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Word-of-Mouth

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  •  
    They Say Everybody Has One 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Point of fact: One of the most alluring things about Facebook is its infinite capacity to find us a new distraction—be it Farmville, virtual gift-giving or browsing through an old flame's recent family photo shoot (major creepiness factor, BTW). Second point of fact: Some companies know this about Facebook, and are already ... more
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    How Consumers, Bloggers Use YouTube 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Music is the most popular video category on YouTube, accounting for 30.7% of all videos viewed, followed by entertainment videos (14.6%), and people and blog videos (10.8%), according to a study from Sysomos. more
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    Five Risks to Take in '10 
    Word-of-Mouth
    In a recent Search Engine Land article, Andrew Goodman predicts that the biggest risk in 2010-2011 for search marketers may lie in working with outdated assumptions about the size and potential of target markets and the paid-search channel. As a remedy, he suggests five investment or expansion "risks" that could ... more
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    Social Gaming Integral to Social Networking 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Nearly one-quarter (24%) of consumers say they regularly play games on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace––and contrary to prevailing stereotypes, the typical social gamer is a 43-year-old woman, according to a new survey from PopCap Games. more
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    Stay Trendilicious! 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Looking to make your brand trendier? Get a load of Trendistic, a clear and simple way to watch the ebb and flow of buzz on Twitter. A visit to the Trendistic homepage gives you a quick glimpse at what keyword is hottest on Twitter right now. In addition to the most current ... more
  •  
    When Pizza Turns a New Leaf 
    Word-of-Mouth
    It'd be an understatement to say 2009 was a tough year for Domino's Pizza, what with the awkward employees-abusing-food scandal. A quick recap: two bored employees recorded themselves doing unpleasant things with food, and the video wound up on YouTube. Domino's responded swiftly enough, both terminating the employees and releasing an apologetic YouTube video ... more
  •  
    I Chat for a Good Cause 
    Word-of-Mouth
    The Great Recession has certainly not spared nonprofit organizations. With contributions down an average of nine percent, many charitable organizations have been forced to cut services. Some even face closure. Fortunately, though, the news is not all bad. "With the right marketing mix, savvy nonprofits are able to leverage social-media marketing ... more
  •  
    Decade's Top 10 Viral Campaigns 
    Word-of-Mouth
    The most significant online viral campaign of the decade was "Mentos and Diet Coke experiments" by Eepybird.com, according to a survey conducted by GoViral. more
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    Lessons of the Little Mermaid 
    Word-of-Mouth
    You're probably familiar with the story of The Little Mermaid. In this classic tale of unrequited love, a girl exchanges her voice for the chance to be close to a prince. It's a parable about finding the right voice amid the melee. Faced with a plentitude of uncertainties about social media, ... more
  •  
    I Knew You'd Be There for Me 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Belgian beer label Stella Artois has added a splash of engagement to its marketing strategy with Le Bar Guide. Developed by Acrossair, Le Bar Guide is a free app that points users to the nearest bar serving Stella. Run searches by ZIP Code, or switch the augmented reality feature on—and have ... more
  •  
    Ride the Wedding-Dance Wave 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Last summer, a happy couple sent ripples through the Net when their video, JK Wedding Entrance Dance, hit YouTube. The video depicted a wedding entourage dancing down the aisle to Chris Brown's "Forever," concluding with the bride cutting the rubber in the general direction of her nervous, but giddy, groom. Great ... more
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    I'd Like to Talk to the Manager 
    Word-of-Mouth
    If your small business has earned a devoted cadre of loyal customers, you can assume they have a vested interest in your ongoing success. They want uninterrupted, easy access to the products or services they love—and, therefore, want your company to thrive. But have you given your customers a way ... more
  •  
    Sounds Good to Me! 
    Word-of-Mouth
