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We talk a lot about Word of Mouth. Usually it is in the context of Web 2.0. Whether you believe Word of Mouth is just being discovered as a marketing strategy, or whether you agree with me that marketers have been strategizing and measuring word of mouth forever, doesn't matter.
What also doesn't matter in terms of effectiveness are the tools, such as blogs or podcasts or even e-mail. What matters is that you strategize around Word of Mouth marketing, that you use the right tools, and most important, what you do with those.
The other day, eMarketer ran a newsletter article entitled Half of Customer E-Mail Goes Unanswered. Every time I read this sort of story and review the research, my reaction is the same: Why do we marketers spend so much time pushing tools at customers and clients, when we should be building strategies around how to use the tools?
Here is what eMarketer tells us they learned from this study:
1) In 2007, only 33% of companies responded within 24 hours, down almost half from a high of 63% in 2002.
2) Only half of the responding firms answered e-mail within any time period, down from 86% in 2002.
This behavior creates word of mouth (WOM) but not the kind we want. Strategies around WOM begin and end with the client's customer response rates, whether carrying on real-time conversations within blog posts or responding to customer e-mail and telephone calls.
When we ignore bloggers, when we don't respond to e-mail (or snail mail) within 24 hours, and when we put telephone callers on hold, the message we send is we don't really carry about our customers. That message is received loud and clear. And that word will spread among customers' friends, families, and blog readers quickly and in a way that damages both our brand image and sales.
To my fellow marketers, I recommend that if we don't have the budgets and the staff to actively participate in conversations with our customers, don't launch new tools that you will ignore. And to those consultants who recommend these tools, please be honest and helpful to your clients about both the upsides and the downsides and give them strategies that work.
That's my opinion. What's yours? How do you currently help your clients create WOM and more important, manage it? If you are a business that actively uses WOM to build your company, what works and what doesn't? Where am I right in my thoughts about this subject and where am I wrong?
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Comments
I agree, Lewis. Using a medium to communicate sets an expectation that the communication will be appreciated and the customer's time will be respected.
Posted by: Cam Beck | 04.13.07
Lewis,
Good post. In my opinion, WOM or any other marketing initiatives will fall flat if/when the customer is not serviced properly. All good marketers should discuss customer service related issues with their clients as a crucial component of their businesses. Why? All the marketing spends in the world are worthless when customers are ignored or have bad experiences.
Posted by: Claire Ratushny | 04.13.07
Cam and Claire,
Thank you for adding to the conversation. As I implied earlier this week, I fear that when we are driven first by making money or even second that our clients may suffer. Because selling tools is easier and more profitable than selling solutions.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 04.13.07
Pretty basic stuff, eh, Lewis? And yet easy to overlook. Your post serves as the clear and constant reminder. The WOM we want is the buzz that comes from positive conversation. Sound advice on participating in the conversation - if the mo' or the dough ain't there - why start?
Posted by: Bob Glaza | 04.13.07
Bob,
That's it: Without the motivation to make it happen, we shouldn't start.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 04.13.07
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Posted by: Ram's | 04.16.07
Bravo Lewis! How many awesome strategic plans have we all seen gathering dust because the plan never took into consideration the resources (time, $, people) required to execute?
Posted by: Toby | 04.17.07
Lewis,
You don't have to create word of mouth marketing. It exists naturally. People like to talk and they like to "help" their friends, associates, and relatives. Who hasn't eaten some place, visited a new club or vacation spot, read a good book, seen a show or play, shopped somewhere, taken their car in for service, or several other similar expereinces and not shared those with someone else - whether the experiences were good or bad? It's human nature. No, WOM is going to happen. The question is, what are people going to say?
Steve
Posted by: Steve Hoffacker | 04.19.07
Lewis, your article is dead on the money.
Example. I first got involved with word of mouth by reading a well known book on the subject. I became an evangelist for the book everywhere I went, because it changed my whole outlook on marketing, in a positive way.
About 2 years later, I was working on a project directly relevant to the book, so I wrote the author via the contact form _that he provided_ on his site.
That was a couple months ago, and I'm still awaiting a reply.
I'm not mad about the lack of response, it's not that a big deal. But it did change my evaluation of the author's expertise on the subject of word of mouth. He's better at the theory than the practice I guess. Not quite the evangelist I used to be.
Posted by: Phil Tanny | 06.25.09