• Word of Mouth Marketing is killing itself

    Posted on March 4th, 2008 by and currently 18 commenting.

    The boys and girls at Cymfony recently published a report that found that ‘nearly 50% (of senior marketing execs) believe (social media) is a vital component of corporate communications that should be monitored at the executive level and allocated significant resources.’

    Interesting.

    But the best part of this report is what Adweek picked up on is that these same marketing execs ‘find their agencies ill equipped to help them succeed in that space.’

    Here’s my favorite part:

    Clients complained that their agencies — creative, media, public relations, design and others — typically treat social channels like blogs as traditional media. In other cases, their ideas are not backed up by practical skills in the area. What’s more, one client pointed out that his agencies have little of their own experience using social networks or video-sharing sites for themselves.

    “I think traditional ad agencies have very little contribution to make,” Bryan Simkins, a marketing specialist at FedEx, told TNS. “They are mostly driven by their compensation models which are made for closed media. Those models don’t apply in open media.”

    Here’s my take: Client wants some of that word of mouth marketing. Agency throws up a blog (without considering if that company even needs one). ‘Look! We did social media!’ Client wants more. Agency creates a video and hopes it goes viral. More. Agency does product seeding. And when it doesn’t work, lo and behold, they cry, ‘WOM doesn’t work! We tried it!’

    What do you expect from a disjointed, add-on approach? Without a vision, without a reason for being, without an overall long-range plan, these approaches are Mr. Potato-Heading at best. And you know how often that works out.

    And THIS is why we (Brains on Fire) are beginning to shy away from the term ‘word of mouth marketing.’ It’s killing itself from the inside out. It’s becoming tainted and muddied to the point where agencies are creating ‘really cool’ direct mail pieces and, since they think people will talk about how cool it is, it’s suddenly word of mouth. Sure, we’re searching for what to call it as it pertains to what we do specifically in that realm, but we haven’t found it yet. Stay tuned.

    So what’s the solution? Can agencies learn how to NOT treat social channels as traditional media? Or will marketing execs have to start looking for alternatives to bring into the mix? No matter what, there has to be a vision in place that includes a company ready to engage in transparent, honest, two-way communication before anything will work.

  • http://www.TechHerding.com Dick Carlson

    I was at a great show in Vancouver B.C. last week called “Northern Voice” where there were a bunch of us who play in the social media space. At one of the sessions on how we work with clients, we had a “come to Jesus” moment as we nearly all admitted that it was really difficult to describe to clients what we do. After that, some of us (me included) were willing to admit that we didn’t even consider ourselves experts in the space, but kept doing it anyway.

    The whole concept of social media (and WOM in this context) keeps evolving so rapidly that it’s pretty hard to say with assurance that you get it. It’s easy to point out the poseurs, but my rule of thumb is that anyone who calls themselves an expert should be considered with a bit of distrust.

    As someone who created some great viral videos a couple of years ago, I’m now not entirely sure what that means today. And what WOM meant a few years ago seems to have changed radically. And don’t even talk to me about a definition for “community”.

    I’m so busy I’m going to go take a nap.

  • http://www.orangecoat.com Evan

    I cringe every time I hear a client ask for a blog. The immediate follow-up from me is, “Do you understand how much effort a blog requires? If you’re not accustomed to writing several thousand coherent words per week, I would not advocate a blog. Imagine writing an editorial to your news paper every day or two. Do you have time for that?”

    And, as you know, there’s more to it than just writing. Most companies that try blogging or other social media trends, end up with a feature that just lays fallow and rusts. Which is worse than not having those features at all.

    The problem is that many / most incumbent businesses want something they can throw money at and forget about so they can continue doing what they’ve always done. Honest two-way communication isn’t (yet?) scalable and social media requires a conversation. When is the last time you sat down and had an interesting and meaningful conversation with IBM or GM or ExxonMobil? Only the companies with flattest hierarchies and a bottom-up mentality are going to be able to have real conversations through the corporate firewall.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Dick – you’re right. “Expert” is a dangerous thing to call yourself. And anyone can call themselves that. I guess the best thing to do is to look at their results and determine for yourself if they are an “expert” or not.

    Evan – Man, oh man. Great comment.

  • http://fiemster.name dave

    Another great post Spike, and I think it echoes what I’ve been saying all along: “Just because you call it viral (or by extension: social media, WOM) doesn’t mean it is”. Dick is absolutely right, the media is evolving so quickly it’s hard to play a game of concept, and easier to play a game of semantics and modern technology is very much so a game of rhetoric. What these companies don’t realize is that the two can’t effectively function alone. Concept + semantics = result.

  • http://uweg.typepad.com Uwe Gutschow

    Good post Spike, and valid comments.

    Very few agencies understand that social media is not about placing a bunch of ads on a social network. The same goes for media agencies.

    However, I think both clients and agencies seldom take the time to understand how and why people actually join and participate in social spaces.

    How can you ‘understand’ without actually doing it.