    "I know I have said it a million times in speeches, articles and in person," writes Dylan Boyd at The Email Wars blog, "but telling someone 'thanks' is one of the best things that you can ever do for your email campaigns." He was particularly impressed by the follow-up he received ... more
  •  
    Add Some Local Flavor 
    Word-of-Mouth
    When McDonald's launched its specialty coffees earlier this year, its banner ads inviting consumers to "McCafé Your Day" were all over the Web. Great branding, but does such online advertising send customers to local establishments? The short answer: When combined with search, it does! According to Christa Hoyland, editor of QSR Web, Google research ... more
  •  
    Naughty? Nice? Get the List. 
    Word-of-Mouth
    In late October, Twitter launched its Lists feature, which might just improve your life in a panoply of organization-friendly ways. The new feature helps you sort your own contacts based on personal relevance, but—maybe more importantly—it also provides you with ready-made groups of people to which to target your messages. ... more
  •  
    Window-shopping, Parisian-style 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Get this: 8 in 10 smartphone users say they have trouble accessing content from their handhelds. What's more, they swear they'd spend at least $9 more per month on purchases if the products they wanted were easier to find. The stats come from a survey of both US and UK smartphone ... more
  •  
    We Can Make Music Together 
    Word-of-Mouth
    In a video at TED.com, Israeli conductor Itay Talgam gives a spirited 20-minute talk on what modern leaders could learn from great conductors. Interestingly, a lot of the principles he presents in the video can apply to nourishing a social-media campaign. Here are some of his words of wisdom that can cross over ... more
  •  
    Bring the Mayor to Your Doorstep 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Few things are as irresistible as a mobile game that lets players rack points up during waiting-room or bus-ride lulls. But if you're a brick-and-mortar shop, or a restaurant, there isn't much incentive for throwing another branded version of Tetris out into the ether. What to do, what to do? Solution: Hook up ... more
  •  
    Give It to Me Straight 
    Word-of-Mouth
    "Looking for a way to punch up your email campaigns and get subscribers more engaged with your site?" Julie Waite asks in a recent post at the Bronto blog. "Product reviews may be the answer," she says. "Implementing product review functionality on your site can help seal the deal and convince ... more
  •  
    You're Like the Air to Me 
    Word-of-Mouth
    In a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog, Adam Singer summarizes Charlene Li's keynote at Search Engine Strategies San Jose last summer. Co-author of the business bestseller Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, and a MarketingProfs presenter, Li examines the intersection of search and social media. According ... more
  •  
    Don't Sow It Alone 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Kevin Nalts, a marketing director who produces hi-lar-ious videos on YouTube under the handle nalts, once joked that after cutting a bazillion notches into his belt, he still has no idea what makes a viral hit with users. And that's the accepted wisdom: Creating a truly viral video—something people want to ... more
  •  
    So, It's Like a Barn? 
    Word-of-Mouth
    "It's certainly not unusual that a stand up comedian like Tim Washer would be producing absurdist viral videos," notes AdAge. "What is surprising is that the IBM communications executive is doing so for his straight-laced corporate employer." Washer's first mini-mockumentary for the conservative company was called Mainframe: The Art of the ... more
  •  
    Come Tweet With Me 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Hoping to position Lufthansa as bigger than just a German airline, digital agency Profero has helped it create MySkyStatus—a tool that has brought Lufthansa's branding catch-phrase, "passion for precision," to life in a hands-on way. "Communications needs to have a use," explains Profero's Wayne Arnold in a recent article at Adweek. "Saying ... more
  •  
    Who Invited You? 
    Word-of-Mouth
    Last summer, Morgan Stewart of ExactTarget quizzed 2,400 people on their attitudes toward marketing and made an interesting discovery. "70% of consumers who visit Facebook at least once a month and are a 'fan' of at least one company or brand, don't believe they have given those companies permission to ... more
  •  
    You Don't Drive Me Nuts Anymore! 
    Word-of-Mouth
    What makes Twitter so useful is also what makes it difficult to navigate: everyone is spewing what they think, all the time, about anything imaginable. This is good for tracking brand buzz, because when you run a search on Twitter it's like being clairvoyant: the opinions are there, raw and ... more

