The Power of WOM

    Good morning readers, I hope this blog finds you well.  This week's discussion is going to be focused on something that has been around since the beginning of time, word of mouth (WOM).  We will first talk about an example of effective use of word of mouth.  We will discuss what word of mouth is and how a leader can use this tool.   Then we will walk through how to use WOM successfully as a leader and a marketer.  Finally, I will bring up some considerations in today's personalized internet viewing experience. 

    Before we dig into the topic word of mouth as a tool, I'd like to give you an example of a leader who utilized WOM very effectively and why it worked so well.  This leader is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) gave a speech to 250,000 people.  In Simon Sinek's TED talk here he talks about how this was an impressive feat, "They sent out no invitations, and there was no website to check the date. How do you do that? He went around and told people what he believed. 'I believe, I believe, I believe,' he told people.   And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people.   And some of those people created structures to get the word out to even more people. And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up."  It becomes obvious that if used in the right way word of mouth is a very useful way to advertise to people.  However, Sinek also shed a light on why people were so eager to talk about MLK it was because they had similar beliefs that he did and wanted to follow him as an opinion leader.  We will dive further into how leaders become successful later in this blog.   

     Word of Mouth as described in I-Scoop's article here, "Word-of-mouth happens all the time and everywhere.  People communicate in many ways: from face to face interactions to telephone calls and writing letters or exchanging opinions via email, blogs and so on. The customer talks across all possible channels and is increasingly becoming channel-agnostic."  As you can see people like to talk to each other and that could be about anything.  What I believe makes word of mouth so effective is inspiring others to following your leadership or products.  Once people become excited about a topic, they tend to tell everyone they know about it. 

    How do leaders harness this power of WOM?  In the beginning of Simon Sinek's TED talk here, he makes it very clear that leaders need to begin with the "why" or their beliefs.  He does this with what he calls the golden circle.  The golden circle has three rings, the outer ring is the "what" this is the outcome, the middle ring is "how" this is how they will accomplish the outcome, and the center and final ring is the "why" which is the underlining belief of why someone trying to reach the outcome.  He explains that in order to be a more effective leader your message needs to start with the "why" you are doing something.  People will quickly follow you if they have the same beliefs or they think that your reason behind the leader or product is worthy of following.  

    After finding your "why" leaders must understand the tools they have at their disposal to communicate their beliefs.  As we have talked about word of mouth in an extremely helpful tool to use.  However, in today's world we have access to many different platforms that will spread your message to the masses with a click of a button, this of course includes social media.  Brian Honigam talks in his blog here, how leaders can use social media to be more effective, "Start by identifying three to five topic pillars that are of importance to you, your company and the industry at large that you’d like to be known for.  As a leader, you not only want to take part in a consistent conversation so its easier to understand where your expertise lies, but drive the narrative." It seems the key is to find your pillars or "why" then keep a constant presence on social media in order to drive the conversation.

    We can also apply the usefulness of word of mouth to marketing as well.  In Ramona Sukhraj blog here,  she portrays must haves for word of mouth marketing.  When talking about influencers and thought leaders she said, "Because of their already established reputation, word-of-mouth marketing from an influencer or thought leader is undoubtedly the most valuable. 69% of consumers trust influencers, friends and family over information coming directly from a brand (Matter Communications)."  I think this is important for both the companies and the thought leaders to understand the power of WOM.  Using a leader who already has a following could be extremely useful for companies who want to expand their product into other communities.   

    With everything in life there is a downside to just about everything, this includes using social media as a way to expand your word of mouth message.  As best described in Eli Parser's TED Talk here, almost everything on the internet including Facebook, Google, and more are applying a personalized experience for each individual.   What this means is that they are using algorithms to, "show us what it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we need to see." I think that both as followers and as leaders we need to be cognizant of the algorithms or filters in order to get to information that might be harder for an individual to reach.  He goes on to say need to make sure that we are discussing topics that are uncomfortable or challenging to think about in order to keep progressing as a community. 

     In conclusion, the world is changing quicker than ever before and to be a leader or marketer in today's world we need to understand the tools in our communication tool kit.  Word of mouth has been proven to be an extremely useful tool to use since the beginning of time.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech was just one example of how WOM can be used by a leader.  WOM happens every day and leaders can harness this power by first setting the precedence of their beliefs and their "why' behind their movement or product.  Social media has made using word of mouth instant and ever reaching.     Marketers have an ability to use others whether that be influencers or thought leaders to promote their product to an already established follower base.  However, we need to be aware of the filters that the algorithm places on induvial internet viewing experience.  

What do you think, will you start using social media to spread your word of mouth message?  Do you agree that we need to be cognizant of the algorithms and filters in order to see topics that we need to see whether that be challenging or difficult to discuss?