WOM marketing

I’ve read a lot of articles lately on Word-Of-Mouth marketing. In fact, on Valentine’s Day there was an article in Media Post’s Online Media Daily that spoke about the company BzzAgent, who sells access to a “hive of volunteer consumer evangelists”. While reading these articles I realized the importance of WOM for my new website: www.adfemme.com – but I don’t know much about this form of marketing… so I did some research.

Did you know there is a Word of Mouth Marketing Association? Well there is! Check out: http://www.womma.org/. The site features news on WOM, displays the affect and difference between WOM and Advertising and promotes training and industry-wide events. They even feature an event with Seth Godin as one of the speakers at the OMMA Expo this March. (If you don’t know who Seth Godin is, look him up – he is a great writer).

How long has WOM been touted as an important piece of any marketing plan? Well, Entreprenuer.com published an article on the importance of WOM marketing back in the summer of 2002! The author of the article (Ivan Misner) listed 3 main components to WOM that any business can use to start the process of increasing their business through word-of-mouth.

1. Diversify your networks.
2. Develop your contact spheres. Contact Spheres are businesses that are symbiotic and noncompetitive to you.
3. Word-of-mouth is more about farming than it is about hunting. Building your business through word-of-mouth is about cultivating relationships with people who get to know you and trust you.

In more recent times (January 17^th, 2006) Andy Sernovitz wrote an article on “Word of Mouth Marketing in Five Easy Steps” – it was published by MarketingProfs.com. In his article, he defines WOM for us as: “an umbrella term for dozens of techniques that can be used to engage and energize customers.” He goes on to say that “In many cases, WOM isn’t actually "marketing" at all. It’s great customer service that earns customer respect.”

So, how do I as an online marketer and new business owner provide a level of customer service that sparks a wild fire of positive conversation over adfemme.com?

Well, I thought I would start by writing this article. Also, I’ve sent personal emails to friends of mine in the biz to get them involved with the site, and newsletter, by writing articles, tips, and sending emails to their friends in the biz about Ad Femme. I’ve offered advertisers a free month of classified listings. Lastly, I have multiple ways for people to sign up for the mailing list on the website and in the newsletters.

Are all of the things I’ve done so far enough to get Ad Femme the WOM recognition it deserves? What maintenance can I do to continue WOM spread after the initial launch of Adfemme.com? I’m still not 100% sure, but based on Andy’s 5 Steps for Word of Mouth Marketing, I seem to be on the right path: