Harvard Business Review Archives - Social Email Marketing

Word-of-mouth in the digital age: introducing “word-of-mouth equity”

One of the “marketing techniques” that thrived in the recession year 2009, was word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth is a natural human phenomenon, word-of-mouth marketing is a set of techniques and strategies to strengthen and induce it.

There is a lot of confusion about the differences between viral marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, buzz marketing, connected marketing and even social media marketing.

However, as I explained in previous posts, word-of-mouth has always been around, as well as word-of-mouth marketing.

The value of word-of-mouth marketing

Everyone that has used word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) knows that it can be a powerful marketing instrument, if prepared and executed well.

Companies love customers who recommend them to friends, family, colleagues etc.

In these times of influencer marketing having loyal customers isn’t good enough, we need brand advocates.

How do we identify such people, and accurately calculate their financial impact?

The answer is more complicated than it might seem.