Almost ten branded conversations a day - The power of WOM

Word of mouth marketing is one of the hottest areas in the social media obsessed world we live in. WOM uses the fact that we trust and listen to those who are closely connected, and are more influenced peer-to-peer than from above.

Edelman´s studies tell us another story though. According to the Trust barometer, people trust experts more than people like themselves. But when looking at Reader´s Digest Most Trusted People poll from 2010, Australians trust those they know by heart.

1. Partner

2. Mother

3. Closest Friend

I think it´s hard to really know who you trust and why. Trust is subconscious and difficult to grasp and rate.

A study by Soup revealed that Australians had about 68 “branded conversations” a week, and that Apple had the most positive word-of-mouth.

More than half of the branded conversations included a positive recommendation to try or consider buying a product. The majority of advice came from one’s “inner circle” — spouses/partners (29%), friends (25%), or family (24%).

Following Apple on the list of Australian brands that received positive word of mouth was Coles, Sony, Coca-Cola and Holden. Rounding out the top 10 were Toyota, Nokia, AFL, LG and iPhone.
The survey also offered a ranking for overall word of mouth — positive and negative comments. The top 10: Telstra, Optus, Coles, Apple, Coca-Cola, Sony, AFL, Woolworths, Qantas and Toyota.
In terms of broader categories of products, the most-talked-about subjects were food/dining and media/entertainment.

What to learn from these studies, sometimes pointing in different directions? Know YOUR target and YOUR product. When it comes to some products we might listen to mum, but for others and expert will influence our behaviour. Use both channels to make sure you are fully covered, and don´t just read what´s said on Twitter. NONE of my close friends use that media, and it seems like a tool mostly for people working with social media... Common sense, good research and flexibility is the key.