Word of Mouth - Word-of-mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, brand advocates, cause influencers and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, can be highly valued by product, social media and performance marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that they are more credible. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the listener tends to believe that the communicator is being honest and doesn't have an ulterior motive (i.e. they are not being paid for their referrals). Word-of-mouth depends on the extent of customer satisfaction with the product or service, and on the degree of its perceived value.

To promote and manage word-of-mouth communications, marketers use publicity techniques as well as viral marketing methods to achieve desired behavioral response. Companies can focus on brand advocates, the people who proactively recommend their favorite brands and products online and offline without being paid to do so. Influencer marketing is also increasingly used to seed WOMM by targeting key individuals who have authority and many personal connections.

Marketers place significant value on positive word-of-mouth, which is traditionally achieved by creating products, services and customer experiences that generate conversation-worthy "buzz" naturally. The relatively new practice of word of mouth marketing attempts to inject positive "buzz" into conversations directly. While marketers have always hoped to achieve positive word-of-mouth, intentional marketing relying on such techniques is subject to regulation in some jurisdictions. For example, in the United States, deliberate efforts to generate beneficial consumer conversations must be transparent and honestly conducted in order to meet the requirements of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." To help marketers understand the difference between legitimate and unfair practices, a number of professional organizations have put forward recommendations for ethical conduct.