Social Media Word-of-Mouth vs. Traditional Marketing

There is a noteworthy study in the current issue of Journal of Marketing (Sept. 2009, Vol. 73, No. 5). Entitled, "Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site," authors Trusov, Bucklin and Pauwels report the results from their research that find that word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing about online social media sites is more effective than traditional marketing actions. They also report that while the effectiveness of online word-of-mouth is higher than traditional marketing efforts initially it also grows over time.

In the long-term their research finds the elasticity of WOM is ~20 times higher than the elasticity for traditional marketing events and ~30 higher than traditional media appearances.

The impact for online marketers, of course, is that this study presents evidence that online word-of-mouth is more cost effective and less expensive than traditional marketing. Let's chock one more up to the power of social media marketing.

The authors, however, also point out that organic WOM online (that word-of-mouth that occurs naturally and without intervention) is probably different from WOM stimulated by the company or organization. They claim that the latter could be called "fertilized WOM."

Personally I hope the phrase "Fertilized Word-of-Mouth" catches on and I will do everything I can to spread it (pun intended.)

The authors did not study organic vs. fertilized WOM but we should assume that if marketers pay for word-of-mouth and are discovered that not only will their efforts be less effective than if the WOM occurred naturally but they might actually be punished for engaging in the practice.

Fertilized Word-of-Mouth. Help spread it!

If you can't define it then how can you do it right?

If marketers have such different views on the definition of marketing then how in the world can anyone expect them to get it right?

Systemic Marketing asked marketing professionals on Twitter how they define the term "marketing."

"Marketing is a relationship"

"Marketing needs to tell a story to consumers that makes them want what you've got"

"Marketing is the brand shepherd that ensures that every customer contact point is consistent"

"Marketing, in short, is manipulation."

"Marketing is magnetic induction that leads to seduction."

"Marketing is three parts science, two parts art, one part passion, 1/2 part participation, and a dash of magic. Adjust portions to your taste!"

"Marketing is distilling chaos into beauty."


Yikes! We might be in trouble here folks.

Social media marketing secret: Aim is to aggregate High Reach Influencers (HRI's)

Social media marketing presents business marketers with a unique set of tools and marketing communications platforms to take two familiar concepts to a new level.

Customer lifetime value is an important business metric as it defines the value of your customers over their lifetime of doing business with you. Influencer marketing is the ability to identify and influence the influencers in your particular market. Influencers are those who hold influence over others and help guide and shape brand preferences and purchase decisions. If you can influence the influencers then you can help drive brand preference and purchase preference for your brand.

Think of social media marketing as a way to attract and communicate with the high reach influencers in your space.

If you view social media marketing as a way to attract and influence the influencers in your market, then you should also look for ways to measure their value to your business.

By calculating a High Reach Influencer Value (HRIV) then you can start defining a value for those top influencers who may fall outside the customer lifetime value calculation. Indeed, HRI's may include both customers and non-customers. Defining their value to you is important when creating your social media marketing strategy and budget as it will help guide you in your social media marketing (SMM) investment decisions.

Once you know the value of these HRI's then you can decide how much to invest to attract them online.

The Difference Between Traditional & Social Media Marketing

I sat on the sofa this morning during Saturday morning cartoons trying to explain Twitter to my 8-year-old son when he asked a good question. "Daddy," he asked, "Isn't Twitter a lot like broadcast but only on the Internet?" (Did I mention the kid is brilliant, loves all things related to computers and electronics and has to endure a marketing guy as a father?)

That's when it hit me.

The old days of traditional media saw marketers sending marketing messages out to a great many people in the hopes that the messages would resonate with the right group and cause them to take action of some sort. Sure there was targeting and market segmentation as much as could be achieved with the available media, but sending a broadcast message out was the way to reach your target audience. Kind of like carpet bombing in the right general area.

Unfortunately, in the process a lot of uninterested people also heard those messages and that is what gave marketing and advertising bad reputations.

The difference between traditional marketing and social media marketing (SMM) is this: Traditional marketing sent messages to an audience that contained people who just did not care about what was being offered.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, attempts to attract an interested audience through dialog and engagement first and then targets them with relevant marketing messages of interest to them.

Think of SMM like permission-based marketing except instead of people opting-in to your mailing list they actively follow what you have to say through networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, YouTube and other sites that allow social interaction. Instead of uninterested parties opting-out of your mailing list they simply stop listening to you or stop following what you say.

It isn't rocket science but what remains is the same challenge for marketers: Find the right people who want to hear what you have to say and engage them in a conversation. The Internet just makes it a lot easier than it used to be.

For those marketers currently trying to attract as many Twitter followers as possible or as many social networking fans as possible please keep history in mind. When you try to build quantity instead of quality you are repeating the mistakes of marketing history and trying to turn a one-to-one medium into a broadcast medium that puts your message in front of many of the wrong people.

Provide value and give some of it away first and the right people will find you, follow you and be receptive to parting with their dollars to receive more of what you have to offer.

It really is just that simple.

The new public relations (PR) reality

Deirdre Breakenridge has posted an interesting article describing why she feels that public relations professionals must now embrace a mixture of traditional channels with new social media channels. I believe she is right. No longer are there just a few editors, publishers and gatekeepers to control the message. Now that it is very easy for anyone to reach just about anyone the role of public relations must be seen in a new light with the dawn of social media.

I just ask one question.

What happens when the PR function uses social media the wrong way and merely pushes out messages to an audience who may receive it but not actually hear it above the noise of all the other messages? What if marketers with good intentions become nothing more than non-targeting spammers only using social media channels?

My fear is that marketing folks will push out so many messages to try to create pull that the whole concept of business communications and marketing will have to be reexamined because it will amount to nothing more than spamming in the social space.

I cannot stress enough the importance of attracting and targeting the right audience with the right message of interest. It is not a game of numbers anymore, it is a game of quality and you cannot carpet bomb your message and hope you hit the right people with it.

Your message must be heard by the right people and it must be compelling and it must be done with surgical precision.

How to build a powerhouse brand

e-Book on Branding

This e-book details the steps and principles involved in brand building, brand management, and internal branding that aligns your organization with the promises made by your brand. Building strong brands using these powerhouse branding techniques will cause your brand to resonate with your target market so people emotionally connect with your brand while you ensure you meet and exceed their expectations-- and increase your profits. If you are launching a new product or trying to increase sales of an existing product or service, then this e-book is for you.

A strong brand will allow you to:
o Influence buying decisions and shape perceptions held by your customers and prospects

o Command a premium price

o Build customer loyalty through emotional involvement

o Make purchasing decisions easier for your prospects

o Maximize your profits

In this work, Dave discusses image, identity, awareness, brand preference, brand equity and more critical-to-understand branding concepts while also describing the brand management process. He includes a thorough discussion of "The 10 Steps in Building a Powerhouse Brand", outlines the Brand Audit process, and reveals why you must educate people about your brand with both emotional and logical appeals.

"I wanted to extend my gratitude and thanks to you for your insight on Branding through this [e-book]. I have read several opinions on the subject and find your work to be the most informative and easy to understand. I look forward to reading more of your work." -- Miles B., Florida

2 Bonus Sections: Positioning and Integrated Marketing Communications

This newly revised and expanded booklet includes two special bonus sections which you are sure to find helpful. The first is a Brand Positioning Workshop that describes how to go about choosing the best position for your brand. This bonus section walks you through the 8 Steps in Defining A Strong Position that will drive your competitors crazy while the second bonus section on Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) will help you leverage your marketing budget while all your efforts remain in true alignment with your brand's core values.

Marketing secrets on Facebook

Marketing secrets on Facebook

13 Tips for B2B Social Media Marketers: One marketer's thoughts on business-to-business social media marketing

by Dave Dolak

First of all let me sketch out an overview of my experience with social media lest you start to think that I am some advanced expert in social media marketing. I am not. I do not claim to be an expert in social media marketing. What I am is an experienced B2B marketer who has been engaging in and experimenting with social media on my own over the past several years trying to understand how to best leverage it as part of the marketing mix.

