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September 28, 2005
Enter, the money
BuzzMetrics, one of the biggies in the word of mouth research industry, was acquired this week by Trendum.
"There’s real money backing word of mouth research now," is how BuzzMetrics company president Jonathan Carson described it at the WOMMA Advertising vs. WOM conference today.
Based on the general tenor of questions asked at the WOMMA conference, it’s clear there’s a strong thirst for word of mouth research. A question about ROI left one panel silent, prompting moderator Gary Stein to exclaim, "Someone mentions ROI and everyone scatters!"
Marketers need data on word of mouth dynamics, how and why stuff happens across all industries and the potential ROI. Nothing new there, but word of mouth research can clearly kick the ass of traditional brand or advertising research because it can measure what people do. That'll help bury gauzy concepts like purchase intent, impressions and brand equity, the dumbest-measure-ever. All are about as meaty as rice cakes.
Word of mouth research should borrow liberally from sociology and study how customers interact, share information and commune with one another in a business context.
Other blogs that reference Enter, the money:
Metrics are important. I wouldn't advise anyone to scrap their traditional marketing budget in favor of a 100% "word of mouth" approach without them. But common sense and our own human buying experiences tell us that more attention needs to be paid to the value of business “word of mouth”. We already know from studies on eBay trade data that businesses with good verifiable reputations sell about 20% more goods at 10% greater prices than sellers with no reputation. Those are serious numbers. With tools like iKarma.com freely available ( http://www.iKarma.com/tour.asp ), there is no reason any business today should be without a word of mouth component to their marketing efforts. Reputation may not appear as a line item on any business balance sheet, but it is just as real and just as important today as any other business expense in it's effect on sales and profitability.
>With tools like iKarma.com freely available ( http://www.iKarma.com/tour.asp ), there is no reason any business today should be without a word of mouth component to their marketing efforts.
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