I felt bad this morning because I didn’t spend time on a comment. Shoot. So here it goes.
Mark Juleen had left an excellent question on my post: Controlling Word of Mouth Marketing Using Social Media and I hadn’t spent the time to TRULY reply to his question. Here is his question:
Kyle,
I like to think that WOM and Social Media are one and the same. As I have dived into social media over the past few months I’ve come to realize that from a marketing perspective social media marketing is basically just an evolution of WOM. While there can be good old interruption “marketing” with banner ads and such on blogs, facebook, etc., what we’re seeing with users leaving reviews on Yelp!, becoming a fan of a product on Facebook, or blogging about their best or worst experiences with a brand or product is the evolution of WOM.
Now more than ever companies need to focus on WOM marketing in my opinion. This includes social media and the conversations about your brand online.
Thanks for sharing Kyle. Enjoy your day.
Mj
It made sense to me the first time I read the comment. Once I had read it over a couple of times I realized that it was a little deeper than what I expected.
I had been separating the two marketing philosophies as two different instances. In reality, social media is just a regeneration of word-of-mouth marketing (or at least it is quickly moving that way). So… when Mark says, “I’ve come to realize that from a marketing perspective social media marketing is basically just an evolution of WOM,” I do completely agree with him.
Social Media and the Internet have completely changed the way marketing is approached. You now have to KNOW your customer. You have to connect on a deeper level with your customer.
What do you think? Is Social Media just another form of Word-of-Mouth advancement? Is Social Media just the tool for other marketing philosophies to use?
Related articles by Zemanta
- Consumers Pursue Personal Interaction with Brands Online
- Social Networking Sites: Emerging Marketing Tool
- PR industry slow to get to grips with online PR, says e-consultancy
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=23043f5b-a355-4621-991c-5fc4f086faa0)
Social media isn’t a process, it’s a medium. You can have WOM in Social Media, but not the opposite. Whether or not your social media strategy incorporates WOM is dependent on who started the conversation.
Mark and you bring good food for thought to marketing and social media. Social media goes further than word-of-mouth. It’s eliminating our perception of social and organizational boundaries. It has multiple dimensions, and groups that form using social media — doesn’t matter if they are brand evangelists or hate mongers — the medium is making their groups permeable. In fact, if we step back and look at social media as a tools for communicating, for organizing and think of it permeable power — it’s almost breath=taking.
Kyle, thanks for the love. Now more than ever customer loyalty needs to be the focus of so many businesses. The tools to socialize and interact with our customers continue to grow online, and we have the choice to ignore the conversation or participate.
We no longer trust advertisements, and in today’s economic challenges consumers will be taking more time to make buying decisions. They will be utilizing more and more resources to make these decisions, and the word-of-mouth or social media conversations about your product will be critical for your brand.
I appreciate you sharing my thoughts and look forward to hearing what others have to say. Enjoy your day.
Mj
[...] Social Media Marketing and the Advancement of Word-of-Mouth [...]
Another difference is the one-way/two-way communication. Clearly there are similarities, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that social media is “just” the evolution of WOM.
Word-of-mouth involves consumer to consumer recommendations and conversations. Social media facilities word-of-mouth — it allows people to easily share opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc. online. Social media is the channel — it’s the means. WOM is the action — communicating and having a conversation about a brand, product, service, etc. Therefore, I think WOM and social media are not one in the same; instead, they work hand-in-hand together.
I’d say that Social Media can have characteristics of WOM. Like Douglas said, it really depends on the original message where the communication goes from there.
Regular WOM travels on its own, while on social media sites a marketer can more easily evaluate what’s happening to the message (by following it), and even to some extend try to change the course of direction it goes …
Lex G
The old method of advertising is interactive marketing. The term is misleading. Most people think it means that there is some type of interaction on the part of the person advertised to, and there is. But, it is not conversational. Instead, the advertiser wants you to interact with their campaign in a specific set of steps. Following the call to action and visiting a website for instance. It’s the push to make you do something. Live this image. Buy this now.
Social Media Marketing is just the opposite. It’s the pull of the tribe. The tribe already has your trust so the actions they take are ones you align with. On a larger scale, it’s the allure of belonging in the group as you take action together. “I am doing this so why don’t you do it with me?” On an individual level, the attraction is to behave the same way to get the same results that benefits your fellow tribeswoman or tribesman. “She looks hot! I want to look hot too. I want to go to her hairstylist” and you do. Social Media Marketing uses the power of attraction.
While advertising tries to use the same tactic, with a billboard for instance, of a gorgeous woman telling you the benefits of the salon, it doesn’t have the same impact because it’s pushing you to go. It is not pulling you in as a trusted friend. Your friends have your best interests at heart and advertisers do not. Social Media Marketing is based on building trust and that foundation will make Social Media a dominant player in Marketing.