Notes from Ed Keller's session at NAMP

Ed Keller, Word of Mouth Marketing Guru
Unleashing the Power of Word of Mouth
Plenary Speech
Monday, November 10, 2008

Recent example of great WOM marketing:
The Obama Campaign decided to announce his running mate via text messaging. That was the carrot to encourage people to sign up and provide their cell phone numbers to the campaign, which they used later to send out text messages to “get out an vote.” Those cell phone numbers were incredibly valuable to the campaign to set up their word of mouth campaigns.

3.5 billion brand impressions via word of mouth each day in the United States. Think about how expensive a brand impression is that you purchase via paid advertising.

Word of Mouth is the most influential touchpoint (from research done by AdvertisingAge). Word of mouth has more impact than any other touchpoint available.

What is word of mouth?
-people giving advice, insight and information to others in their own voice and in a natural, honest and genuine way.

Word of mouth marketing:
1. Encouraging word of mouth within a marketing objective.
2. Making it easy for consumers to spread the word about your brand
3. Making sure everything you do that touches the consumer is “TalkWorthy”

Word of Mouth Marketing Techniques:
Online: Online buzz, viral videos, brand blogging and brand communities
Offline: street teams, house parties, referral marketing, customer activation and CRM, WOM sampling and seeding, evangelist marketing (finding the 1% of your customer base who are evangelicals about your product and helping them spread the word)

Key Questions:
1. What’s your story?
2. Who will tell it?
3. How can you facilitate the conversation (tools you can create to help WOM)

6 Key Insights:
1. Americans like to talk. The average American engages in 105 conversations a week about products and services. Those conversations contain an average of 69 brand mentions. Top three categories: Food and Dining, Media and Entertainment, and Sports, Recreation and Hobbies.
2. Word of Mouth has Impact on Audience. On a zero to ten scale, 55% rated 9 or 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. 49% of people say they are likely to purchase a product that is recommended by a close friend.
3. Word of Mouth is mostly positive. 63% of brand references in world of mouth conversations are “mostly positive,” which is seven times the rate of “mostly negative” references (9%). Research also shows that positive word of mouth has more impact than negative word of mouth.
4. Word of Mouth is mostly face-to-face. 73% of marketing-related conversations take place in person. The remainders are phone (17%), e-mail (3%), text message (3%), online chatroom or blog (1%) and other (2%). This remains true across all age groups. Offline WOM is more credible, more positive and more likely to inspire purchase.
5. Half of WOM driving by media/marketing. Nearly 1 in 2 brand conversations refer to brand marketing or media. Consumers tend to take things they hear from traditional marketing mediums and use it in their WOM mentions. 50% of consumer brand conversations refer to marketing or media, lead by television (15%).
6. When it comes to conversation, not all consumers are created equal. One American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy. They are called the influencers.

Influencers:
10% of population accounts for 1/3 for all WOM.
60% more conversations each day.
90% more brand conversations.
They are leading indicators of consumer trends.
They are consumer advocates.
They are “market multipliers” – two to three times as likely to talk to others as the average consumer.
Eager to sign up for WOM programs and more than 3/4ths of influencers like to pass along info, discounts and ads for brand they like.
More than 3/4ths of influencers invite friends to events for brands they like.
2.5 times more likely to post reviews and ratings.

Reaching Influencers
· Find them in your database.
· Media planning tools are available to plan media efficiently. More active users of the internet and heavy users of print media.
· Many times, they will self-identify. Active participation on your website. They attend your events, and contact your call center. They also post reviews and ratings.

How marketing needs to change to maximize WOM:
· new marketing objectives
· Need to focus on things that are “talkworthy” campaigns that will create a buzz
· Better integration across marketing channels and disciplines.
· New channels, tools and techniques.
· Target influencers who are predisposed to recommend.
· Focus more on current customers, not just prospects.