by Deborah Eastman
- View article on one page
- Page 1 2
Michael Antman's recent article, "Six Reasons Word-of-Mouth Doesn't Work," struck a chord. He raises reasonable points about the limitations of WOM; after all, it can't completely replace other forms of marketing communications.
However, we would be remiss to ignore the impact of WOM. A recent CMO Council study, titled "Customer Affinity, a new measure of marketing," found that 46% of IT decision makers (B2B) find peer recommendations to be the most important source of information and advice in shaping purchasing decisions.
We would argue that WOM is not a marketing campaign. The first step to generating WOM is delivering a superior customer experience to create customer advocates that deliver organic word-of-mouth. Then, identifying the influential Promoters and targeting your communication allows you to amplify their message.
More and more companies are finding that engaging customers in an online community or "Inner Circle" is a powerful marketing program to support this approach to WOM.
Management experts Treacy and Wiersema have outlined three core business strategies for success: operational excellence, product differentiation, and customer intimacy. Companies are increasingly focusing on customer intimacy. Word-of-mouth isn't about creating collateral or instilling consumers with talking points; it's about focusing on customer intimacy and implementing customer programs designed to foster customer loyalty and drive positive word-of-mouth. By creating loyal—not just satisfied—customers, companies can activate positive WOM.
So, what do companies need to know in order to create effective word-of-mouth? Consider these points:
1. Word-of mouth may not be controllable, but it is manageable
While companies can't directly control what is being said, they can manage their relationship with their customers to improve how they feel about the company or brand. The root of WOM is the customer experience; therefore, it is most effective when a part of a customer-centric culture focused on building customer loyalty.
A popular measurement of potential WOM is Net Promoter, the premise of which is a simple question asked of customers: "Would you recommend my company, product or service?" Those who would recommend are Promoters, and those who wouldn't are Detractors. Companies that improve their Net Promoter Score—percent of Promoters minus percent of Detractors—improve their positive word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth marketing isn't about giving customers talking points, as if they were brand spokespeople. It's about delivering an exceptional customer experience that makes customers want to recommend you.
- Page 1 2
- View article on one page
Comments
by Michael Antman Tue Aug 19, 2008
As Deborah Eastman's piece points out, it is possible to transcend some of the limitations of word of mouth. The intent of my original article was not to convince marketers that word of mouth is worthless (obviously it is not), but rather that it has significant limitations (clearly it does.) It would have gone far beyond the scope of my original article to point out that other marketing and marketing communications techniques have their own significant limitations as well, but of course they do.
The specific concern with word of mouth, however, is that too many companies in my experience rely too heavily on it, and do so in too passive a manner (especially on the B2B side, where I think WOM can be more problematic.) Yes, organic and amplified word of mouth initiatives can make sense as part of an integrated marketing communications program, but only when all of the elements of the program are based on a strategic, rather than passive, approach -- and only when the strengths and weaknesses of each element are honestly acknowledged and dealt with. As Deborah notes in the final sentence of her article -- "WOM isn't meant to replace advertising, public relations, and other marketing efforts -- instead, it's one integral element of an effective marketing strategy.