    “I see and I remember, I do and I understand” – Confucius

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Dave, many thanks for your kind words. And you’re right, companies and agencies that are taking the easy road are failing because there is no big picture in place – it’s semantics.

    Uwe, thanks as well. You couldn’t be more right – it takes an understand of the scene before participating in it. Not only should they look at what’s working out there, but go and participate in it. I just read something on AdPulp this afternoon along the lines that agency folks – especially the higher ups, should be out there participating in these communities before they preach about them. THEN they can speak intelligently about them. It’s a thought…

  • http://fiemster.name dave

    “Very few agencies understand that social media is not about placing a bunch of ads on a social network.”

    That’s an excellent quote Uwe, but at the same time I think it’s more important now having realized that there is an issue at how companies treat social media, that we being the primary creators of content and media set a standard of excellence for the market. Show these companies through our actions beyond the everyday work grind how SM can fit in the working world.

    Invariably, it’s still social media even if some use it to show off a product or service.

  • http://ryankarpeles.blogspot.com Ryan Karpeles

    Really good stuff, all. I think the basic problem is pretty simple:

    Clients (especially larger ones) want fast, easy, measurable results. Social media doesn’t fit that mold.

    It takes time, energy, patience, commitment, understanding and passion. It’s not something you can throw money at. It’s something you have to throw your heart at.

    If you’re not willing to go all-in, you’re going to come up painfully short. Hopefully you don’t have to learn that the hard way…

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress BIG Kahuna

    I’ve been fighting this same battle for 10 years now with agencies saying they do “branding”. They don’t. I feel you’re pain on this one Spike. I’ve learned not to fight the system but instead focus on your core strengths, they will shine through to sophosticated clients.

    Where would a WOM plan fall in regards to a full blown marketing plan or brand strategy? Would you stick it under strategies and tactics? That’s my first thought.

  • http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com olivier blanchard

    Evan wrote: “Do you understand how much effort a blog requires? If you’re not accustomed to writing several thousand coherent words per week, I would not advocate a blog. Imagine writing an editorial to your news paper every day or two. Do you have time for that?”

    A blog requires effort and time? What? No!

  • http://kristasphere.blogspot.com Kristasphere

    Trying to force WOM is like trying to make someone love you. They either do or they don’t, on their own.

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  • http://www.TechHerding.com Dick Carlson

    This is a great thread — nice to see there are some kindred spirits out there. Writing a blog is the hardest writing I’ve probably ever done. I started with the typical “here’s a great site/column/article” sort of newbie thing, and have only recently managed to actually create meaningful additions to the body of knowledge in my discipline. (Well, I like to think they’re meaningful. YMMV.)

    I put lots of little titles in as “drafts” and leave them to marinate, and go back from time to time. Sometimes I find that I’ve got something to say, sometimes not. I even find that a post from several months ago has matured and needs to be revised and posted as a “new” thought again. This is completely different from my usual experience of writing an article or white paper and sending it off into the world, never to be changed.

    Plus, I keep getting comments coming in on stuff I wrote a year ago. And I have to then go back, re-read what I wrote (what a bone-head I was a year ago!) and try to respond to the nice person who took the time to comment. Much different than an article in a trade rag.

    When I’ve agreed to write a blog for pay (very, very infrequently) I charge more than just about any other type of engagement. And I never get paid enough.

  • http://www.catchyourlimit.com Jeff

    I hate people that send me really cool direct mail pieces…

  • http://blog.freshnetworks.com Matt Rhodes

    You’re right that too many people treat social media like old media. At FreshNetworks we like to distinguish between marketing approaches that play to the ‘me’ and those that play to the ‘us’.

    Traditional media, much word of mouth marketing and even social networks such as Facebook or myspace are about ‘me’. They are centred on the individual and on addressing them in isolation from their environment.

    More effective use of social media can address the ‘us’ – it can create a buzz amongst a community online that functions as a community and not as a network. This just makes more sense in any case as nobody makse a purchase decision in isolation from the society they are in.

    There are great examples out there (Dell’s Ideastorm is one) of brands using communities to spread word of mouth through a sense of ‘us’. There are many many more such communties that are being run privately for brands – engaging with consumers for innovation or insight, but using the community to create highly valued advocacy for their brand. Using new techniques not old.

  • sara

    When I think of WOM, I think of the childhood game Telephone. As a company or agency, you may start the message, but as it passes through ten people, is it still the same message? Probably not. Couldn’t really call WOM “Telephone Marketing,” though. I’m sure some companies would say, “Telemarketing! Great idea!”

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  • http://www.marketingexpertsnews.com Toli

    You’re so right! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a client ask for something like a blog, a MySpace campaign, etc. (even some web development clients) and I tell them how much time and effort is required to maintain it.

    I normally recommend that they hire at least 1 – 2 full time people to take over when we’re done.

    But the old school mentality is still trying to catch up to us (and sometimes not really trying).

    Love your blog. — Toli
    http://www.intouchmarketing.us