이다. 이들은 반대로 좋지 않은 경험이나 감정을 갖고 있기 때문에 자칫 word of mouth marketing의 역효과를 불러올 수가 있고, 그 파급 효과도 걷잡을 수 없이 커질 수 있기 때문에 기업들이 세심하게 접근해야 할 유형이기도 하다.

We have all been talking about Word of Mouth marketing and how important iti is for our customers to spread the word for us. This is a perfect example of WOMM in action:

Anna Fenerty works in circulation at the Mount Laurel Library. When she went to get a manicure three ladies were getting their nails done next to her. Anna overheard them saying how wonderful Mt. Laurel library is; how happy they are with the service they receive; how convenient it is to place holds and pick them up quickly; and how they love to buy books for $1 from outside rack, read the books and share with their friends and then donate them back to the library. You can imagine how proud Anna must have felt to hear these ladies talking so highly about her library!

Fortunately Anna shared her experience with her director, Kathy Schalk-Greene, who in turn shared it here with me, so I could share it with you. Now that’s double dipping WOMM.

The thing about WOMM is how contagious it is when people receive great customer service. Sure they loved the books but what I heard also was that they loved the convenience and speed of service. I am sure your library provides excellent customer service so be sure to keep your ears open to these types of stories to add to your storybanks!

Tym, którzy zamierzają powierzyć promocję swoich marek znanym blogerom, na przeszkodzie może stanąć FTC.

Amerykańska Federal Trade Commission, czyli Federalna Komisja Handlu, planuje uregulowanie zasad marketingu szeptanego i na blogach w ramach aktualizacji wydawanego przez nią kodeksu reklamy. FTC proponuje, że autorzy kampanii word-of-mouth, blogerzy, a także osoby piszące na stronach społecznych mediów, np. Facebook’a, powinny być odpowiedzialne za nieprawdziwe stwierdzenia, które wygłaszają na temat produktów wspólnie z właścicielami tych produktów
i marek.

Regulacje FTC mogą stanowić poważne zagrożenie dla marketerów, którzy wydają miliony dolarów na word-of-mouth oraz media społeczne, jak: Microsoft, Ford i Pepsi. Firma PQ Media prognozuje, że w 2001 r. amerykańscy marketerzy wydadzą 3,7 mld dol. na te media. Rich Cleland, assistant director w departamencie reklamy FTC, powiedział, że komisja musi zaktualizować swój kodeks w celu dostosowania go do nowych wymogów rynkowych. – Komisja chce odświeżyć zasady, które nie zmieniły się od 30 lat. Musi ustosunkować się do obecnych technik marketingowych – mówi Rich Cleland.

Plany FTC dotyczą tylko tych blogerów i autorów tekstów, którzy są opłacani, aby promować konkretne produkty. Roberta Jacobs-Meadway, partner w firmie prawniczej Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot z Pittsburgha, mówi: FTC chce, aby wszyscy zaangażowani w marketing wirusowy i media społeczne wiedzieli, że dotyczą ich takie same zasady jak autorów klarownie oznakowanych tekstów typu płatna reklama, artykuł sponsorowany czy infomercial.

Strony takie jak Facebook czy Amazon, na których konsumenci często zamieszczają własne oceny produktów, nie są zagrożone żadną akcją prawną. Natomiast wszyscy płatni promotorzy powinni się identyfikować. Jeżeli tego nie uczynią, będą im grozić skutki prawne. Zanim członkowie FTC zagłosują latem na te poprawki, komisja przeprowadzi analizę opinii publicznej na temat proponowanych regulacji. Już otrzymała komentarze z American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) oraz Personal Care Products Council. AAAA podkreśla, że bardzo jej zależy, aby testymoniale nie wprowadzały konsumentów w błąd. Jednocześnie nalega, aby komisja zweryfikowała swoje plany.

Organizacja uważa, że marketerzy odrzucają te nowe techniki marketingowe ze względu na zbyt rygorystyczne regulacje. Paul Rand, prezes Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) powiedział, że członkowie jego stowarzyszenia nie muszą się przejmować planami FTC, pod warunkiem że przestrzegają zasad WOMMA. Dodał jednak, że jego zdaniem propozycje FTC powinny zostać klarownie podane choćby po to, aby uniknąć wątpliwości- Jeżeli FTC wyjdzie poza aktualne plany, to niestety, ale wszyscy gracze będą musieli przemyśleć swoje strategie – mówi Rand

Przedstawiciele Pepsi, która od lat wiąże się z osobami wpływowymi w internecie w celu promocji swoich produktów, twierdzą, że firma i tak działa przejrzyście
i nic  się w tej materii nie zmieni.

