WOMM with the emergency of social media – A new challenge for marketers

After reading Margaret Fong’s Blog about the power of word-of-mouth, it reminds me the importance of word-of-mouth marketing with the emergency of Web 2.0 and social media.

Word-of-mouth marketing aims to generate buzz about a business. As stated by Margaret Fong, consumers continue to trust opinions of other consumers more than paid advertising. The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey also shows that the recommendations from people known has the highest degree of trust in all forms of advertising. Take me as an example, when I decide to buy something, I’ll ask my friends for advice in the first place, and their suggestion will always sway my purchasing decisions.

Word of mouth marketing has the power to quickly build up or tear down the reputations of products, services, and organizations. In the past, the brand experience was shared face-to-face. However, since the emergency and popularity of social network, consumers now can easily share their opinions and comments worldwide, the effect of word-of-mouth is largely magnified. With those good or bad comments that cannot be easily managed, it now seems to be a challenge for marketers to manage the relationship with their customers and build customer loyalty.

Since the WOMM and the use of social media are totally free, this is a great opportunity for small companies or start-ups. This is just one of the advantages of the WOMM. Nonetheless, since the WOM communication is intangible, it seems to be a double-edged sword for many organizations. Because WOMM is intangible, it’s easy for leaders to lose sight of the effects. In my opinion, organizations needs to be more aware of the individual online and offline interactions, and increase the interaction between consumers and organizations to make sure a good brand image is spread properly. Also, through social media, companies can conduct online activities to increase consumer involvement and engagement to make sure desirable comments about a brand are expressed.