Summary. Companies and organizations have always depended on word of mouth advertising.
With the increase of people using email and online social networks, word of mouth advertising is increasingly being replaced by something referred to as word of mouse advertising. There’s soon to be a book that name.
Today, just a click of the mouse (on Facebook for example) can notify hundreds of people that you just joined a group or cause you believe in, or you became a fan of some organization or company you like.
Understanding the People Telling People Paradigm. The best way to generate word of mouth/se advertising is to provide a product or service that is so exceptional, people just want to tell others about it. A secondary method of generating word of mouth enthusiasm for a product or service is to have an advertising campaign that is so funny or inspirational people want to tell others. Read about our free advertising program to learn more.
Paying People to Tell People.When a product or service doesn’t inspire people to talk, and advertising is bland, companies sometimes turn to paying their customers to tell others since they probably wouldn’t do so on their own without compensation. So, while it’s nice to reward customers for telling others, there can be negative connotations to this. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission now requires bloggers to disclose any payment (money, product, or service) received from a company that is being reviewed on the blog. Read our advertising disclosure statement to learn more about this.
Activism Implications. Word of mouth/se marketing and promotion has benefits for those involved in activism. The primary motivation for socially contentious people is their passion for the cause(s) they believe in. In the same way people are motivated to tell others about a quality product or service, they are motivated to tall others about a cause or issue they feel strongly about. Inspiring, creative, and/or funny commercials are a good way to get people talking even more. Read about our free advertising programto learn more.