Some statistics on WOM

In America Everyday: 3.3 billion brand mentions in 2.4 billion brand-related conversations 9 in 10 word of mouth conversations about brands occur offline The typical American mentions specific brand names 60 times per week in online and offline conversations Like it: When individuals talk about a given product or service the majority of the conversations are positive. Odds are, if someones talking, its a good thing. 66% of all brand-related word of mouth conversations are mostly positive 8% of brand-related word of mouth conversations are mostly negative The average online review is 4.3 stars out of 5 Hear it: Consumers are always interested in hearing about new and interesting products. Before making a purchase, consumers pay attention to what people are saying about it. The Driving Forces of Purchase Decisions: 54% word of mouth 47% information from a website 42% email send by a friend 31% online review The most influential element driving purchase decisions today is WORD OF MOUTH. Credibility: Offline: 59% of Americans believe offline (face to face or voice to voice) word of mouth to be highly credible Online: 49% of Americans believe online word of mouth is highly credible Profitability:

Service: 55% of consumers recommend a company because of its customer service Experience: 27% of consumers would pay 15% or more to receive a superior customer experience WOMM is as important as ever in both physical and digital channels. Despite advancements in technology, traditional brand interactions and conversations continue to be a significant factor in influencing consumers.

Among the key findings from the modeling are:

Social Voice has a measurable direct impact on sales. Its not just a nice to have, but it directly moves the needle on sales. More specifically, a 10% increase in Social Voice resulted in sales lift of 0.2% - 1.5% directly in the cases that were studied. Further, offline WOM was seen to have a more significant impact on outcomes than online social media, suggesting that, even in a highly connected world, old-fashioned word of mouth contributes more than social media in certain categories.

Source: MarketShare/Keller Fay, "Quantifying the Role of Social Voice in Marketing Effectiveness," 2012

Social Voice drives marketing effectiveness. A significant percentage of marketings impact is delivered through Social Voice in the cases examined, this ranged between 10% and 54%. According to MarketShare, this suggests that Social

Voice is a key element of the consumer decision journey. Social Voice helps bridge the distance between awareness, interest (driven by media), consideration, and, ultimately, sales.

Source: MarketShare/Keller Fay, "Quantifying the Role of Social Voice in Marketing Effectiveness," 2012

Social Voice is a driver of online search activities. Analysis has shown that search activity is closely correlated with sales, as people engage in search as they get closer to a purchase activity. The MarketShare study observed both Online and Offline Social Voice driving organic online search activity, and that combined Online and Offline Social Voice can drive nearly as much organic search as traditional marketing activities on their own, when marketing activities are also present. Once again, the analysis finds that offline WOM drives more search activity than online social media.

How the model was built: Once the four product categories were selected (see above), MarketShare incorporated Social Voice data into several multi-year modeling data sets that incorporated a large number of potential drivers of sales, including:

Media ad spend Non-media marketing spend (e.g., event sponsorships, PR, etc.) Offline WOM mentions (from Keller Fay's TalkTrack solution) Online WOM mentions and sentiment Facebook metrics Google Search query volume Website traffic

MarketShare analyzed the data and developed multivariate and multi-equation econometric models to estimate short-and long-term advertising effectiveness through a series of interrelated equations.

The importance of this analysis is that it helps to move word of mouth from a nice to have activity who wouldnt want people to say nice things about their brands? to one that is understood to be a central driver of marketing effectiveness and sales. It acts as an amplifier of all types of marketing. Only when the role of offline and online word of mouth is understood and treated as a vital strategic asset can brands in todays consumer marketplace expect to achieve industry-leading return on investment from their marketing investment. Further, the analysis supports the notion frequently proffered by Keller Fay, including in our recent book The Face-to-Face Book that when it comes to social influence, offline WOM can play a bigger and more impactful role than online social media. The central importance of offline, face-to-face conversations and the forces that drive them must be understood and planned for by every marketer interested in maximizing their return on marketing investment.