You Are an Honorable Member of WoM Industry Worth $981+ Million.
Posted on July 11, 2008 by
Roy
Advertising, Blogging, Promotion
NoComments
What is the most powerful and effective marketing strategy?
Undoubtedly, it is word of mouth marketing or publicity - the sweet little WoM. But it is not so small either. By November 2007, it has grown into a 981 million dollar industry. And experts believe that we are yet to see a bigger boom.
WoM had always been in the corner - a lot of bellow the line advertising actually tried to cash on this WoM factor. Research and surveys show that, around 80% people actually trust recommendations from friends and family members. Undoubtedly, this is a huge percentage. And the best thing about WoM factor is that - it does not have any recurring investment and spreads faster than anything (even virus).
And undoubtedly, the WoM marketers do not beat around the bush. They try to figure out the power center of a community or a group. For example, think about your college group and think about the most influential person in your group. (Mr. Geek may be very influential in latest technology but Ms. Shop may prove herself more influential in case of cheap shopping.)
Now, if Steve Jobs, needed to market iPhone in your group, he would simply convince Mr. Geek and convinced Mr. Geek, to keep his peer position would eventually pass the information to you in a more convincing way.
In this process, Steve has actually saved a lot of Dollars in advertising cost that he would have spent to inform and convince each member in your group.
Just a note: an advertisement (TV, Print, Radio or Online) does not actually sell a product. It informs the target audience about the latest arrivals (Inform and Convince - the result of Steve’s interaction with Mr. Geek).
Now, who is Steve Jobs?
If you take a look around the blogosphere, there are different classes of bloggers. Think about Om Malik, Danny Sullivan, Seth Godin - do you find any association between these people with the job role of Steve? Can we call each of them Mr. Steve?
However, every community is actually a group of different micro communities and each micro community has its very own Steve Jobs.
You are a Steve Jobs - I am a Steve Jobs and we are very important part of the WoM matrix with individual shares in that 981+ million dollar industry. Let’s explore our capabilities to claim the money.
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