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December 20, 2007

Word of MouthA Report from WOMMA

By Melanie Seasons

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s Third Annual Word of Mouth Summit. Hundreds of PR agency folks, marketers, private business owners and social media professionals met in Las Vegas to discuss the state of the industry as well as what’s to come. While there were many fantastic sessions, here’s what I thought were the most important points of the conference.

  • No one disputes that word of mouth is a powerful tool. All studies have been reinforcing our thoughts, suspicions and work for quite some time. In fact, according to a study by Patrick Quinn of PQ Media, WOM is moving faster than the rest of the marketing business by leaps and bounds.
  • A lot of discussion was based on if WOM can be measured in a way that will sell the business to clients or brands. Most people agreed that it could be measured online, but the tools need to be perfected, or in some cases, developed. The idea of measuring word of mouth offline left most people stumped.
  • The definition of “influencer” can be defined in many ways. We could be talking about a person on a message board discussing weight loss techniques, a blogger with a product review or even a waiter recommending a bottle of wine. We need to be more conscientious in how we define the term with clients by outlining exactly who they are, what we hope to get out of them and what the influencers will hope to get out of us.
  • Brand fans want to be your friend, but only if they are the ones finding you. No one likes to feel as if they are prey for a campaign.
  • People love products based on its company’s practices. The culture of an organization goes a long way in selling a product. (Think Google or Trader Joe’s.) As WOM advisers, it is our responsibility to tell our clients what the public really thinks of them and develop a strategy from there.
  • International WOM is breaking on to the scene faster than originally anticipated. Anyone in WOM needs to be cognizant of the force of international influencers.

In my area of expertise (blog outreach) I think it’s very easy to be brainwashed into thinking that all WOM campaigns work the same way. It was refreshing to hear new ideas from talented WOM professionals.

Make sure to check out some great examples in WOM campaigns this year with the WOMMA’s Wommie Award winners.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:16 PM
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December 19, 2007

Caught in the BlogosphereFacebook friend lists are here

In case you haven't logged into your Facebook account today, take some time to do so right away. Grouped friend lists are here, and they're very helpful.

You now have the ability to categorize your contact list however you'd like, whether it's by clients, family members or college classmates. The friend lists allow you to send mass mailings to each list and see their recent updates quickly, to name just a few of the uses.

Little things like friend lists make me hopeful that Facebook is listening to their users and providing us with the tools we want to make social networking even more beneficial, whether it's for work or personal use.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 12:00 PM
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December 18, 2007

Search Engine MarketingThink about SEO when you name your new product

By Kai Blum

I’ve already written about how conducting keyword research before naming a web site and naming a small business can help achieve excellent search engine rankings. It is also best practice to do SEO keyword research before naming a new product.

An excellent article in the November issue of electronic Retailer magazine urges businesses to think of the web first. The writer emphasizes that a domain name that matches the product name is a major advantage, because it will help with search engine rankings for the product name and make it easier for consumers to find your web site.

Businesses are therefore well advised to research the availability of matching domain names before they name a new product and to consider choosing a different product name if the domain name is already taken. Otherwise they may realize too late that it will be very expensive to reach top search engine rankings if they choose a product name that is already someone else’s domain name. The example given in the article is a hearing-aid device called ListenUp. That domain name was already taken and the company had to use BuyListenUp.com instead and spend money on sponsored links.

I can’t say this often enough: If the web is an important part of your marketing strategy and if you don’t want to waste money, you are well advised to think about the appropriate keywords and your SEO strategy right from the start!

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 01:45 PM
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