I just attended this week a webinar about Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM). The webcast imparted some interesting facts that I wasn’t aware of. For example, according to Yankelovich, 2010, 76% don’t believe that companies tell the truth in their advertisements. That a whopping number. Or how about this one? Approximately 68% trust other people “like themselves”. This is up from 22% in 2003. I’m sure this is due to all of the social media the past few years. The source for this statistic is Edelman Trust Barometer. And get this!!! About 92% cite WOM as the best source for their product ideas. This is up from 67% in 1977. This is from McKinsey & Company (2010) and Gfk NOP/Roper (2008).
Getting people to talk about your brand will increase your brand strength. According to TalkTrack™, Keller Fay Group, 2009, 76% of all Americans talk about at least one brand a day and the average is 10. This is basically called geometric progression, that is, one person tells another person and they tell another and they tell two others, etc. If you remember that old Breck shampoo commercial where they show a model and the caption says something to the effect that she told one person and she told another, and so on and so on and so on.
Even though the majority of people will recommend another company via face-to-to face interactions, using social networking has definitely increased the past few years. So, how do you stimulate people to talk about your brand? Well, exactly what you are doing. Advertising, editorial, company website, point of purchase, etc. Here are some recommendations from Ted Wright, Founder and Managing Partner of Fizz Corp.
- Identify a “leadership” group
- Find the talkers/influencers
- Give them something to talk about.
- Create the tools to get the movement started
- Allow people to join the movement
- Measure results, especially look at the increase in sales activity.
- PR is very important. It validates WOMM and adds velocity.
- Stories are only shared if they are interesting, relevant, and authentic.
So, create a buzz about your brand, your company, and your products and find out who is talking about you.
