Not only is word of mouth ten times more effective than print or TV, word of mouth is more important today than at any time in the past, for four reasons:
- The ad clutter is rising to intolerable levels in America
- Traditional forms of media are rising in cost, compounding the issue of clutter.
- We’ve been lied to so many times with advertising, it seems like the only message we trust these days comes from regular people like you and me.
- Technology is accelerating word of mouth
Because of technology, word of mouth is moving faster than ever before. Text messaging, e-mail distribution lists, chat rooms, message boards, Web sites and blogs. If you see a great movie, you are sending an e-mail to sixty-three of your friends in an instant and you have buzz currency of being in the know. If the movie stinks, an e-mail goes out to those sixty-three friends warning them to save their money. You become the hero for saving all your good buddies $20 for a pair of tickets and popcorn.
Most important, though, word of mouth used to travel in unique setting where a conversation could never be heard again. Now, with the internet, a permanent history of word of mouth stays recorded forever. Bad or good, the internet has transformed word of mouth from a single-engine dogfighter to an F-16.
Word of mouth can be your biggest asset in today’s marketing world. Flying this powerful machine requires knowledge, patience, deliberation and a lot of control.
