Buzz marketing can be divided into three categories:
- Unbranded buzz
- Campaign buzz and
- Product buzz.
This article proposes that product buzz is the most effective form of buzz marketing and has the greatest potential to engage customers and positively effect sales over the long-term. Buzz is a contagious talk about a brand, service, product and idea and can be divided into two categories:
- Organic- naturally occurring [such as idea buzz] and
- Amplified- encouraged and enabled by marketers [such as campaign buzz and product buzz].
By choosing to amplify buzz, marketers unlock the natural talk-ability of a campaign or product. Although achieving buzz of any kind may seem like a marketing success, it is widely acknowledged within the industry that buzz is only beneficial to a brand if marketers commit to predicting, facilitating and listening to the messages being circulated. Unbranded buzz serves no marketing purpose unless it is efficiently harnessed and then built upon for a branded campaign.
