Word Of Mouth: Your Brand’s Best Asset

Word of Mouth (WOM) advocacy is the most effective and least expensive form of marketing. WOM happens when others talk about a brand in the form of conversations or messages.  The result is increased brand awareness that may prompt an interaction with that brand, such as seeking out more information, making an appointment, donating or connecting via social media.

You may be surprised to know that WOM conversations still predominately take place face to face, with 94% of WOM brand impressions occurring offline.  Nevertheless, the internet is the top resource utilized to take action after conversation.

WOM is about:

• Conversations about a Brand
• Social media that encourages an interaction with a Brand
• Web traffic based on  word of mouth conversation
• Advocacy that can be virtual or in person
• Campaign effectiveness related to word of mouth activity
• Good experiences that drive recommendations

Measuring WOM impact is critical to closing the loop between your influencers, offline conversations, internet interactions and awareness, consideration and/or conversion.

How We Can Help

Through the use of structured interviews, information review processes and internet research techniques, we assess WOM influence across a number of channels, touchpoints, media and vehicles which are categorized accordingly.  This is customized for the client.  Each WOM source is scored in terms of magnitude and quality. Based on the data, WOM sources are prioritized for highest impact.  Our process sets the stage for measuring WOM performance and change over time.

Our cutting edge model examines sources that you influence, the channels  through which WOM is communicated and the resulting actions by those who receive the messages.

Examples from Healthcare:

• Direct Influence Sources: Marketing, PR, leadership, internal communications
• Indirect Influence Sources: Competitors, payors, patients, employees
• Direct Influence Channels: Website, call center, events
• Indirect Influence Channels: Media, websites, social media, verbal conversation
• Resultant Actions: Awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty, advocate/WOM source

Our Process

Our team will:

• Review existing information and research related to WOM activity
• Launch an audit that includes structured cross-departmental interviews and a variety of other research techniques to determine how and what WOM data is currently being collected across multiple departments within the institution
• Assess influence across a number of channels, touchpoints, media and vehicles, including identifying gaps and prioritizing listening posts with the highest impact
• Develop a cross-department strategy to monitor and measure your organization’s impact on WOM

Conversations about your brand will happen regardless of what you do. But through this process of measuring and strategically managing WOM, we will work with your team to identify opportunities to influence WOM before, during and after a conversation and making the best use of it for organizational change and initiatives.