Is Social Media the New Word of Mouth?
A couple years ago, word of mouth was all the rage. An industry organization was even created to highlight and codify it. no one seems to be talking about it any more. Has the current social media hype eclipsed it or is social media just another element of word of mouth? Or is word of mouth just a part of social media? How do the two fit together? Do they? Should they?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Buddy 'Friendly' Wachenheimer on
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The New Word of Mouth,
is the same as the old Word of Mouth,
which is the same as the original Word of Mouth,
which has been, is, and will always be Word of Mouth.
I love how everyone tries to claim Word of Mouth as their invention. Or claims that Word of Mouth is in, or out, or improved, or new, or different, or better, or has somehow changed. It is what it is.
As long as there are mouths and words, Word of mouth will be Word of Mouth, no?
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Permalink Reply by Diana Oyaga on -
definetely social media is the new pink, but WOM will never die, it's an important strategy and as long as BTLs and advertising is awing(from awe) people, WOM will be developed and the sales will show!
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Permalink Reply by Page Schorer on
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It is certainly a WOM medium but i don't know if it is the "new". More like an addition to "old" WOM.
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Permalink Reply by Steve McNamara on -
Hi Steve -
Interesting point about WOM - I remember those days.
What I really think, a few years from now about as many marketers will be hyping SM as now dance in the street over WOM. Neither lend themselves to cost effective influence.
Your friend,
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Permalink Reply by Sunil Shibad on
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Hi,
Social media is one of the ways to generate WOM.
Sunil Shibad
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Permalink Reply by maringuy on -
Seems to me that social media is an extension of word of mouth. Just as communities exist in "real life" so do they also exist online - in social networks, on community-oriented sites, etc. As people are spending more and more time there and media sharing continues to explode, social media increasingly becomes a key component of WoM strategy.
IMHO, it's critical to bridge the online and the "real" or offline in some meaningful way. Social media if it's confined to the digital realm cannot always achieve that. Physical artifacts created by online communities are very powerful in this way.
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Permalink Reply by Chuck Nyren on -
Oddly enough, next week I'm doing a Webinar about WOMM and Baby Boomers - along with the Director of Research for the MetLife Mature Market Institute. It costs - and to be honest, there's nobody here who needs to hear me bloviate on the subject. Mostly, it's a negative response to it all.
But even better than marketing/advertising/PR bloviators Pro and Con - is a funny, insightful piece I found in a Canadian magazine, Homemaker:
http://tinyurl.com/5646hq
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I'll buy or do anything you tell me to Sonya.
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Permalink Reply by Brian on -
WOM is WOM is WOM, whether it comes from online interactions or real life mouth to ear communications
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Permalink Reply by Walter Pike on
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Social Media is word of mouth, but much faster because the connection is better so people can talk to more people, more often.
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Permalink Reply by Chuck Nyren on
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Today I read this by Nigel Hollis:
http://tinyurl.com/6nbvwy
It's a very intelligent take on it all. I'm stealing a lot of it for my PPs.
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Permalink Reply by Diana Oyaga on
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I don't agree with that article. I think that sometimes we don't want any opinions from people we've known forever we want to know what a guy in asia thinks, or someone who's 30 years older that us, or someone from a different religion, that way we can be able to open are minds and see what the rest of the world thinks. also, WOM works better online because its better for the brand for people all over the world to know about it in just a couple of minutes. and also it provides the brand the interaction of people from different sizes, colors and flavors to generate ideas and create stuff for their brands. WOM in trusted groups of friends will never die and its true that this is your trusted circle but online networks will not weaken WOM it will make it stronger, more open and more powerfull.
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