Niektórzy obawiają się, że nowelizacja zasad przez FTC źle wpłynie na rozwój nowych technik marketingowych. Joe Chernov, wiceprezes BzzAgent, sądzi, że po okresie kaca spowodowanym interwencją rządu sytuacja się znormalizuje. – Ludzie zawsze się denerwują ,gdy miesza się rząd. Wydaje się prawdopodobne, że sama blogosfera będzie miała duży wpływ na to, jak zareagują marki na nowe przepisy.

AdAge.com

The New Jersey State Library has created two commercials designed to promote how libraries are helping our customers during tough economic times. We are running them on NJN, public access channels and Comcast and now are offering your library the opportunity to use them on your site too.

Just click on the video to get to YouTube and download the code.

WORKING AGAIN

JOB HUNTING

Questions? Email me at ndowd@njstatelib.org

Today I attended a presentation on Word of Mouth Marketing. (Womm)  Here is the knowledge, tips and insight shared from Emanel Rosen.

Marketing Buzz

• Objective of Buzz = maximize number of positive comments exchanged among customers. 
• Buzz really starts when customer A talks to customer B. What do we as marketers do to encourage conversation?

Story telling is very helpful in Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM)

• Story of Blake (Toms shoes) : How about I start of company and for every shoe I sell I give to a child in need.
• People want to be apart of something that is good. Anyone starting a small company or has an idea should  incorporate giving to what you do.

Misconceptions

• 73% of WOMM is face-face, 17% phone, 10% is the web.  It’s not about importance, rather, frequency. The web has an important role in accelerating WOMM
• Volume vs. Dispersion: You want buzz to happen in many social groups simultaneously; we live in isolated social clusters.
• “All you need is a good product”  Endnote was a 5-7 year overnight success.  Meaning, a good product is important but it takes work!
• Buzz does not spread by itself. Why?

#1. Most buzz is positive but the part that is negative comes from 1/3 of people who have never used your product… just because. You must encourage people who use your product to tell your story.

#2 People forget, or run out of opportunity to talk.  Overtime, memories fade and you run out of things to talk about. That is why Nols (National Outdoor Leadership School) started the bus tour.  They email alumni and ask them to help find restaurants to give oil and involve alumni in the process.  When the bus arrives it has a wall and a huge panel with pictures that alumni bring to the bus with notes and memories. All of this reignites story telling

Biggest misconception:

• Notion that WOMM is exclusive product of grassroots and guerrilla marketing.
• 17% of brand conversation include referral to advertising.
• Dont view advertising as something bad or something that will die.

Most important:

1.Give us something to talk about:

• Pillow menu at a hotel, bar made from ICE (absolute vodka), Blend it guy (will it blend?)  Blender had a 500% increase in sales.
• Encourage participation: Want us to blend something, leave comments and suggestions (email is mandatory)? (Blender got 1000 requests to blend an i      phone when it came out) Now the customer feels ownership…feeling that your part of it. Voting, reviews etc…
• Humans create & share: Remember back it kindergarten? You made a picture of a rainbow and show it to everyone.  We as humans are programmed to share.  People display things because they create it. Any time you have your customers create something…they will share it. Toms shoes ex: you can have a party at your school/church and by 40-50 shoes and have people decorate them…. The customers tell a story.

2. Strategy: Make it easy and fun for your customers to spread the word

• April 21st: Free cone day. National Event for Ben and Jerry’s.  Give Facebook free cone day gift to a friend…11 hours=250,000 f-book members gave to friends. 13 hours.=213,000. 1 million people walked into stores and got a free scoop!

3. Allow implicit recommendation: Buzz and WOMM is not only about words, not just about me telling but showing about the product.  EX: Live Strong bracelet.

4. Work with hubs: Hubs are people who talk.  Social hubs: people who talk more cause they know someone.

5. Co-founder of Power bar: I believe athletes need a energy bar. “We really had to plant separate seeds in each area”  Swimmers might not talk to tennis players…accelerate by reaching out to social cluster’s. “

6. 20 question game: “I’m thinking of a Q tip” The game guesses it right,  WOW, the user says! Anytime you create a wow affect. You’ll create buzz
7 Tips:

• Start with current buzz: listen to what people are actually saying
• Add a tangible element like live strong
• Create an event…we talk about what we do
• Run a simple tell a friend promotion
• Ask customer tell their story
• Negative buzz can be an opportunity
• Keep it simple
• Avoid marketing talk

Source:  Kellerfay group. (interviews 100 consumers a day on WOM marketing)

Emanuel Rosen; Author of The Anatomy of Buzz

Twitter: @emanuelrosen

www.womma.org

As always, feedback is appreciated!

I was asked the other day what I thought Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) included, so I’ve developed a mindmap that highlights many points of Word of Mouth interaction.

Word of Mouth