According to consulting firm McKinsey, about two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand or service. And on the Internet those shared opinions are reaching more eyes and ears than ever before.
"More than 90% of large companies believe that consumer recommendations are important in influencing other consumers' purchase decisions," said Emily Riley, a JupiterResearch analyst. "Yet many large companies are not focusing efforts on managing the conversation among consumers." Of small companies, 66% monitor word-of-mouth (WoM) on a regular basis, with large companies only doing so 33% of the time.
Jupiter says large companies, if they are following word-of-mouth, "are more likely to assign WoM management to PR and marketing groups or third-party agencies, a practice that largely insulates employees from the affects, both positive and negative, of the feedback and means missing key opportunities."
Obviously monitoring word-of-mouth alone isn't going to be very effective in the long run. Instead, companies need to actually be able to shape and influence those discussions.
A conference starting tomorrow -- Word of Mouth Basic Training (WOMBAT) organized by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) -- addresses this topic in more depth.
Which brings me to a subject I want to blog about in the future: Astroturfing.
Labels: search marketing
Posted by Melanie Phung
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Large Companies Neglecting WoM Marketing
According to consulting firm McKinsey, about two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand or service. And on the Internet those shared opinions are reaching more eyes and ears than ever before.
"More than 90% of large companies believe that consumer recommendations are important in influencing other consumers' purchase decisions," said Emily Riley, a JupiterResearch analyst. "Yet many large companies are not focusing efforts on managing the conversation among consumers." Of small companies, 66% monitor word-of-mouth (WoM) on a regular basis, with large companies only doing so 33% of the time.
Jupiter says large companies, if they are following word-of-mouth, "are more likely to assign WoM management to PR and marketing groups or third-party agencies, a practice that largely insulates employees from the affects, both positive and negative, of the feedback and means missing key opportunities."
Obviously monitoring word-of-mouth alone isn't going to be very effective in the long run. Instead, companies need to actually be able to shape and influence those discussions.
A conference starting tomorrow -- Word of Mouth Basic Training (WOMBAT) organized by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) -- addresses this topic in more depth.
Which brings me to a subject I want to blog about in the future: Astroturfing.
Labels: search marketing
Posted by Melanie Phung