I've been on Linkedin for approximately 2 years and have not been very active on the site because I haven't found a compelling reason to dive into it deeper. I've made some connections and had a few fruitful exchanges with new contacts but that's about it. I log in maybe once every 3 or 4 months if that.

I've been active on Facebook for approximately one year and find that this is my "go to" outlet to get in touch or stay in contact with friends, personal contacts and old schoolmates. Facebook also seems to be great for organizing local special interest groups or promoting local events that may or may not have their own, dedicated web presence.

Fellow local kayakers? I'm in your group so I know when and where the next paddling trip is taking place. My niece's college a capella group sending me an invitation to attend your next concert because I'm a member of your Facebook fan page? I'll accept the invitation and let you know I'll be there. Old schoolmates who talk about their business or invite me to their spouse's business seminars every so often? I actually enjoy hearing about those things. I've joined several groups (we used to call these things forums) and participate in some discussions but I don't expect to receive anything in return for my contributions.

I certainly don't expect businesses to find me and contact me on Facebook. It would be a breach of protocol as far as I'm concerned. I might find some businesses or brands that I'm enthusiastic about and become a fan of their page or join their group on Facebook but I go searching for these in my leisure time or friends recommend these pages to me. You can try to advertise to me as a consumer on Facebook with an obvious ad that matches my interests or you can start a group or fan page and maybe I'll find it, but please don't try to be stealthy about your marketing or try to pitch me directly. I'll see you coming from a thousand miles away and run the other direction.

I don't expect to find any deeply valuable B2B resources on Facebook. In fact, I do not accept invitations to connect, or "friend requests", from business contacts on my Facebook account at all. Facebook is personal space and I can't imagine trying to monetize it for business-to-business reasons in any way except for maybe those companies offering services to other companies to show them how to effectively market to consumers using Facebook. If most businesses discourage their employees from logging into Facebook during work hours then what does that tell you about the current B2B potential of Facebook? With 250 million worldwide users it might be a B2B force someday, but not yet.

MyFamily.com? Obviously that one is reserved just for my family. A great place to have group discussions and share family pictures. Sure, some of my more tech savvy family members are also my Facebook friends, but on MyFamily.com we can tell inside jokes and discuss in private those odd or embarrassing things that family members do that we don't want those other Facebook people to see. This space is very private to me so marketing to me here would be very intrusive. If you tried to target me here with marketing I'd fear that my privacy was compromised and I'd be very resentful.

I started becoming active on Twitter a few weeks ago. Strangely, I had 3 followers before I ever sent my first tweet. Who in the world were these people and why did they want to follow me before I even said anything?

Going back to my earliest experiences with social media, I can easily remember back to the early to mid- 1990's on Compuserve when my preferred place to go was the PRSIG (PR & Marketing Forum.) This was the place on Compuserve where PR and Marketing professionals hung out and offered advice to others who would pop in seeking answers. Some of these people were other marketing professionals and some of these people were small business owners. It was a nice environment. Everyone was there to help each other by engaging in discussions, uploading white papers and articles and talking about marketing best practices and upcoming industry events.

Though the thought leaders in that forum probably never knew it, I was influenced by many of them. Pros like Marty Winston, Denny Hatch, Shel Holz, Paulette Ensign and Marcia Yudkin were there sharing their knowledge. In fact, I now have several of their books on my bookshelves because I respected their opinions and wanted to learn more from them. These people engaged in the discussion in ways that were very helpful and never intrusive.

Not only were blatant commercial posts (now known as content spam) frowned upon in the Compuserve forums but posts were moderated and those purely commercial ones were not allowed to be posted in the first place. If they somehow made it through they were quickly scrubbed. Anonymity was minimal and there was a great deal of transparency. We knew who was there and what their motivations were.

After Compuserve forums lost their luster due to an explosion in alternate, free online resources and dwindling numbers I then went on to create my own online marketing discussion forum during the late 90s that started out as a great place for exchange of ideas but eventually had to be killed because it started taking up too much of my time fixing broken code and cleaning the boards from content spam, links to porn sites and many posts of no value.

