The Power of Word-of-Mouth
The Roper Center has concluded that more than 90% of all consumers say that a recommendation of a friend, family member, or someone they trust is the leading influence in their purchase decisions. Those recommendations take the form of both offline and online communication.
Marketing professionals are taking this data seriously and using the insight to shape their budgets. In fact, according to a research study commissioned by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), which MMC is a proud member of, spending on word-of-mouth marketing is expected to grow from $1.7 billion in 2009 to $3.04 billion by 2013.
Through my Social Media work, I am fascinated by the way information travels on the Web. For example, take a look at my MMC blog post on Techno-Fashion (which just so happened to include a product recommendation). As a result of sharing the link on my Facebook page, my brother shared the link on his page. Then other friends and family members saw the link and shared the content via multiple channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) with their circle of friends.
Developing word-of-mouth campaigns can’t be effective unless you identify concrete measurement parameters upfront. Technological advances make sharing information as simple as one-click. Do you know how far your content is traveling?
