But the mundane products, like the dog bowl I just filled with water, can’t rely primarily on WOM.

I would guess that answer is that we need to show how WOM can supplement current and planned efforst to add to the bottom line.

That’s a great point and one I was also going to bring up…the product. There are some companies where word of mouth is a key driver for their business… I think of Apple, TIVO, Blackberry, Honda, etc. People love their products…since those products provide a great benefit and make it easy to get passionate about them. For example, for a while I would go out of my way to tell people about TIVO…since it made a big impact on our lives. I know that sounds crazy, but it did!

But those companies already know that WOM is important and how it drives business. Not every company has a product that’s easy to get passionate about…or some companies don’t have a great track record with their customers. In my experience, Word of Mouth has been an explosive driver of business (especially with the web acting as a catalyst for spreading the message), but it still could be a tough sell to senior management that might be looking closely at hard return on investment of the initiative. I think that is changing, though…I know that more and more people are seeing the power of WOM. I hope it keeps trending that way. :)

I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts!

When it comes to WOM (or even potential advertising), ask a client if they are confident about their product. If they believe in it. And if they see a sense of consistency in it.

If they’re not, then maybe WOM is not for them. They need to go back to the drawing board.

I’ve asked clients that question before and they almost always say yes without hesitation. If they actaully believe in what they’re saying and you can show them how that confidence can be turned to assurance and trust by their custormers, they’ll start to see what ROI is all about.

Advertising spells out the brand promise and asks (or too many times tells) us to take notice. We notice. Maybe we’re interested. Maybe not. But the advice and the enthusiasm from others – stuff that you really can’t pay for – is what builds that brand. ESPECAILLY IF IS UNIFORM.

Because when it is consistent and that consistency reflects the quality your product you are supposed to have, you will end up having an expanding customer or client base. A base that will probably be wider (getting different types of customers) and deeper (developing greater brand loyalty).

If a company really wants to build a brand, they’ll need not just happy customers, but ones that are entusiastic enought to help build the brand ever so slightly. WOM does that. And that’s the ROI.

Great quote and I completely agree with you about the power of WOM. That said, I think old school marketers have a hard time with the idea of WOM. They like to measure absolute ROI, the ability to mold and maintain the message, and are somewhat scared to hand over control.

In my experience, companies get really excited when they hear about word of mouth marketing, but the conversation tends to get tough when you start to map out a budget for word of mouth initiatives. I always hear, “now how much are we going to make from this?” :-) Any thoughts about the hard-to-measure ROI aspect of word of mouth marketing?

Chris

What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know how to do marketing!!!!!!!?
:>)