I started blogging in 1998 during a ski trip with friends. Of course the terms blog and blogger had not been invented yet but I was updating the site daily with pictures and written descriptions of our adventures on the slopes and in the lodge for those friends who were unable to attend and for anyone else who happened to find the site.

Ultimately, I started blogging as part of my professional development and personal branding efforts in 2005. I don't even remember the first platform I used but it also quickly became overrun by content spam and dubious links to all sorts of highly questionable websites so I killed it. By this time, I had already learned that an "anything goes", completely open policy is a recipe for disaster on such an online exchange. Things in social media seem to spiral quickly downward to the least common denominator if left alone and you might not believe how low that least common denominator actually is and how quickly you can get there.

Then when Blogger came out with an easy-to-use platform that allowed me to easily moderate comments and control (yes, I said control) the discussions I then resumed blogging on the new platform. I currently try to moderate as little as possible at my blog but at times I simply have to disallow some valueless comments and spam.

Now that my street cred has either been establish in your mind or I have completely rendered my opinions on social media devoid of any value to you, read on using your own best judgement. At least now you know where I'm coming from.

I have no idea whether or not I fit the profile of the typical person engaged in social media right now. I'm certainly not an early adopter (or am I?) but I'm probably ahead of the average person online. I've read lots of hype and can't escape all the the proclamations about how social media “changes everything” but I just don't quite see it that way for business-to-business marketers. At least not yet. Social media is nothing new. From the early days of the commercialization of the Internet such social interactions have been part of the mix.

Certainly the media hype about social media has increased in the past couple years. So has the chatter from those who are newly engaged in social media who think it is an entirely new concept. It is not. I venture to bet that many current bloggers and people who engage in social media today cannot even spell HTML because they don't need to. The platforms now make publishing easy and painless using plain text and they don't require any special knowledge or computer code writing skills.

The Internet has developed to the point where there is widespread access and just about anyone can create content and upload it to a myriad of websites that are open to just about all Internet users. No longer are these discussions hidden behind the walls of proprietary, commercial service providers and gate keepers. No longer does engaging in social media communication require any special knowledge of any computer programming languages or require dedicated, in-house server maintenance or IT staff. It is for these reasons that I believe participation in social media passed critical mass a long time ago. Because the barriers are so low there are more people than ever participating in it and talking about it.

As I hope I've shown you, the tools and names have changed, but the concept of online social media has been around for a long time. Sure there are now sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace that have become very popular and are all the rage in mainstream news media but they are just the latest twists on an old concept. These modern sites are far more than the listservs, newsgroups and online forums of yesteryear. Today's modern social media sites allow a much more enriched, multi-media experience with enhanced two-way communication. These are, however, evolutionary advances rather than revolutionary ones but they are forever changing the way people interact and seek information before making decisions.

The basic concept remains the same: create a shared-interest environment online, engage with people on a personal level in a public way and allow others who are interested to watch and join in. That's all. Through these online conversations participants then become part of your brand because they give you honest feedback, offer suggestions, ask questions, tell others, engage with each other, complain and maybe even sing your praises a little bit. At the heart of it all for you as a business marketer is a deeper involvement and a more personal discussion with customers, prospects, fans and detractors that just can't be gotten through focus groups, dry market research and sanitized/compromised data resulting from bad news being spun as it travels up the silo to your top marketing executives.

There is a dearth of readily available information about B2B social media marketing and I believe this is for good reason. There aren't huge numbers of success stories out there and those companies who have figured it out and are meeting with success aren't talking because they at a competitive advantage until everyone else catches up.

Don't fear. The environment isn't really all that intimidating and the technologies and platforms that make social media exchanges possible are easier than ever to master.

(continued below...)


With this all in mind I'd like to humbly offer a few suggestions about social media to those who have an interest in using social media for B2B marketing.

