Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM,
WOM Marketing) is the simple act of consumers exchanging
information about a business via talking. Traditionally, word-of-mouth was
done in person with friends, families, and neighbors; today, word-of-mouth
marketing has become much more digitized, and relies on the exchange of
information using texting, emails, online review sites like Yelp or Google+ Local,
and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, word-of-mouth marketing today now has the potential to reach thousands of people within a matter of hours, and is no longer limited to a customer’s circle of friends and family. While WOM is a very organic process – meaning that paid efforts aren’t necessary to continue its natural progression – WOM marketing campaigns can be launched to increase user outreach and brand recognition. Planning and executing a word-of-mouth marketing campaign can be one of the most successful strategies for attracting customers and increasing profits.
Whether you’re a small business, organization or non-profit,
large business or corporation, business-to-business (B2B), or
business-to-consumer (B2C), the elements of a successful word-of-mouth
marketing campaign are the same across the board. Just like all other marketing
campaigns, a WOM marketing campaign should be:
- Respectable
- Honest
- Measurable
- Credible
- Shared/Social
- Engaging
These characteristics are important for a number of reasons.
First, honesty and credibility are incredibly important for staying true to
your brand’s message, creating trust amongst customers, and ensuring that
people want to talk about your brand. is
also called word of mouth advertising, differs from naturally occurring word of mouth, in
that it is actively influenced or encouraged by organisations (e.g. 'sending' a
message in a network, rewarding regular consumers to engage in WOM, employing
WOM 'agents'). While it is difficult to truly control WOM, research has shown
that there are three generic avenues to 'manage' WOM for the purpose of WOMM: (1)
Build a strong WOM foundation (e.g. sufficient levels of satisfaction, trust
and commitment), (2) Indirect WOMM management which implies that managers only
have a moderate amount of control (e.g. controversial advertising, teaser
campaigns, customer membership clubs), (3) Direct WOMM management, which has
higher levels of control (e.g. paid WOM 'agents', "friend get friend"
schemes). Proconsumer WOM has been suggested as a counterweight to commercially
motivated word of mouth.
HISTORY
George Silverman, a
psychologist, pioneered word-of-mouth marketing when he created what he called
"teleconferenced peer influence groups" in order to engage physicians
in dialogue about new pharmaceutical products. Silverman noticed an interesting
phenomenon while conducting focus groups with physicians in the early 1970s.
"One or two physicians who were having good experiences with a drug would
sway an entire group of skeptics. They would even sway a dissatisfied group of
ex-prescribers who had had negative experiences!"
With the emergence of Web 2.0, many web start-ups like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Digg have used buzz marketing by merging it with
the social networks that they have developed. With the increasing use of the
Internet as a research and communications platform, word of mouth has become an
even more powerful and useful resource for consumers and marketers.
In October 2005, the
advertising watchdog group Commercial Alert petitioned the United States FTC to
issue guidelines requiring paid word-of-mouth marketers to disclose their
relationship and related compensation with the company whose product they are
marketing. The United States FTC stated that it would investigate situations in
which the relationship between the word-of-mouth marketer of a product and the
seller is not revealed and could influence the endorsement. The FTC stated that
it would pursue violators on a case-by-case basis. Consequences for violators
may include cease-and-desist orders, fines or civil penalties.
The Word of Mouth Marketing
Association, a US American trade group that represents hundreds of companies,
has adopted an ethics code stating that manufacturers should not pay cash to
consumers in return for recommendations or endorsements.
Research firm PQ Media
estimated that in 2008, companies spent $1.54 billion on word-of-mouth
marketing. While spending on traditional advertising channels was slowing,
spending on word-of-mouth marketing grew 14.2 percent in 2008, 30 percent of
that for food and drink brands.
Word of mouth marketing
today is both online and through face-to-face interaction. The Ehrenberg-Bass
Institute for Marketing Science has shown that to achieve growth, brands
must create word of mouth beyond core fan groups - meaning marketers should not
focus solely on communities such as Facebook. According to Deloite further research
has shown that 'most advocacy takes place offline' - instead it happens in
person. According to the Journal of Advertising Research, 75% of all consumer
conversations about brands happen face-to-face, 15% happen over the phone and
just 10% online. On the other hand, some see social media interaction as being
inextricably tied to word of mouth marketing.
MODELS
OF WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING
When further research went
into developing the concept word-of-mouth marketing many models behind the word
of mouth strategy also developed. These models include the organic inter
consumer influence model, the linear marketer influence model and the network
coproduction model.
When dealing with the
initial and simplest form of word of mouth marketing it is related to the model
of the organic inter-consumer influence model. This means that organisations
having no direct input of what is being said about the particular product, it
is just one consumer talking to another about product reviews and or customer
service experience. The main motivation behind this model is for others to warn
and inform potential consumers of a product out of their best interest not for
personal gain. This model is referred to being organic because it occurs
naturally, meaning it is not planned by the firm and occurs when the consumer
wants to share their experience with a certain brand or product.
As Research started to
progress marketers found the importance of “influential consumers”. So the
linear marketer influence model was adopted. The linear marketer influence
model introduces the idea of influential customers creating conversations with
potential customers and consumers about how a certain product can be beneficial
for them to purchase. This model allows organisations to make sure that
credible influential sources are spreading the word/ message of the
organisation and presenting the value proposition of the organisation successfully
and accurately to the target consumer. This can be done through “targeted
advertisements and promotions through credible sources that review the product.
Marketers found this model to be and effective model of word-of-mouth marketing
and it decreased the chances of negative opinions and attitudes from being
spread about a particular product of the organization.
The Network Coproduction
Model This next development in word-of-mouth marketing. This saw marketers
introduce “one to one seeding and communication programmes”. This model
encourages conversations between customers about the certain product through
releasing information on a particular product. This word-of-mouth model is more
focused on online activities, using blogs and online communities as sources in
communicating the message of the product. The network coproduction model gives
marketers the opportunity to control and manage word of mouth activity online.
- Seeding is one example of
how Marketers use the network coproduction model of word-of-mouth Marketing.
With seeding marketers can use various techniques and approaches, these
approaches can be indirect like engineering WOM conversations and direct
approaches. - The engineering approach consists of marketers constructing
conversations, so there is more buzz created and the number of conversations
based on an organisations product increases. - A direct approach to seeding is
targeting special selected consumers and allowing them to sample products that
an organisation has. This allows these selected customers to present their
feelings towards these products through online communities or blogs. Seeding
campaigns can offer marketers the ability to reach a new set of consumers. It
is most effective when the product is at the beginning stage of its product
life style and helps to set the reputation of the brand and product into
motion.
Buzz
Marketing buzz or simply "buzz"
is a term used in word-of-mouth marketing—the interaction of consumers and
users of a product or service serve to amplify the original marketing message.
Some describe buzz as a form of hype among consumers, a vague
but positive association, excitement, or anticipation about a product or
service. Positive "buzz" is often a goal of viral marketing, public relations, and of advertising on Web 2.0 media. The term refers
both to the execution of the marketing technique, and the resulting goodwill
that is created. Examples of products with strong marketing buzz upon
introduction were Harry
Potter,
the Volkswagen
New Beetle, Pokémon, Beanie Babies, and the Blair
Witch Project.
Viral effects
Viral marketing and viral advertising are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use
pre-existing social
networks to
produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other
marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to
the spread of virus or computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth
delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions
may take the form of video
clips,
interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable
software, images, or even text messages. The goal of marketers
interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals
with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) — and have a high
probability of being taken by another competitor — and create viral messages that appeal to this
segment of the population. The term "viral marketing" has also been
used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous
use of astroturfing on-line combined with
undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of
spontaneous word-of-mouth enthusiasm.
ANALYZING
WOM
Consumers may promote
brands by word-of-mouth due to social, functional, and emotional factors. Research
has identified thirteen brand characteristics that stimulate WOM, namely:
1.
Age of the brand in the marketplace: A long history of a brand
or product can create an emotional relationship between the consumer and
itself. This can stimulate WOM if the brand is known to be reliable or
effective evident by the existence of its place in a market, this can be
effective for companies for communicating there strength to other competitors.
2.
Type of good: Depending on the type of product,
experiences customers have with a product may mean that WOM can be used to
suggest brands and products to others when in different forms of situations. An
example of this could be a household or garden object.
3.
Complexity: WOM is used in this instance to help explain
the use of a product or its effectiveness to whether or not it will serve its
purpose or need.
4.
Knowledge about a brand: Similar to complexity, WOM
can be used to describe the effectiveness of a brand, the history behind it and
what the main purpose of the product is. WOM is also used to identify a company’s
future whether it is positive or negative.
5.
Differentiation: An experience with different products within
a market can mean that WOM can offer solutions to others and explain which
products and brands could be more effective than others when looking at similar
products serving the same need. Previous consumers can help describe strengths
and weaknesses of products and help make the correct decision.
6.
Relevance
of a brand to a broad audience
7.
Quality - esteem given to a brand
8.
Premium: WOM regarding premiums can refer too
different packaging of a brands products e.g. during Easter or over Christmas.
Different and exciting packaging and deals can stimulate a huge source of WOM
communication and can lead to brands becoming extremely popular over short
periods of time. An example of this would be supermarket 'bulk buy' deals over
the Christmas holiday period.
