WOM Research #2.05
- Word of Mouth Investment Will Bring Greater ROI
- 48 Million Consumers Have Posted Internet Content
- Ads on Social Sites: Marketers Eager, Consumers Wary
- From the Archives:
Softening the Blow from Negative Word of Mouth
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1> Word of Mouth Investment Will Bring Greater ROI
Marketers who spend 50% or more of their time engaged with advanced, consumer-oriented marketing processes will see a 30% greater return on marketing investment by 2007 than their peers who fail to emphasize this area, Gartner analysts Claudio Marcus and Kimberly Collins contend in a recent CMO Magazine article.
The pair also project that by 2007 "fewer than 20% of marketing organizations among Global 1000 enterprises will have evolved enough to successfully leverage customer-centric, value-added processes and capabilities."
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2> 48 Million Consumers Have Posted Internet Content
Thirty-five percent of internet users claim to have posted online content, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project's report "Home Broadband Adoption 2006."
Other findings:
* 8% of all internet users surveyed have created/work on an online journal/blog
* 14% have created/work on their own web page
* 13% have created/work on web pages or blogs for others (friends, work, etc.)
* 26% have shared something online that they created -- including artwork, photos, stories, or videos
* 37% of men and 32% of women surveyed were content creators
* Content creators included 43% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 36% of 30- to 49-year-olds, 29% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 18% of those 65 and over.
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3> Ads on Social Sites: Marketers Eager, Consumers Wary
Twenty percent of online advertisers are ready to test viral marketing in vehicles such as blogs this year, though the majority of consumers (69%) don't trust the product information found on social media sites, according to a recent Jupiter Research report. Consumers, the report contends, are twice as likely to trust information they find on a company or professional review site.
Other findings:
* After viewing an online ad, consumers are three times more likely to simply research the product using a search engine than to forward the ad to a friend
* 52% of online advertisers attempting it this year are new to viral marketing
* 71% hope to increase brand awareness with viral campaigns
* 54% expect to drive online sales with online viral marketing
* 44% expect to drive offline sales with online viral marketing
Learn more (Jupiter Research)
Learn more (Internet Retailer)
4> From the Archives:
Softening the Blow from Negative Word of Mouth
Strong brand identification can help shield against negative word of mouth. The February 1998 edition of The Iowa Stater reported on marketing professors Russ Laczniak, Thomas DeCarlo, and Sridhar Ramaswami's study of 300 college students who reacted to negative information about brands of personal computers.
16% of the surveyed students who received negative information about a brand not only ignored it, but rallied to the brand's defense. This should be somewhat reassuring for the WOM-fearful, as it demonstrates that one instance of negative word of mouth is not necessarily enough to tip the scales of consumer opinion.
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