1. Provide value.
The best social networking abounds with information that others find interesting, informative or otherwise useful. Social networking for entertainment's sake alone just doesn't really work for any business trying to seriously use it as a marketing tool. Ok, so you can entertain. So what? Unless you are selling entertainment services this ought not be your primary objective. Entertaining or capturing attention without being able to move somebody to some sort of action in the direction of ultimately making a purchase decision is not marketing. Don't engage in social media marketing simply to entertain or grab attention. Offer useful information and build communities that are focused on creating value for others. When there is value there is potential for meaningful exchange of value.

If successful, hope to gradually build a loyal following of people who you'll also consider resources. Yes, I'm aware I said "loyal" not large. Yes, I know that somebody wants to see numbers that support ROI, but would you rather have a huge audience with little or no measurable business impact or a small audience that moves the sales needle a little bit or provides valuable direct insights about how your customers think, feel and act?

2. All things in moderation.
If you send many tweets per day or blog constantly I will come to form one of only a few opinions of you. You are either: a) Not employed full-time and have lots of spare time on your hands b) Are not very busy in your day job and have lots of free time, c) You are a business owner and your business is very slow or not very successful and you fill your time with blogging, tweeting and/or logging into social networking sites or d) You are employed by somebody full- or part-time to engage in social media marketing on behalf of some business entity and you are part of the advertising effort. For you serial B2B tweeters, bloggers and social marketers out there, you can decide for yourselves if you like the fact that I have categorized you into one of these boxes. If I have put you into one of these boxes then I've probably also blocked your tweets and removed you from my RSS feeds already.

3a. Stop Twittering about Twitter (and stop blogging about blogging).
I get it. Twitter is new and we're all still trying to figure out how to best leverage it but how about figuring out more ways to create professional value for me and tweet more about that rather than just updating me about current Twitter usage statistics and trends? How about tweeting about your core values, your business philosophy and case studies about how you've helped other businesses? If you are a Twitterholic, Twitter-centric tweeter twit with nothing much to offer, then I'll either not follow you in the first place or end up blocking your tweets. Any gems or thoughtful insights you have about my areas of interest or your area of expertise get lost in the noise. Just because you think you've mastered the medium doesn't mean you are cool or that you are communicating your core message effectively .

3b. Maybe Twitter can create a special, confined area where self-proclaimed Twitter and social media experts can talk amongst themselves about Twitter and social media. It would make finding other useful B2B information easier for the rest of us and we'd know where to go when we need a dose of Twitterandsocialmedia commentary. (Yes, I know I wrote that as all one word.) Until that happens how about we all try to cut down on the noise?

4. Seek to extend conversations offline or outside of the social medium by being a good, genuine community member.
I truly appreciate those people and businesses who share my interests and who further our exchanges both online and in offline, private discussions. Those calls from other marketing professionals who just want to bounce around ideas will always be taken. Those emails from people asking for small bits of advice or a point in the right direction will always be responded to. Calls and emails from editors, authors and practitioners? If I have some expertise that can help you with your project I'll be happy to help if you are a good community member and have followed the online conversation. Do you offer some products or services that might benefit my followers or people in my networks? Let's talk. Even if you merely have a passing interest in what I'm doing then I'll give you 5 minutes of my time if you are genuine. In fact, I'll bet that if you start becoming a good, trusted social media community member then you'll start getting those calls and emails too.

5. Comment and participate in other peoples' related blogs and social media spaces.
I appreciate comments on blog posts, Twitter tweets and forum messages that are on-topic and further the discussion or ask for clarification. I don't care if they play to your strengths and make me aware of your products and services as long as they are helpful, on-topic and not overly commercial.

6. Give rather than expect to receive.
I have no use (or time) for those people who are lazy or do nothing but use social media to send self-serving messages and content spam. If you are sending me never-ending solicitations about your business before giving me anything at all of value then I've probably already blocked you, put you in my spam blocker, "defriended" you or otherwise banished you from my digital life. I've come to be able to spot students easily online. How? Because I've gotten so many unsolicited questions from students that are obviously from professors. The questions were obviously cut and pasted from a marketing project or assignment sheet and sent to me and I'm asked to provide my answer along with supporting case studies and examples. These students are just plain lazy. Business marketers? We can be just as lazy at times. Just because we think that we have related or remotely-related products or services to offer doesn't mean we should approach people from out of the blue and ask for an order. That is just plain obnoxious. Further the public discussion or put something of value on the table first and then you'll have your prospect's attention.

