Word of Mouth Network

Sleep Mask

2010-06-08T12:52:00.001-07:00

What do you think?

2010-06-08T12:44:00.001-07:00

Why Do People Go Online?

2009-07-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

How often do you go online? Why do you go online? What is it that prompts you and holds your interest?

I read an eMarketer article online this morning about this very topic. Check out this chart they posted:

They interviewed Kathy Bloomgarden who is co-CEO of Ruder Finn. Ms. Bloomgarden spoke about looking at the underlying motivation of online behavior so companies can develop strategies.

Here are her words from the eMarketer article, "Intent is the new demographic."

So, what about you? Why do you go online? I really want to know.

Now is the Time for Social Media

2009-07-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

By this time, it's old news. What you say about your company, product or service is less important than ...what consumers are saying about you.

Welcome to the world of social media, where consumers have more power!

I read several new reports recently that seem to support this. Yesterday I wrote about the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey.

90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know
70% trust recommendations from consumer opinions posted online.

They trust others more than the advertisements. Advertisements that companies spend megabucks on!

An article in DirectMag discussed a recent Forrester Research Inc. report about marketing budgets being cut by 20% or more. However, there's good news regarding social media.

47% of CMOs are increasing their spending on social media
44% are increasing spending on web site development
40% will spend more money on online advertising

The article also mentioned that 1/3 of the CMOs indicated they hadn't spent money on social media but ...will now.

It's time to engage with your consumers!

Trust in Advertising

2009-07-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Do you trust the advertising industry? What about those slick ads that tell you:

You must have this product to look good
You must have this product to have friends
You want to be happy? Buy our product!

The latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey was just released. And do you know who people trust most for product recommendations? Well, take a look at the headline for their July 7, 2009 press release:

"Personal Recommendations and Consumer Opinions Posted Online are the most Trusted Forms of Advertising Globally"

I'm not surprised! I have to say that I have Tivo and ...I fast forward through all of the commercials.

If I'm in the market for a particular type of product I do my research online, check a few of my favorite blogs and ...ask family and friends. I guess I'm like so many others.

Many times I wasn't even thinking of buying a product but I read a blog that peaked my interest and next thing you know ...I'm buying.

So, I think the Nielsen Global Survey got this one right.

Advertisers, listen up. We know you have a job to do. But we're tired of being lied to and misled.

So, how about listening to the customers? We have lots to say and best of all, we ...tell the truth!

How about you? Where do you go for recommendations for products and services?

Word of Mouth Recommendations

2008-08-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Where do you go to find a recommendation for a good Italian restaurant in a city you'll soon be visiting? Do you check with friends who have been there or do you painstakingly check out all the travel and ratings and review sites online? Those are certainly great places to check, but wouldn't it be nice to have one place to go for the best word of mouth recommendations? The recommendations would be written by bloggers from all over the world. They would write about the best recommendations for their city. It would be like asking a friend who lives in that city. They would be open to comments from consumers who may agree or disagree and of course, they could rate them.

That is the vision for the Word of Mouth Network. Hundreds of word of mouth sites that would be connected with a central directory so you only have to go to one place to find all you'll need. For example, Word of Mouth Phoenix is a place to go for word of mouth recommendations for that city. Check it out and add your comments.

The Power of Word of Mouth

2008-07-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Pete Blackshaw's new book "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000". Isn't that a clever title and an accurate statement? If I enjoy a product or service I might tell a few friends but if I get bad service or a defective product, I do tend to tell lots more and include all of the details. I guess we like to be heard. But are the companies listening? Well, according to Pete they better start listening.

In this age of instant everything, the Internet provides us with a megaphone to broadcast our opinions. And that reach goes much further nowadays with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, ratings and reviews and many more. Companies need to be monitoring the Internet for any mention of their company, their products or services and most importantly, be quick to respond. Pete includes examples of companies who were slow to respond and others who responded quickly and as a result, avoided potential disasters.

