As the old expression goes, it doesn’t matter what they say as long as they spell your name right.
But in word-of-mouth marketing that isn’t necessarily the truth, according to David Godes, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.
As Godes told attendees at the Direct Marketing Association’s recent annual Catalog on the Road conference in Cambridge, MA, more chatter about a brand within a single social group doesn’t always translate to success.
One case Godes researched involved looking at new television shows and gauging whether conversations about the programs led to increased viewership. He found that a lot of comments about a particular show in one online forum didn’t mean more eyes were watching. It turned out that two different people talking about a show on two different communities was better than 10 people talking within the same community.
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