7. Create useful and unique content.
We all appreciate those who consistently create content that is useful to us. When you do we will follow your tweets, read your online posts and more closely listen to what you have to say. Create your own content and share it freely. This is especially important in a business-to-business environment where people just want you to make them look good in front of their bosses.

8. Don't be a middle man.
I used to appreciate those who did not necessarily create content but at least directed me to useful third-party content but I'm starting to appreciate these people less and less in my digital life. They are simply intermediaries who don't add anything and can easily be bypassed. Social media is all about disintermediation after all so I don't need anyone to merely regurgitate information from others.

9. Play it low key.
Heavily advertising your social media marketing efforts goes against the social media culture. I'm more likely to find you if a colleague I already know and trust suggests you, your tweets, your blog, your online video or some other useful resource that you've created online. I'll seek you out when I have a current project or pressing need but in these cases I'm also probably going to review your website and contact you directly rather than start following you on social media sites. If I have a long-term need, general interest or if I'm just starting to understand my business problem then I might start following your social media marketing activities but don't expect me to make a quick purchase or fast decision. Once I've found you I'm going to find others like you and follow you all for a while to see who strikes a chord.

10. Make it personal.
I don't want to hear from a business entity or a brand. I want to hear from a real person. Put a name and a face on your business and allow that person to speak in their own voice. I guarantee that if your content is generated by a team, approved by a committee or passed by your legal department first that it is pretty dry, boring stuff that is not compelling in any way. Yes we're in the business-to-business space but interactions are still person-to-person.


11. Define the strategy behind your social media marketing efforts before you start.
Remember, you are trying to attract, engage and provide value to the audience that is right for you in the places that they gather and socialize online. You are trying to establish yourself as a thought leader and a trusted resource in your category. You are trying to be a valuable resource even if it might not lead to a huge increase in sales right away. Make sure your strategy is correct and then choose the right measurables that are tied to that strategy. You might be tempted to become distracted by lots of other data you gather along the way but if you make it clear from the start that you are making decisions based upon those metrics directly tied to your strategy then you'll stay true to what is most important to your business. Keep in mind that the first step in your social media strategy is figuring out if your target audience engages in social media in the first place. They might not so don't go chasing B2B ghosts just because everyone else is doing it.

There you have it. 11 things that I wish B2B marketers would keep in mind as they engage in social media marketing. I hope at least one of them helps you with your social media marketing efforts.

Oh, and another thing while I'm on the subject.

12. To that girl who has found me on Twitter: I am flattered that you want to find a boyfriend who can sponsor you as a visitor from Russia and bring you to this country. I'm almost embarrassed that you think the right boyfriend might be me. Unfortunately my wife doesn't let me date anyone else and I'm not so sure we would be compatible anyway. I also think there might be some scam involved or at the very least it is just plain creepy that you want to follow my tweets so you've been blocked. I don't want just anyone following my tweets just to make it look like I have a huge following. Who I attract reflects on me almost as much as what I have to say.

What's my point you, dear reader, might ask?

You can bet I'll check out who is following your business in social media before I choose to deal with you. Who you attract is almost as important as what you have to say. Why? Because by choosing to do business with you I am identifying with all those other people attracted to your brand. I'm potentially putting my business reputation on the line if I build a case for dealing with your company and I don't won't to put my professional reputation on the line for a business with a sad or questionable online following. You can't always control who is following you but understand that you will be judged by the crowd you hang out with. Attracting the right audience is all about understanding your brand attributes and targeting your audience correctly. Properly articulate and translate your brand values in social media and you will attract followers who are also aligned with or aspire to those same values. If you appeal to and attract the wrong people then you probably have a fundamental misunderstanding of your business, you product or your market or your chosen communication strategy.

and lastly...

13. Keep your promises.
This one requires no further explanation at all.

See? This social media marketing stuff is actually a throwback to the good old days of traditional marketing, isn't it?

Don't be scared or intimidated by it.