Social media - capturing the so-called word-of-mouse

May 29, 9:49 AMOnline Marketing ExaminerJeff Bodary

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Marketers can now capture a word-of-mouth presence through the
right use of social media.   Image courtesy of mediabistro.com

It has long been an adage in the business that the best kind of advertising or marketing is by "word-of-mouth." Why? It boils down to trust. Consumers trust the value judgments of their peers over the promises made by marketers. No big secret there. The challenges have always been to:

• Develop concepts and campaigns that generate a positive "buzz" about a brand or product or service
• Nurture that "buzz" throughout an ownership cycle to drive a repeat purchase

Until the advent of online social media, this was a pretty difficult challenge. Today however, marketers have the opportunity to directly participate in and shape the so-called "word-of-mouse" conversation that forms around their brand or product or service.

And it's a growing opportunity. Knowledge Networks reports that 83 percent of the Internet population (ages 13 to 54) participate in social media conversations. 47 percent of these users participate on at least a weekly basis. 54 percent of those who participate say they most like staying connected with friends and family and meeting new people. The big message for marketers who are thinking about how they intend to participate in social media marketing is that only 16 percent of users say they are more likely to buy from companies that advertise on social media sites.

David Tice, Vice President and Group Account Director at Knowledge Networks says this, "... social media users do not have a strong association between these sites and purchase decisions; they see them as being more about personal connection - so finding ways to embrace that powerful function is key." 

Embracing that powerful function would seem to require marketers to make a personal connection with their customers through various social media platforms - not something with which a lot of marketers(or their agencies) have a lot of experience. And not something that generates an easily measurable ROI. However, traditional word-of-mouth "buzz" has nearly always been a matter of happenstance. By focusing their efforts on participation, connection and conversation vs. awareness and consideration, marketers will generate a "word-of-mouse" presence in their selected communities.

It's a just a small step from there to the awareness and consideration that can lead to purchase.

A demonstration of how "word-of-mouse" can work is presented in an informal survey by MarketingProfs that shows Twitter is rapidly gaining acceptance among users as an important social media business tool. The results are part of a new MarketingProfs case study collection that describes how 11 diverse businesses are using Twitter to achieve their business objectives.

According to the survey of mostly small businesses, 84 percent of respondents said they expect their company's use of Twitter to increase over the next six months - 46 percent by a "significant margin." Currently, 66 percent of respondents said that Twitter is "either "somewhat important" or "extremely important" to their company's business or marketing operations.

Many of the Twitter applications described had to do with couponing or notification of special promotions to an already-established social media community. So it seems if done right, companies can embrace the power of "word-of-mouse."

The challenges for marketers seem to be:

• How to get established as a trusted member of selected communities in a way that doesn't conflict with the desire of social media users to "connect" rather than "consider purchase"
• How to determine just the right time to "add value" to the community (perhaps with a promotion)
• How to leverage the positive "word-of-mouse" generated in social networks into more traditional media applications without compromising the fabric (or trust) of the online community

The tools are there for marketers to turn powerful word-of-mouth advertising from a serendipitous circumstance into a strategic and ongoing part of an integrated marketing program. What best practices work for you?

Online marketing glossary terms:

Customer acquisition cost - the cost associated with acquiring a new customer.

Visit - request of a file from a Web server.

Impression - a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed.