The document discusses how word-of-mouth marketing has gone digital in the modern era. It notes that the metaphor of information spreading like a grapevine through phone calls no longer applies today given the rise of social media. While celebrity endorsements can help increase a product's reach, what matters most for sales is ordinary consumers' recommendations to friends and family, which 92% of people trust more than any type of advertising. Organic word-of-mouth on the internet through forums and social networks can significantly boost market share if the buzz generates more viewers or customers that then spread more positive recommendations.

2. Word Of Mouth Has
Gone Digital
I heard it through the grapevine”,
those famous lyrics from Marvin
Gaye’s 1968 song have a very
current meaning. The slang comes
from people passing information
and gossiping on the telephone.
The metaphorical grapevine got its
reference from the telephone
receiver cable being curled and
twisted like a grapevine. However,
today the reference wouldn’t work.
Maybe something like …”I heard
it through social media?” Maybe
not as catchy as a Marvin Gaye
lyric, but it’s a work in progress.
Moreover, there is little
resemblance between Alexander
Graham Bell’s nineteenth century
discovery and today’s ubiquitous
cellular devices.

3. Getting Beyond
The Point of
Purchase
Getting the
potential
customer to
click the “buy
button” is
great, but that
is only the
beginning of
the journey.

4. Sharing The
Experience

5. Spreading The
Bad Mouth
Just like good word-
of-mouth can
spread and bring
new customers, the
bad mouth can be
detrimental to a
company.
Remember the
TARGET and Wal-
Mart credit card
hacking problem?

6. Word Of Mouth
Marketing
Forbes contributor,
Kimberly A. Whitler, said
in a recent article that :
According to Nielsen, 92%
of consumers believe
recommendations from
friends and family over all
forms of advertising.
Moreover, it is the most
likely to be acted upon.

7. What Is Celebrity
BUZZ Worth?
We’ve seen celebrities
endorsing products . It’s
great for increasing reach, but
what is its impact on sales?
From Michael Jordan to
Taylor Swift, companies
realize the power of Reference
Groups ( A group of people
that a person uses as a guide
for behavior in specific
situations) on the public.
Hiring a celebrity to create
“buzz” about a product is
risky and expensive.

8. No Time For
Complacency
One problem that organic
word-of-mouth doesn’t
face is fake website traffic
causing a billing and
plausibility problem for
your organization.
Also, word-of-mouth is
“the primary factor behind
20 to 50 percent of all
purchasing decisions,”
according to McKinsey’s A
New Way To Measure
Word- Of- Mouth
Marketing.

9. WOMM AND
MARKET SHARE
Word-of-mouth that is
organic in origin has the
greatest possibility to spread.
The television show Mad Men
had a dedicated fan base with
some viewers creating web
and chat sites as places where
like-minded fans could gather
and discuss the characters.
This helped increase
viewership and market share.
Raves and Flash Mobs are
examples of how the public
passes information from
person to person and act on it.

10. Go! Spread The
Word.
I hope that you
found the
information useful.
Now, go and spread
the word.