Word-of-Mouth: See all 81 items

Word-of-Mouth articles by the best and brightest in the field

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  • A Three-Step Plan for Continual Email-List Growth and Engagement (Part 1 of 3) Pro Contentby Karen Talavera
    In online marketing, when it comes to lists, the email-marketing list reigns supreme. But for most email marketers, continual email-list growth is the Achilles' heel of email marketing. more
  • Plan B: Seven Back-to-Basics Questions to Ask About Your Buyers to Drive Growth Pro Contentby Kevin Clancy, Peter Krieg
    Plan A, which calls for pouring dollars into advertising, rarely increases profitability. Sometimes it doesn't even boost sales, and it certainly doesn't guarantee improvements in marketing effectiveness or ROI. Enter Plan B: taking a closer look at the basic marketing strategy fundamentals that drive tactical decisions. more
  • Brand Control to Major Tom: The New Rules of Brand Management by Roger Sametz
    The notion that you can manage your brand by making and distributing messages and materials that you want "out there" is becoming quaint. And though the new age of extreme participation is a challenge, you as brand manager haven't lost all control—and you CAN influence what you can't control. more
  • Marketing Is So Much More Than Promotion: Just Visit My Hairdresser by Barbara Bix
    What can marketers learn from the smallest of small businesses, a hair salon? You might be surprised: Here is a story of an integrated-marketing and client-service approach that any business would do well to emulate. more
  • Marketers: Don't Just Buy Media—Earn It! by Ben Straley
    Want to get started with an effective earned-media marketing program? Here are three tips for launching, measuring, and monetizing a low-cost earned-media program that will drive a surge in online word-of-mouth traffic about your brand. more
  • Five Social Media Tools You Can't Afford to Ignore Pro Contentby Mack Collier
    Sure, social media is big. But even if your company doesn't have the resources for a dedicated social media strategy, here are five social media sites and tools you can't afford to ignore. more
  • Green Marketing Claims: Whom Do You Trust? by Jacquelyn A. Ottman
    Deservedly or not, industry these days is accused incessantly of greenwashing. It's not surprising, for several reasons, that industry isn't trusted to make truthful green marketing claims and provide information that is credible, straightforward, and useful. So how do we restore trust in industry's green marketing claims and eco-labels? Can industry get ... more
  • 13 Essential Social-Media 'Listening Tools' by Clay McDaniel
    You're a marketer who's hip to the idea of social media: You have a blog, you know Facebook inside and out, and you can Tweet with the best of them. But the big question is, Are you listening as well as talking? Here are some of the top tools for ... more
  • The Dark Side of Twitter: What Businesses Need to Know by Michael Stelzner
    As companies tighten their ad spending, inexpensive social media is clearly the next marketing frontier. As with any new craze, there are enormous opportunities. And with them come giant pitfalls that must be avoided. more
  • Special Report: How the 'Obama for America' Campaign Used Digital Media to Turn Ordinary Citizens Into Campaign Evangelists Pro Contentby Kimberly Smith
    How did the Obama for America campaign do it? By its adherence to several game-changing strategies. more
  • Clearing the Air About Word-of-Mouth by Deborah Eastman
    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 can't ignore the impact of WOM. What's more, here's what companies should be doing to leverage it. more
  • Operation Beijing: What PR Is Doing Wrong by Martin Lindstrom
    There's a lot that China could do better, like every country in the world. But the Beijing Olympics PR machine is failing badly to put a positive spin on anything. So, what are they doing wrong? more
  • How to Launch an Effective Blogger-Outreach Program in One Day Pro Contentby Mack Collier
    Too many organizations have made bad impressions on bloggers by trying to reach them on their terms, instead of the bloggers'. But the process of engaging bloggers can be surprisingly easy. Follow these steps to launch a simple but effective blogger outreach program... in one day. more
  • How Boar's Head Is Defending Its Brand Against the Old Flimflam: Six Steps to Empowering Your Customers by Glenn Gabe
    This is a tale of flimflam and a unique way that Boar's Head is battling it. Given the power of word-of-mouth, it's hard to overlook the potential of how Boar's Head is empowering its customer base. (And see how you can, too.) more
  • Email Marketing for Nonprofits by Winston Bowden
    Nonprofits are confronted with many of the questions that any other enterprise often ponders: How do I connect with my customers? Which communication vehicle will provide my organization with the highest return on investment? How can I determine what my target market wants? While many of our corporate friends have turned ... more
  • Going Viral With Your B2B Marketing: Q&A With David Meerman Scott by Mack Collier
    Viral marketing has been all the rage in recent years: Companies are intoxicated with the idea of creating the next video that spreads across the Internet and becomes a viral sensation. But for every successful viral effort there are countless attempts that totally miss the mark. Here's where David Meerman Scott ... more
  • How to Hear the Voice of Your Customers: Hone First-Person Intelligence From All Forms of Feedback by David Bean
    Today's technology offers ample opportunities to start conversations with and among customers, fans, foes, competitors, and the press—any person or group who cares to listen and, perhaps, act on the messages received. By some estimates, 85% of the information companies collect is not in a form that they can access or ... more
  • Seven Ways to Monitor Blog Conversations Pro Contentby TJ McCue
    Do you know what your customers are saying about you? If not, you (and your brand!) are at a distinct disadvantage. Take the opportunity to participate in the blogosphere -- even if only on a small scale -- and you'll help shape your brand, rather than having it be shaped exclusively ... more
  • How Social Media Is Changing the 4Ps of Marketing: Stories from Real Companies Pro Contentby Mack Collier
    Anyone who has taken Marketing 101 knows the 4 Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. But what you may not know is that some companies - including these four - are turning these Ps over completely to customers. (Graphic: David Armano.) more
  • The Death of the PR Handler in a Viral Environment by G.A. 'Andy' Marken
    At a time when business and marketing strategy changes at the speed of light, and competitors, partners and customers have instant access to information, the days of the handler the publicist are numbered. more
  • Getting Old-Fashioned Buzz With New Media: Q&A With Paul Dunay by Mack Collier
    Paul has earned his keep over the past 20 years by building buzz for heavyweights like Google, IBM, and Microsoft. These days he's immersed himself in social media, which serves him well as the director of Global Field & Interactive Marketing for BearingPoint. In this one-on-one, he gives us the lowdown ... more
  • What Web Marketers Should Know About Twitter by Jeremiah Owyang
    If you're responsible for the direction of the online strategies for your company or organization, you've probably been hearing buzz about Twitter, a next-generation instant messaging tool. Even if you're new to Twitter, this article will serve as a guide to educate you to help you make a decision, by ... more
  • 25 Metrics to Prove Marketing Drives Sales by Roy Young
    Driving sales is what B2B marketing is all about. Although the precise roles and responsibilities of Marketing may differ from company to company, your marching orders are the same: Help Sales produce more with less. All marketers want to know best practices and share experiences about driving sales. Here are ... more
  • Wanted: Catalysts for Co-Creation by Earl Cox
    In today's ever-changing, increasingly interactive media world, marketers are captivated by a new business buzzword: "consumer-generated content." While word-of-mouth has always been powerful, consumer-accessible technology (the Internet, podcasting, video production, social networks, etc.) puts it on steroids. Success in this new world order requires marketers to develop a new perspective, a ... more
  • How (and Why) to Get the Word Out about Your Brand and the Environment by Steve Utley
    Consumers are beginning to take environmental impact into consideration in purchase decisions. Businesses that demonstrate environmental responsibility have the opportunity to contribute favorably to their images while aligning themselves with the preferences of their customers. To get the full value out of green practices over time, companies need to let the ... more

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Word-of-Mouth case studies, deconstructing real life examples and illustrating lessons learned.

Check out our marketing Case Study Collections on hot topics including Social Media ROI, Mobile Marketing, Facebook and Twitter.

Word-of-Mouth: See all 42 case studies

Word-of-Mouth online seminar broadcasts from the best minds in marketing

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Word-of-Mouth marketing downloads for the busy professional

  • Facebook Success Stories
    When it comes to social networking sites, Facebook boasts the most loyal visitors on the Web. So it's easy to see why successful brands are embracing it as a platform to connect with customers. Facebook Success Stories gives you the real scoop on how 21 companies, including Adobe and Dunkin' Donuts, are pushing the social media marketing envelope using Facebook's tools and apps.
  • A Step-by-Step Guide to a Social Media Program: Everything you need to know about establishing your strategy, policy and team
    The adage “think before you speak” has now become “think before you write.” In this age of instant messaging, businesses need to wield their online words thoughtfully. Check out MarketingProfs “A Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Social Media Program” to learn how to create your social media strategy, policy and team.
  • Social Media ROI Success Stories
    Learn how social media is changing the way we market to consumers and businesses, and how 11 companies are measuring and monitoring the success of their social media campaigns.
  • Customer-Centric Innovation: How Companies Engage Customers in Product Development and Radical Innovation
    Engaging your customers can help increase satisfaction, loyalty, and brand awareness. This research report will help you understand the role of customers in product development.
  • Twitter Success Stories: How 11 Companies are Achieving Their Marketing Objectives—140 Characters at a Time
    Twitter’s brief tweets let you communicate with friends and family. But did you know that those 140 characters can also build your business? Read Twitter Success Stories: How 11 companies are achieving their marketing objectives, 140 characters at a time.
  • The Obama Playbook: How Digital Marketing and Social Media Won the Election
    Want to create a veritable army of customer-advocates to champion your brand? The Obama Playbook: How Digital Marketing and Social Media Won the Election shows you how the Obama campaign masterfully used new media to build awareness, engage prospects, and start a movement. It takes you step-by-step through the new media strategies of the campaign and provides actionable guidance on how you can modify each to benefit your business. Both entertaining and useful, it's an invaluable resource for the savvy marketer who wants to take full advantage of the amazing powers of new media.
  • Small Biz How-To Guide: Avoiding Key Pitfalls
    Let's face it, more small businesses fail than succeed. Make sure yours is one of the winners with this guide to getting your small business off the ground and solidly on the road to success.
  • Lead Generation How-To Guide
    Great product, great sales team, great marketing collateral - now what? People to sell to, of course. Put your lead generation tactics under the microscope with this enlightening how-to guide. Get more and better qualified leads, faster today.
  • Trade Show Marketing Template
    Trade show marketing is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. This Template provides a sytematic look at trade show marketing. It walks you through selection and promotion, to follow-up and measurement. This step-by-step guide will insure your trade show marketing is effective, efficient, measurable, and successful.
  • Buzz Marketing Summit - MP3
    Format: MP3 Buzz Marketing? Viral Marketing? Word-of-Mouth Marketing? Customer Evangelism? Guess what? They really aren't all synonyms! Who knew? And each one can have a different purpose and place in your marketing strategy. We gathered together seven industry experts on Buzz Marketing and got them talking. Not only will you hear pretty clear definitions of Buzz Marketing and all its sisters and cousins, you'll also get good current examples of each (and one from 1936!), you'll also get practical and actionable advice on what you can do right now. So get buzzing.
  • Buzz Marketing Summit -Transcript
    Format: Downloadable transcript Buzz Marketing? Viral Marketing? Word-of-Mouth Marketing? Customer Evangelism? Guess what? They really aren't all synonyms! Who knew? And each one can have a different purpose and place in your marketing strategy. We gathered together seven industry experts on Buzz Marketing and got them talking. Not only will you hear pretty clear definitions of Buzz Marketing and all its sisters and cousins, you'll also get good current examples of each (and one from 1936!), you'll also get practical and actionable advice on what you can do right now. So purchase your Pro membership today and get buzzing.

Word-of-Mouth: See all 11 downloads

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