September 6th, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
My friend Andy Sernovitz (Director of Word of Mouth Marketing Association) was kind enough to send me a draft of his upcoming book (November 1) "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking." Guy Kawasaki recently submitted a review on his blog and some snippets from his book. I'll follow that up with some snippets and a headline I thought would get your attention 
This book is broken into two parts: The Essential Concepts and How to Do it. Andy's writing style is very easy to read and follow. He brings in many examples (some presented in Guy's review). The most important aspect of this book is it clearly articulates why Word of Mouth is big now and what to do about it. Andy presents a clear case that can be presented to any CEO or CMO on why they should think differently about their marketing…and most importantly, their customers. And then it follows with practical tips and strategies (including "16 Sure-Thing, Must-Do, Awfully Easy Word of Mouth Marketing Techniques"). I can't think of anyone better to write this book than Andy, who is always passionate and practical.
Here are some of my favorite snippets from the book:
Definition of WOM: Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff and making it easier for that conversation to take place.
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Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers, and they will do the rest. Treat people well; they will do your marketing for you, for free. Be interesting, or be invisible.
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Rule #1: Be Interesting
Rule #2: Make People Happy
Rule #3: Earn Trust and Respect
Rule #4: Make It Easy
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When I was single, there was no better date restaurant than Otello’s in Washington, D.C. When I showed up with a woman, Introduction xxi the owner would come out before the meal with a big, “It is soooo good to see you again. We are soooo happy you are here.” (Of course, he had no idea who I was.) After dinner, he’d produce two glasses of cheap wine, on the house. This guy knew how to make sure you looked like a high roller.
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I love Mario’s Barbershop in Chicago. When I go in with my two-year-old son, they offer me a cocktail. They offer him a toy car. It’s a guy place. No one ever accepts their drinks, but it’s a blast to hang out with Mario, Zoran, and Bobby. Those drinks are a reason to talk. I tell the other dads at daycare. It comes up at parties. It’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions a haircut. The result: A line of dads and toddlers out the door every Saturday. (A Supercuts on the same block is deserted.)
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Seth Godin calls it being “remarkable” in his book Purple Cow. (Note: Federal law requires all new marketing books to mention Seth Godin at least once.) Remarkable means worth remarking on, worth saying something about. It’s the root concept of word of mouth marketing.
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Only about 20 percent of word of mouth happens online. When it does play a role, it usually sparks the 80 percent of word of mouth conversations that actually happen face to face.
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A lot of that talk is happening online. Research from Pew Internet reports that 32 million people are posting content to message boards, and Technorati reports that 13 million people blog weekly.
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Word of Mouth is "CtoC" Marketing. Actually, it’s BtoCtoC. Your job as a marketer is to put out an idea worth talking about. That’s marketing. When a real person repeats it, that’s word of mouth. It’s about the second hop (and the third hop, and the fourth hop, and so on).
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This is called organic word of mouth — word of mouth that springs naturally from the positive qualities of your company. Many experts would argue that this is the only legitimate form of word of mouth. The opposite concept is amplified word of mouth — word of mouth that is started by an intentional campaign to get people talking. I like the organic methods better, but I’ll talk about both.
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Word of mouth is the feedback loop that forces marketers to pay attention to the consumer. It brings advertisers out of isolation and forces them to confront the reality of the impact that their products and marketing have on real people. It puts the consumer at the head of the boardroom table. Word of mouth marketing protects consumers by giving them a voice. This kind of marketing gives a powerful platform to consumers, and makes marketers listen. It empowers consumers by engaging with them online and the real world. It gives people the power to voice their dissatisfaction and expose dishonesty.
We’re the marketers who have learned to listen. Word of mouth marketers don’t have a choice. We can’t do what we do unless consumers are happily willing to relay our message. So we’re getting good at making them happy. Word of mouth is on the rise because marketers have finally begun to understand that a happy customer is the greatest advertisement.
So much has been written about the recently concluded Presidential campaign, so I will be careful not to rehash it here. But if there is one lesson coming out of this period that is relevant for you, as the readers of Bazaarblog, it is that social media defined this campaign. Back in June, I wrote about Obama and The Open Brand (a reference to Kelly Mooney’s brilliant book). Then my good friend and fellow entrepreneur Auren Hoffman wrote an article for BusinessWeek in August about technology being the defining factor in election campaigns. From Obama’s social network to the will.i.am music-video community-collage to his exceptional use of the Web as a fundraising vehicle (raising an amazing 400% more than McCain), Obama’s use of social media has defined a new era for election campaigns. Remember that Obama’s innovation adoption of social media comes at a time where five social networks, including Facebook, have recently moved into the top-ten most trafficked websites in the world (reference my June post on Mary Meeker). 
