Word of Mouth Strategies and Tactics

womSource: Modern Comments Customer Feedback Stats

From Medipost’s Let’s Rethink How Advertising Works:

“As far back as 1966 the phrase “word of mouth advertising” was coined in a Harvard Business Review article by Ernest Dichter, the father of motivational research (and the “focus group”). He exhorted the ad community to move from acting as ‘a salesman who tries to get rid of merchandise,’ to the new role of ‘a friend who recommends a tried and trusted product.’”

Word of Mouth (WOM) serves as a key interim step between paid advertising and purchase, a number of strategies and tactics need to be considered in this new economy:

  • Advertising must be “talk worthy.” The creative and message content of advertising should lend itself to sharing and conversation, whether that happens through social media, private text and email or face-to-face conversations.
  • Advertising should be a “trigger” to stimulate immediate conversations; media that reach people in a social context through co-viewing or co-listening can have more impact.
  • Advertising should be targeted to the people most likely to talk about brands and share opinions. Such “influencers” vary significantly by brand category.
  • Ad campaigns should be tested and evaluated based on the additional engagement and reach produced by related word of mouth.