I read a blog post earlier this week on the Valley PR Blog in Phoenix. The post was entitled "The Power of Brides Online" and was written by Charlotte Risch. She had recently become engaged and quickly became consumed with wedding plans. She personally experienced the power of word of mouth, as other brides were quick to talk about their experiences with bridal shops and wedding vendors. And not all of their experiences were positive. Her advice to many of the bridal boutiques was to brush up on their word of mouth marketing skills. How right she is! Bad word of mouth spreads oh so quickly. Maybe they need to get their hands on a copy of this book.

Pete Blackshaw's book should be read by anyone who provides a service or product to the public. The book is easy to read and makes common sense. Companies need to adapt to today's consumer driven world. They cannot continue to ignore the power that consumers wield.

I highly recommend this book.

Word of Mouth Stats

2008-07-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Fresh Chat blog has a great list of stats for word of mouth. Jenni Beattie posted the list entitled "The Power of Word of Mouth" on July 10th. It's a very concise list. If you ever had a doubt about the importance of word of mouth recommendations, you must read this post. Thanks for compiling a very thorough list.

Best of the Best

2008-07-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Finding the best of the best can be fun! I always look forward to reading the annual best of best issues of my local magazine and newspaper. But what makes something the best and who votes on it? Often what I consider the best is different from what someone else prefers. I may enjoy a romantic restaurant and you may like an exciting trendy place to eat and mingle with others. I'm always curious to know what "other people like me" consider the best.

Wouldn't it be great if there was one place to go to find the best recommendations across a wide variety of topics? Instead of wasting valuable time searching for websites that list the best, wouldn't it be great to have a resource of expert and consumer recommendations that are continually updated and voted on? It would be convenient to have rated keywords or phrases describing the positives and negatives so it would be easy to understand at a glance without having to read long narratives.

This way if I was traveling to New York City and I wanted to find the best boutique hotel that was close to Times Square, I could easily locate it from what others recommended. If I wanted to find the best dog groomer who was patient and friendly in my city, I could locate it from the recommendations of others. It would be so convenient to have one place to go to find that information without searching all over the web.

What do you think? I envision the Word of Mouth Network as such a place. The difference would be the unique patented method that makes it easy to add, locate and understand recommendations at a glance. The word of mouth name is easily recognized and remembered so if a person wanted to find word of mouth recommendations about Paris they could type in http://www.wordofmouthparis.com/ and be directed to that section of the Network.

Word of Mouth Network: One stop shopping for the best word of mouth recommendations!

Information Overload Conference

2008-07-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Information Overload Research Group (IORG) hosted its inaugural conference at the Penn Club in New York City this past week. Jonathan Spira, CEO and Chief Analyst of Basex delivered the keynote address on the growing problem of information overload. Although I wasn't at the conference, Greg Petras, CEO of Involve and the Word of Mouth Network had been asked to sit on a visionary panel. He had the opportunity to present our Quick Comments patented approach. While most of the panel members addressed ways of dealing with email, Greg demonstrated how time can be saved with Quick Comments, a new approach to gather, communicate and benefit from user feedback.

I had to laugh because this is how I picture information overload. Can anyone relate?

Video Introduction to Quick Comments

2008-04-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

This 3 minute video presentation provides an introduction to Quick Comments.

The Word of Mouth Network will provide this white label recommendation application free to members in exchange for the rights to monetize the recommendations. The rated tags method provides a more structured and simpler process for users to contribute, locate, understand and share recommendations.

Easily recognizable word of mouth domain names will be used to establish destination sites featuring top rated recommendations from members. A destination directory will list all of the "wordofmouth (niche).com" sites and will be promoted to increase visibility and name recognition.

Quick Comments can also be used in the B2B market as you will see on the video.

Quick Comments Patented Approach

2008-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Word of Mouth Network will be comprised of a wide variety of niche focused websites. They will utilize a patented approach to capture and communicate online user feedback. It's a great way to engage consumers and increase revenue. The white label recommendation application is free in exchange for the rights to monetize the recommendations.

