Word of Mouth Marketing and Its Brand Impact

Consumers’ impact on brands has never been more apparent. But the Word of Mouth (WOM) landscape has changed dramatically over the past year, and ethical considerations such as transparency are more important than ever.

But the increased sensitivity hasn’t changed the fact that you can’t can't motivate WOM until your identify your brand advocates, which Harald Eltvedt from Informative, a research company, discussed during a recent WOMMA conference.

Advocates are valuable because they are connected. In fact, Informative’s research has shown that an advocate on average will know three times more people than a traditional customer. These advocates provide a greater number of recommendations on a consistent basis and are usually passionate, with 95 percent volunteering their opinion.

According to Eltvedt, a consumer's brand advocacy value is measured by:

1. The ability to reach potential customers (Influencer)
2. Willingness to promote your offerings over a competitor's (Promoter)
3. The influence over the purchase decisions of others (Credible)

From their testing along these three areas, the company says approximately 10-15 percent of brand customers are advocates.

There is a difference between advocates and customers, of course. Often the largest advocate may not be the largest customer from a revenue perspective.