State of
Word of Mouth
Measurement & R
M Research
h
2008
Walter J. Carl, Ph.D.
ChatThreads Corp.
Corp
Northeastern University

What’s the Value of WOM?
Sources: Kumar et al. HBR. Oct 10.07., BzzAgent, Satmetrix, ChatThreads
Slide 2

Some Key Approaches
• Customer Value Matrix
V Kumar and colleagues; Harvard Business Review
• Net Promoter™ Economics
Satmetrix
• Social Value of Opinion Leaders
Barak Libai and colleagues
• Conversation Value™ Model
ChatThreads and colleagues
• For each approach: key concept, focus,
methodology, and conclusions
• All share in common: CLV + WOM
Slide 3

Customer Value Matrix
• Key Concept
Customer Referral Value (CRV)
• Focus
Adding New Customers
Reducing Marketing Acquisition Costs
• Methodology
Value of customers who joined due to referral
Value of customers who would h
l f h ld have joined anyway
d
• Conclusions
CLV ≠ CRV
Different types of WOM recommendations
Champions, Affluents, Advocates, Misers
Slide 4

Customer Value Matrix
LOW HIGH
CRV CRV
HIGH AFFLUENTS CHAMPIONS
CLV
LOW
MISERS
S S ADVOCATES
OC S
CLV
Source: Kumar et al. HBR. Oct 10.07.
Slide 5

Net Promoter™ Economics
• Key Concept
Referral Economics
• Focus
Adding new customers due to positive WOM
Minimizing lost customers due to negative WOM
• Methodology
Positively referred x number referred x conversion rate
l f d
Negatively referred x number referred x conversion rate
b f d
Referral impact x overall average spend
• Conclusions
C
CRV:CLV
Focus on loyalty drivers to move customers along
continuum from detractors to promoters
Slide 6

Social Value of Opinion Leaders
• Key Concept
Social Value
• Focus
Acceleration effect
• Methodology
Agent-based modeling with inputs from diary-based self-
report methodology
Looks at effect on long range products if customer is absent
long-range
from social system
• Conclusions
Much
M ch social value stems from accelerating p rchase process
al e purchase
Activating influencers can increase value of firm’s revenue
due to accelerating adoption
Slide 7

Conversation Value™ Model
• Key Concept
Conversation Value™
• Focus
New customer purchases due to positive WOM
• Methodology
Generational reach of program
Current and future purchases at each generation
How long people continue to recommend
• Conclusions
Cross-channel comparisons
Understand referral drivers and high-impact
conversations to optimize over time
Slide 8

Other Approaches
• CPM base rate + premium for unique attributes
associated with WOM
• Marketing mix modeling
• Value from customer listening and innovation
Slide 9

What You’ll Hear Today…
• Driving KPIs Through WOM
• Global WOM
• Online and Offline WOM
• ROI
• Value of WOM
• WOM Planning and Measurement
Award-winning Paper
Slide 10

Driving KPIs Through WOM
• Customer-Generated Q&A Drives 72% Increase in
Conversion for PETCO.com
BazaarVoice
• Understanding the Impact of Product and WOM
Campaign Attributes on Generational Reach
BzzAgent
• The Hidden Business Decision Maker
The New York Times
Slide 11

Global WOM
• The New Dimensions of Word of Mouth: Comparing
Use in America and China
BIGresearch
Slide 12

Online and Offline WOM
• Comparing Offline and Online Word of Mouth:
Quantity, Quality, and Impact
Keller Fay Group
• Trends in Informal WOM - Information and Usage
Millward Brown
Slide 13

ROI
• The Impact of “Credible” Reach: How the Scalability
of Online Word of Mouth Programs Delivers Better
ROI
Matchstick
• Metrics that Matter: Developing Key Performance
Indicators to Measure, Communicate, and Maximize
the ROI of Word-of-Mouth
Popular Media
Slide 14

Value of WOM
• Measuring the Value of Word of Mouth
ChatThreads
• Measuring Conversations: A Proposal to Quantify
Public Relations Campaign Results
Golin Harris
• Net Promoter® Economics: The Impact of Word of
Mouth: Exploring the Relationship Between Net
Promoter and W d of Mouth in the Computer
P d Word f M hi h C
Hardware Industry
Satmetrix
Slide 15

WOM Planning and Measurement
• Socialight: How an Agency Developed a Proprietary
Word of Mouth Planning Tool
Denuo
• How Honest We Are
FikriMuhim
• How Innovative, Real-time Research Captures Buzz
Mesh Planning
g
• Making the Case: Measuring the Impact of Organic
Word of Mouth
Serengeti Communications
S ti C i ti
Slide 16

WOM Planning and Measurement (cont.)
• Identification, Engagement, and Measurement:
Putting It All Together For WOM Marketers
Sysomos
• Measuring the Social Mix: Quality, Quantity, and A
Bit of Intuition
VML
• Small Business and Word of Mouth
Webbed Marketing
Slide 17

Measuring Word of Mouth,
Volume 4
http://www.womma.org/research08/
Slide 18