9.
Visibility
10.
Excitement: WOM can be used to promote up and coming
products which results in huge amounts of excitement. An example of this could
be new technology being released to the public and advances in medical
technology and vehicles. These examples are best used to demonstrate excitement
as a result of word of mouth marketing.
11.
Satisfaction
12.
Perceived risk: WOM can be used to warn other potential
buyers that a product is not what it says it is. An example of this may be
online buying as a result of marketing strategies from funny companies who
focus on producing fake goods that look and seem like the legitimate product.
An example of this would be fake iPhones and clothing (most significantly shoes
and sportswear).
13.
Involvement
This research also found
that while social and functional drivers are the most important for promotion
via WOM online, the emotional driver predominate offline.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WORD-OF-MOUTH
MARKETING
Word of mouth marketing can
be very effective in the communication of the advertising campaign as it can
offer a solution to “penetrating consumers guards” to get them talking about a
particular product.
Many Marketers find this
type of marketing strategy to have many advantages to the whole advertising
campaign of a certain product. One positive aspect of this marketing strategy
is that sources of this word of mouth advertising are mostly personal. This
means that they are not subject to persuasion from the organisation for
personal gains or subject to being bias. This has a positive effect on the
advertising campaign as it shows what consumers honestly think about a product
and the motivation to try the particular product or services increases, due to
the consumer being recommended by a trusted reliable source.
However, there are some
disadvantages and criticisms with word-of-mouth Marketing. One disadvantage is
that word-of-mouth marketing is subject to a lot of clutter. As well as that
word-of-mouth marketing may sometimes not be beneficial in changing or
influencing consumer’s attitudes and perception especially from an organic
source as negative conversations maybe held about the brand. This is due to the
organic source not finding the product beneficial so therefore has a negative
perception of the product, which therefore is shared.
One more Criticism about
this marketing strategy is that people tend to be off put and feel deceived
when they find out that a person who influenced their attitude about a product
has been working or benefitting from doing that. This ultimately has the
potential to make consumers change their attitude, which can have a negative
impact on the firm’s product reputation. This may be the case as consumers feel
that it wasn’t in the source’s interest to tell what their full perceptions
were of the brand.
References
· Lang, Bodo; Hyde, Ken (2013). [Available
through ProQuest database. ProQuest document ID: 1478021321 "Word of
mouth: what we know and what we have yet to learn"] Check |url= value (help). Journal of consumer
satisfaction, dissatisfaction and complaining behavior. 26: 1–18.
Retrieved January 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
· · Lang, Bodo; Lawson, Rob (2013). "Dissecting
Word-of-Mouth's Effectiveness and How to Use It as a Proconsumer Tool". Journal of Nonprofit
& Public Sector Marketing. 25 (4): 374–399. doi:10.1080/10495142.2013.845419. Retrieved 22 January
2014.
· · Shin, Annys (December 12, 2006). "FTC Moves to Unmask
Word-of-Mouth Marketing". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
· · Joshi, Pradnya (2009-07-13). "Approval by a Blogger
May Please a Sponsor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
· · "Word of Mouth Trumps
All in Today's Marketing". Austin Business Journal. December 16, 2014.
Retrieved December 16, 2014.
· · Robert V. Kozinets; Kristine de Valck;
Andrea C. Wojnicki & Sarah J.S. Wilner (March 2010). "Networked
Narratives: Understanding the Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online
Communities". Journal of Marketing.
· · Koeck, Benjamin; Marshall, David (2015).
"Word of Mouth Theory Revisited: The Influence of New Actors on Seeding
Campaigns". Advances in Consumer Research.
· · Thomas Jr, Greg (2006-07-11). "Building the buzz in
the hive mind". Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 4 (1): 64–72. doi:10.1002/cb.158. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
· · Howard, Theresa (2005-06-23). "USAToday: Viral
advertising spreads through marketing plans". USA Today. Retrieved
2010-05-27.
June 23, 2005, 2005
· · Lovett, Mitchell; Peres, Renana; Shachar, Ron. "On brands and
word-of-mouth" (PDF). Journal of Marketing Research. 50
(4): 427–444. doi:10.1509/jmr.11.0458. [...] this empirical
analysis [...] argues that consumers spread the word on brands as a result of
three drivers: social, emotional, and functional.
· · Lovett, Mitchell; Peres, Renana; Shachar,
Ron. "On brands and
word-of-mouth" (PDF). Journal of Marketing Research.
· Stefanie.L.Boyer, Diane.R.Edmondson, Brent
Baker, Paul Solomon (2015). "Word-of-Mouth Traditional and Covert
Marketing: Comparative Studies.". Academy of Marketing Studies Journal.
No comments:
Post a Comment