WOMM – Word Of Mouth Marketing – is an extremely effective tool for reaching the targets directly. WOM omits the press, it involves information that directly reaches the target which is why it is sometimes called „whispered marketing”.
But let us start from the beginning...
The great revolution
Scientists from the American ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency), who, in 1965, linked two computers using a connection of 1.2 kb/s throughput (which today sounds ridiculous), probably had little idea they invented what in future would become known as the Internet, and thus contributed to the decline of mass media. The results of the arrival of a new era of information became evident only after thirty years, but their influence on advertising and PR strategies can be compared to an earthquake. As their result, for the first time in marketing communication history, the consumer became not only the receiver, but also the sender of communicates. The model of traditional advertising in which the “buy me” message reached, via mass media, a unified group of receivers, is now rapidly becoming history. Today, the Consumers of Your products are individuals – aware of their own market value; they have their own opinions which they actively communicate. Eight million of Polish internet users communicate in the net and devote a large proportion of their time to discussing what is currently trendy, what is best at relieving colds, which restaurant offers good service, or even which ketchup is good for a summer barbecue garden party.
Numbers. Big numbers.
There are 38 million posts on gazeta.pl forum, the total number of posts on all Polish forums is estimated at over 100 million. Web communities such as grono.net (47 thousand of thematic forums) or sympatia.pl (1.6 million of regular users) overflow with natural enthusiasts and zealous opponents of Your products. Besides internet forums and web communities, you should also remember about blogs. In the world there exist a couple of million of blogs, and Poland is on the 8 position among countries with the biggest numbers of bloggers. The author of a blog has become – from a harmless eccentric describing his or her life in the net – a real authority, usually highly specialized in, and having extensive knowledge on, a given subject. The most important criterion of a blog’s evaluation is the number of links it has and the number of active users who make comments. Let us now assume, that the blog where a review of your product appears is read by one-hundred people and that it is linked to 30 other blogs which, in turn, are also read by about one-hundred people each… and these are also linked to a couple of tens of other blogs.
Almost 50 thousand people have just learnt something about your brand...
Credibility
A net user, an author of a forum, a blogger – for an average consumer they all constitute invaluable sources of information. According to the results of our research, for 68% of consumers a “person like myself” is the most important source of information – and this condition is met by all those mentioned above. The net has become the main platform of information about products because, as it is commonly believed, it is a place where the most credible information about products, services, or prices can be found, information that comes from common users and is thus much more credible than advertising. This assumption requires a particular method of communication from PR agencies working with WOM programs. It is necessary to communicate with bloggers in a careful and honest way. Like in advertising, frequent repetition of the “buy me” message will have an adverse effect. The right message is expressed in the words “we are cool”, in communication with a blogger, one has to be fair and describe all “pros” and “cons”. Our main task is to create a “legend” of Your product. These days any car will drive and any washing powder will wash clothes – what really counts is this elusive, magical characteristics of Your brand which turns it into a “must have”. We assure You that your products already have their legends in the net.
Even if you don’t know about it yet…
Not only the Internet.
In fact, the net has created a model of communication that has been transferred into the real world. More and more frequently, we do not trust ads, and high-tech decoders of digital televisions allow us to effectively eliminate them. Our friends and colleagues become our sources of information – and they in turn are influenced by their colleagues and friends. The key centers in this network of consumer opinions are trendsetters – people, who know, earlier than others do, what is best, which place is trendy this season or what is worth buying. A special category of trendsetter is the so-called amplifier – a paid ambassador of Your brand whose only task is to convince others to the brand and create its image in the place which is most difficult to reach – the everyday environment of Your product’s consumers.
What can we do about it?
According to Edelman/Technorati research, as many as 70% of blog authors will be happy to receive and review samples of products. It will be our job to reach them, and the remaining ones. We will create a specific value of Your product, build its net legend, and make people speak about You. We will find and win trendsetters, offer you amplifiers, build a team of natural ambassadors who will recommend your product not because they have seen or heard it advertised, but because they really believe in it.
If, anywhere in Poland, there exists a blogger, a trendsetter, or a forum administrator whose texts and words are devoted to a particular category of products, you can be sure that sooner or later they will review your brand.
Actually, you can be sure they have already done it.
The question is: do you want to know what they wrote, what they said, and how many people read it?
We know it already...
