SXSW Word of Mouth Marketing

Slide 1: Word of Mouth and Advertising A marriage made in Hell. sxsw ‘08

Slide 2: Who should care? Marketers Can screw it up faster than you can say “our PR agency was not authorized to do that” Content destinations, community platforms Can lose credibility for not understanding your own audience. Who got blamed. Facebook or Overstock.com?

Slide 3: Why care now? 50% negative anonymous written reviews can be competitors. But even the experts don’t care. Mediapost: March 10, 2008

Slide 4: Why care now? Meanwhile, Social Media roadkill brings up “ethics” and “moral” issues: Sony misleads being teen gamers Walmart misleads being enthusiasts McDonald’s misleads user-gen contest entries Facebook’s Beacon invades privacy

Slide 5: Why do we care? Nielsen says that “Consumer opinions posted online” IS NOT the same as “Recommendations from consumers.” Wow.

Slide 6: Why this isn’t word of mouth.

Slide 7: The new user review. It’s personal.

Slide 8: The new user review. It’s personal.

Slide 9: Word of Mouth didn’t go through it’s internet revolution Trusted Salesman Friends Known Amateur Family “Experts” Co-worker Previous Sources of Word-of-Mouth 1:1

Slide 10: The Social Web has extended “trusted” sources Knowledgeable Salesman Friends Known Amateur Family “Experts” Co-worker New Sources of Word-of-Mouth 1:1, 1:1000

Slide 11: Feeling out the threshold of word of mouth… 1. Friend telling you about a new camera she says she bought and absolutely loves. 2. A blogger you follow is paid by an advertiser to write about their products and he absolutely loves them. 3. A colleague who got a free camera from the manufacturer tells you that she absolutely loves it. 4. Online review by “TechGuy3492” about the new camera he says he bought and absolutely loves.

Slide 12: SXSW Audience Participation “Attributes of WOM” Friend Unbiased You spent money: skin in game Unpaid Motive Know them Why you’re doing If incentive obligates the reviewer Disclosure Trust Pay for positive review Authentic Perspective of the hearer Balance

Slide 13: The People’s Definition of WOM Paid Word of Mouth Advertising How well do you know the actual reviewer? Is there incentive to be biased Is there an open platform to hear from someone else? Level of disclosure of potential bias Test against these attributes where your audience expects you to be

Slide 14: So where can you screw it up? 1. Be transparent on all these dimensions. A lot of forgiveness lies in not lying. 2. Know where the line is for your users on these dimensions. Know your users. 3. Only take advertisers who will play within those guidelines. Accepting others will endanger the life of your site.

Slide 15: Where can advertisers screw it up 1. Make sure the site you’re working with knows their audience. 2. Listen more than talk. Change your metrics to encourage new behavior from your staff and your audience. 3. Be brave. Change requires courage.