The Power of “Free” to Spark Word of Mouth
A recent study by the consulting firm of A.T. Kearny stimulated a lot of commentary by people I follow on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Entitled “Socially Awkward Media,” the study finds that despite the growing presence of marketers on Facebook and other social networking sites, most are not yet engaging with consumers very well. “Traditional marketers are so bad at understanding social networks that many have all the confidence of awkward teenagers at their first school dance. They’re just . More >
Conversation Catalysts™ and the Home Products Category
Last week we learned Americans (ages 18-69) will talk about home appliance brands in everyday conversations with others a staggering 22 BILLION times in a year. That’s a significant word of mouth opportunity for marketers. Within this audience exists a group of people who disproportionately drive word of mouth conversations about brands in the Home products category. Keller Fay refers to these talkative people as Conversation Catalysts™. Through its ongoing TalkTrack® study into word . More >
WOM and the Home Products Category
Many of us spent lots of time the past two weeks in our homes with family and friends celebrating the holidays and the New Year. Others spent the past two weeks at home cocooned because of wintry weather. If wintry weather hasn’t forced you to spend more time in your home, it probably will. And when we spend time inside our homes, we end up talking to family and friends in person, by phone, or online. Which of course leads us to talking about word of mouth and home appliance brands. Keller . More >
Survey Shows Gender Differences in Retail Social Media Use
Marketers know they need to play in the social media space. A new survey offers insight into the nature and expectations of consumers using these channels – and how brands can glean information about what motivates their customers. Men and women use social media differently, according to Empathica, a customer interaction consultancy which specializes in retail clients. Empathica’s survey found more men citing looking for information as a primary goal (36%) than women (28%) when interacting . More >
Sales Happen Offline, as Does WOM
One of the more provocative Keller Fay statistics on word of mouth reveals less than 10% of conversations Americans have about products, services, and brands occur online (email, social media). Which means, over 90% of marketing-related word of mouth conversations happen offline (person-to-person, voice-to-voice). For many social media marketers this 90/10 split is hard to believe given the increasing time people are spending online. Ed Keller, CEO of Keller Fay, explains the seemingly implausible . More >
Wharton Study Shines New Light on Online vs. Offline Word of Mouth
Social media is the rage right now in marketing circles. One area of particular interest is the opportunity for marketers to “listen” to unstructured conversation based on the data that are now available via scraping of social media sites. This is part of the emerging discipline of social media research (SMR). But nobody – until now – has definitely answered the question: Are online social media reflective of the offline world? The theory (and practice) that underlies SMR is that . More >
Power of MOM WOM (Part 2)
According to Working Mother magazine, there are 50 million moms in the U.S. today. The yearly spending power of American mothers is estimated at $1.6 trillion. While every mother’s role is different within a family, because of the yearly spending power they control, almost all mothers act as the household Chief Financial Officer. Mothers, as we learned in last week’s post, are word of mouth leaders because they mention more brands in conversations and they have greater credibility when it comes . More >
Word of Mouth Around the World
Word of mouth marketing is a global phenomenon now. Which raises an important question: How similar, or different, are people’s WOM behavior across markets? At the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Summit in Las Vegas last month, Molly Flatt, president of the trade association WOMMA UK, moderated a group of panelists from the UK, Australia, Japan, and Israel. Much of the discussion focused on differences between countries—what it takes for a brand to be worthy of being recommended . More >
The Power of MOM WOM
Mothers are a very social group. Whether it’s talking with other mothers at work, at a park, or online, when moms get together conversations will include mentions of brands, products, and services. Because of this, big brands like Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, and State Farm are designing more and more word of mouth marketing programs that appeal to the mom audience. Mothers wield tremendous spending power. It’s estimated American mothers are responsible for up to 85% of all household purchases. . More >
Business & Leadership
An ongoing word of mouth measurement programme is to be launched in Britain by the Keller Fay Group. The firm’s TalkTrack® programme was launched in the US in 2006 and analyses more than 350,000 brand conversations annually across all major consumer categories and in all channels, both online and offline. Designed to closely monitor and measure the marketing-relevant attributes of actual consumer conversations, TalkTrack® received the Advertising Research Foundation’s Grand Innovation . More >
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