The patented rated tags method provides a more structured and simpler way for users to contribute, locate, understand and share recommendations. Keywords or phrases are selected or new ones are added and then rated as to the relative positives and negatives of each. A five star rating would be very positive while a one star rating would be very negative. A visual summary makes it easy to get the essence of many opinions of a subject quickly. This saves the time of having to sort through many long-form comments. It does not replace existing ratings and reviews but offers a new option. Many consumers do not like to take the time to write long reviews and so this method is appealing.

Top rated recommendations become available on one or more of the "wordofmouth (niche).com" websites related to their vertical market and link back to the contributing website for purchases and additional information. A destination directory increases visibility and name recognition for the word of mouth niche sites and will be promoted as "the source for the best word of mouth recommendations on the Web".

We now have a website to get feedback on this new patented approach to gather and understand user feedback. Please visit the site and tell us what you think.

25% of Entertainment Will be Controlled By Consumers by 2012

2007-12-04T15:36:00.001-08:00

A new study by Nokia, "A Glimpse of the Next Episode"predicts that 25% of all entertainment will be created, edited and shared within consumer peer groups instead of the traditional media groups. They gathered the information from consumers from 17 countries regarding their digital behaviors and lifestyles. Mark Selby, VP, Multimedia, Nokia believes that the trends show that consumers have a genuine interest in creating and sharing their own content but that they also remix and pass it on to others within their peer groups. He described it as a form of collaborative social media.

I love finding studies like this. The empowered consumers have so much more power and reach and companies need to adjust and deal with that. I believe that the Word of Mouth Network can help companies by providing a patented software platform tool to engage consumers, increase traffic to their website and potentially increase sales of their products and services. Check out our website to find out how your company can benefit. www.wordofmouthnetwork.com

Online Reviewers Driven Mostly by Altruism

2007-11-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Keller Fay Group conducted a survey of more than 1,300 online reviewers in conjunction with Bazaarvoice to find out what motivated people to share their opinions. Among the findings were that the vast majority (90%) post online reviews to help others make better buying decisions. In fact, 70% want to help companies improve their products and services. This is good news for those of us promoting word of mouth marketing as a vehicle to engage consumers.

Total Spending on Word of Mouth Marketing Jumped to $981 Million in 2006

2007-11-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

PQ Media just released their report on the forecast for word of mouth marketing. Spending on word of mouth marketing has increased from $76 million in 2001 to $981 million in 2006. The growth is expected to reach approximately $3.7 billion by 2011. Word of mouth marketing has become the fastest growing segment of the media industry!

Thank goodness for WOMMA, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. The PQ Media study was presented at their conference in Las Vegas yesterday. Documented research like this provides a measurable return on investment for marketers. Finally, word of mouth marketing will be taken seriously as an industry.

What a perfect time to launch the Word of Mouth Network! I am so excited to be involved in a new venture that involves word of mouth marketing. I was thrilled to read the headlines of an Advertising Age article on 11.15.07 "Spread the News: Word of Mouth Worth $1 Billion". With more companies interested in reaching out to consumers, we have a word of mouth recommendation platform that will help them do so.

$5 million was invested creating and refining our word of mouth software platform. We were granted a patent for the use of rated tags to improve word of mouth ratings and reviews. We have more than 2,200 "wordofmouth (subject).com" domain names. At this time, we are seeking a large digital media agency and expert advisers in a variety of areas such as social networking, microsites, e-commerce, communities, advertising, user generated media, search engine optimization, and word of mouth marketing. If you are a large company with a specific niche focus, you may be interested in this free word of mouth platform in exchange for a revenue share agreement.

Please visit www.wordofmouthnetwork.com for more details and to contact us. We have a white paper and a business concept paper that you can download.

Unwrap A Smile

2007-08-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

I love to see the commercials for Little Debbie snacks. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my name is Debbie...but I actually do smile every time. If you can get people to associate a smile with your product, I'd say that's pretty good.

So, have a Little Debbie snack...and unwrap a smile!

The Break Up

2007-08-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

This is a great video. Advertising and marketing need to get the message...communication is a two way process. Start listening!