From the monthly archives:

March 2010

How effective is word of mouth marketing to your product or brand?

by dzielski on March 23, 2010

Power of Word Of Mouth Marketing

Power of Word Of Mouth Marketing

Do you think social media is a waste of time when it comes to marketing your product? Most large companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon as they are seeing the benefits for their products or brands. A recent Burson-Marsteller study found that 79 percent of the largest 100 companies in the Fortune Global 500 index are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs. But, interestingly enough, only 20 percent of the major international companies are utilizing all four platforms to engage with stakeholders.

Here are some statistics that got my attention on the power of word of mouth marketing and social media marketing:

  • In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)
  • 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)
  • Consumers say that word of mouth is still the number one influence in their electronics (43.7%) and apparel (33.6%) purchases. (Retail Advertising and Marketing Association/BIGresearch Study, December 2009)
  • Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touch points when it comes to influencing purchases, according to ZenithOptimedia. (AdAge, April, 2008)
  • 61% of people rely on user reviews for product information or research before a buying decision is made. (Razorfish, 2008)
  • “Person like me” still most trusted source for information about a company and, therefore, products. (Edelman Trust Barometer, November 2007)
  • Consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendations (65% trust friends, 27% trust experts, 8% trust celebrities). (Yankelovich)
  • According to a global Nielsen survey of 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78% of the study’s respondents. (Nielsen, “Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool”, October 2007)
  • Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. (”Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch, March 2007)

Imagine if you had a really robust social media platform, fully search engine optimized, ready to have customers and clients read all about your products or services and communicate with each other and market your brand for you… Now that’s powerful – and that’s when we do here at One World Social Media – contact us today!

Tagged as: blog, blogs, Brand, consumers trust, Facebook, family and friends, marketing your product, retail advertising, social networking site, twitter, word of mouth, word of mouth marketing

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Social Media Network Strategy by Darren Rouse

by dzielski on March 21, 2010

I have been noticing that lately I have been spending a majority of my free time on my facebook page and my twitter account and not writing too much on my blog here. While it is important to expand your reach into new and existing networks, you also do not want to let you home base, in this case my blog go stale (actually, InnoGage has a great product called InnoBlogs that wont allow for blogs to go stale, a MUST for business blogging!)

I saw this video by Darren Rouse of ProBlogger and he talks about exactly what was happening to me. I was not spending time in my core or my blog, as he puts it, but was spending a lot of time in my outposts.

While it is important to connect in these outposts, it is also a good idea to build your core business blog or web site as well. He gives a great overview of how this works, as well as some other tips for building your own social media networking strategy. He gives a real example of a business he created and building relationships with similar sites.

If you are looking to build a successful social media networking strategy, I suggest you take a look at this video. Darren Rouse is the master of blogging!

Tagged as: building relationships, darren rouse, Facebook, innoblogs, innogage, networking strategy, problogger, social media network strategy, twitter

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Five Levels of Brand Recognition

by dzielski on March 12, 2010

Brand Recognition

Brand Recognition

Some people believe that branding is marketing. Branding is not marketing. It is, however, an integral part of your marketing strategy. It is a crucial function of how your product, service or business interacts with clients, prospects, vendors, employees, and anyone else with whom your product, service or business comes in contact with. Branding creates an image.

And, proper branding will create consumer loyalty. For example, what beer do you drink? What clothing store do you prefer? What’s your favorite brand of automobile? Take this exercise a step further. What image comes to mind when you think of the Yahoo? Macy’s? Wal-Mart? Chances are that, unless you’ve had a bad experience at one of these stores, your perception is a result of branding strategy.

There are said to be 5 levels of brand recognition:

  • Brand Rejection

    • If someone associates your brand with something negative, they will purposely avoid your product. Have you ever experienced bad service somewhere and swore you’d never return to that chain? Have any of your customers said that about your business? Create a logo and slogan that is filled with great benefits to your customer and put that on everything. If public opinion is turning against you or your product, launch a campaign to alter it.

  • Brand Non-recognition

    • This is where your customers simply don’t recognize your brand… probably because it is not clearly differentiated from competitors. Boldly state your product or service’s benefits. Always include the full trademark name whenever you refer to your product. Be willing to create brand names for your products or services, just like you’ve done for your own business. Find the differences in value between your product and your competitors and highlight that difference mercilessly.

  • Brand Recognition

    • This is a good stage to aim for if you don’t have any recognition at all. Brand recognition will help people lean toward your product when given the choice between your product and one they have never heard of. At the same time, though remember that your competitors are also working on brand recognition, which means their brand could be more recognizable. Continue to differentiate yourself and be sure to add value to your product in order to get to the next stage.

  • Brand Preference

    • This is where customers – given a choice between two brands – will choose yours over someone else’s. It often is the result of a sense of differentiation and that your product or service uniquely serves their needs. As well, you can be sure that any value-added products or services you include help them to choose yours over your competitors. Even though this is a great stage to be in, it’s not the final stage. The stage you absolutely want to be in with your brand is…

  • Brand Loyalty

    • This is where your customers will choose your brand over all the other brands out there time and time again, even if they have experienced the occasional poor service or if another product comes along that seems to be better suited to their needs. This is the resilience the brand you have created. To achieve brand loyalty, you need to provide a product that is highly differentiated, with plenty of value added, but also you need to offer them remarkable service at a level they will not get anywhere else. Providing this level of service will ensure that they will never switch.

Thanks to Syncrat for the source of data.

Tagged as: brand loyalty, brand preference, brand recognition

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