WOM

WOM refers to Word of Mouth Marketing technique.

As Wiki defines it: “Word-of-mouth marketing, also known as buzz marketing and viral advertising, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive (i.e. they are not receiving an incentive for their referrals)”

This again boils down to topic – why is WOM so important? When marketers have already allocated their ad spend on print and TV advertisements, why should they worry about anything now? If their product is good, its gona sell…!!!phew

Now, I have very interesting facts to share:

• Only 18% of TV ads generate positive ROI
• 84% of B2B campaigns resulted in lower sales
• 100% increase in ad spend results in only 1-2% increase in sales
• Only 14% people trust ads
• 69% interested in ad blocking technologies

Source: Napa Consulting

With the above facts, it’s very difficult for marketers to generate positive ROI for their companies. Resorting to WOM can generate business for them….”recommendations” do work – be it product or otherwise.

Who can recommend?
Average Customers
Clients
Consumers

How – Natural route?
Peer to peer talking
Social Media tools
SMSing
E-mail
IM
Blogging
Vblog

How – asking the influential people to recommend their brands.
Connectors
Connectors are key people who have the power to influence others in a particular direction
They normally blog about one particular topic and are experts in that field
For example: Brandon Mcgee is a known name for Mobile Banking – He’s termed as the “Mobile Banking Guru”

Key Opinion Leaders
Individuals to who most people refer to for advice and recommendations.
If we look at the diagram below, it has various nodes that refer to how various people are connected via Social Media; and finding the “most influential” person of all.
048 is the KOL as most people look up to him for opinions and advice