This document discusses word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) techniques and how they can be used to drive growth through positive buzz. Traditional marketing is becoming less effective due to issues like ad blocking, consumer distrust of ads, and higher costs for lower returns. WOMM is more trusted and influential, with two-thirds of the US economy influenced by word-of-mouth. Brand advocates have a large impact on purchasing decisions and are more important than brand image. The document outlines techniques to create buzz through social media and influencers, as well as characteristics that make ideas spread more contagiously through networks.

1. WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
CREATING BUZZ
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NAPA CONSULTING GROUP

2. HOW TO USE WORD-OF-MOUTH
MARKETING (WOMM) TECHNIQUES
AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO DRIVE
GROWTH BY CREATING A POSITIOVE
BUZZ AROUND YOUR PRODUCT OR
SERVICE.
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3. TO APPRECIATE WOMM: FIRST YOU
HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S
BROKEN WITH TRADITIONAL
MARKETING.
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4. IS YOUR CAMPAIGN HAVING A
NEGATIVE IMPACT ON YOUR
BRAND?
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5. ONLY 18% OF TV ADS
GENERATE POSITIVE ROI
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6. 84% OF B2B CAMPAIGNS
RESULTED IN LOWER SALES
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7. 100% INCREASE IN AD SPENDING
JUST TO ADD 1% - 2% IN SALES
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8. ONLY 14% TRUST ADS
8

9. 69 % INTERESTED IN AD
BLOCKING TECHNOLOGIES
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10. TRADITIONAL MARKETING & ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING CLUTTER
MEDIA FRAGMENTATION
CONSUMERS TUNED OUT
LESS EFFECTIVE
MORE EXPENSIVE
LESS TRUSTED
LOWER ROI
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11. 1. 2.
…the ..i got to
JESUS have an
PHONE iPhone
rocks!
WOMM POWER
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12. TWO THIRDS OF U.S. ECONOMONY
DRIVEN BY WOM
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13. POSITIVE CORRELATION TO
BUSINESS GROWTH
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14. BRAND ADVOCACY DRIVES
BUSINESS GROWTH
Harvard study 14

15. BRAND ADVOCACY EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT THAN BRAND IMAGE
OR BRAND SATISFACTION
Harvard study 15

16. LAW OF FEW
10% INFLUENCE PURCHASING
BEHAVIOR OF OTHER 90%
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17. 91% LIKELY TO BUY ON
RECOMMENDATION
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18. 92% PREFER WOM
RECOMMENDATION
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19. BRAND ADVOCATES
AVERAGE
CUSTOMERS,
CLIENTS,
CONSUMERS
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20. WOMM CHARACTERISTICS
HOMOPHILY
HAWTHORNE EFFECT
CONVERSATION: DIALOGUE
EXPRESSION
INVISIBLE NETWORKS
LINKS
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION
DIGITAL MEDIA
MUCH HIGHER LEVEL OF TRUST
HUMILITY 20

21. WOMM = C2C CONVERSATION
Consumer-to-consumer conversation
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22. NOT …
TRADITIONAL MARKETING
&
ADVERTISING
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23. BUZZ = INFECTIOUS CHATTER
WHAT’S HOT
WHAT’S ATTRACTIVE
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24. VEHICLE FOR CONTAGION
PERSON-TO-PERSON TALKING
TALKING BY PHONE
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS
SMS
E-MAIL
IM
BLOGGING
VBLOG
WRITING
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25. WHO ARE
NETWORK
HUBS
CONNECTORS
ALPHAS
OPINION LEADERS
SNEEZERS
PEERS
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26. LINKS OR NODES SPREAD BUZZ
NODE
NETWORK NETWORK
A B
TRUSTED CHANNEL
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27. CORRELATION BETWEEN
NETWORK HUBS AND EARLY
ADOPTERS.
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28. LINKS FUEL DIFFISUION
A NETWORK OF 100 PEOPLE = 4,950 POSSIBLE LINKS
A NETWORK OF 1,000 PEOPLE = 500,000 POSSIBLE
LINKS
Six degrees of separation concept (a/k/a small world phenomenon)
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29. AVERAGE PERSON HAS …
11 TO 12 INTIMATE CONTACTS
150 SOCIAL CONTACTS
500 TO 1,500 WEAK TIES
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30. HOMOPHILY
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
FLOCK TOGETHER
The term homophily stems from study of social networks. 30

31. CLUSTERS
Interests hobbies beliefs age gender
social class ethnicity religion values
politics geography education occupation
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32. ALL ABOUT…
INTERACTION IN & AMONG
INVISIBLE NETWORKS
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33. LEAPFROGGING TECHNIQUES Aqua Teen
WOMM umbrella term
• Buzz marketing
– Special hook, event, promotion. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Boston Bomb Scare
• Viral marketing
– Branded material, websites, blogs, advergames, widgets,
bligets, videos, utilities, collaboration tools etc. that
sneezers spread. ParkRidge47, Vote Different
• Influencer marketing
– Identifying and finding the influencers
• Evangelist marketing
– Turning most loyal customers into citizen marketers
• Street marketing
Buzz Oven
– Interacting at popular offline places like Buzz Oven
• Stealth / Undercover marketing
– Bree, lonelyGirl15 Bree
Source: Justin Kirby, & Paul Marsden (2006). Connected marketing. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. 198
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YouTube

34. WIDGET & BLIDGET
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35. SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights,
experiences, perspectives and media itself. Social media can take many different forms, including text,
images, audio, and video. These sites typically use technologies such as blogs, message boards, podcasts,
wikis, and vlogs to allow users to interact. Source: Wikipedia 35

36. BUZZ MARKETING WITH BLOGS…
BLOGVERTORIAL
BUSINESS BLOG
FAUX BLOG
70 million blogs in just 4 years. 120K blogs being added each day.
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37. SEEDING…
STIMULATING DISCUSSION
PROMO EVENT
REDUCED PRICING
FREEWARE
GAME
DEMO
TRIAL
BETA
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38. ASK YOURSELF…
How does information flow in my industry?
Where do people get their information?
Does information flow in a centralized way?
How do consumers interact in my industry?
Do they hangout in networks?
How big are these networks?
Is my industry conservative?
What influences my customers?
Who influences my customers?
Is my product risky?
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39. BUZZ MISTAKES…
FOCUSING JUST ON OPINION LEADERS
(1%)
NARROWLY PROFILING CONNECTORS
NO STORY
OVERSELLING
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40. BUZZ GUIDELINES
SUPERIOR EXPERIENCE
CONTAGIOUS PRODUCT
SUPERIOR QUALITY
UNDERPROMISE
OVERDELIVER
ANTICIPATION
REACH 10% - 15%
TRUTH
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41. IDEAL BUZZ CANDIDATES…
REQUIRE NO ADVERTISING
LEAVE A TRACE
NETWORK EXTERNALITY
INCREASE COMPATABILITY
INCREASE TRANSPARENCY
SELF CONTAINED
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42. e-marketing & strategy consultant
Kameran Ahari
http://gotastrategy.typepad.com
Napa Consulting Group 42