{"id":189,"date":"2026-11-02T00:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/?p=189"},"modified":"2026-11-02T00:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:13:16","slug":"content-insider-980-marketing-you-dont-manage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/?p=189","title":{"rendered":"Content Insider #980 \u2013 Marketing You Don&#x27;t Manage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"byline\">By Andy Marken<\/p>\n<p><strong>WOM\u2026It\u2019s <\/strong><strong>an<\/strong><strong> Art, It\u2019s Science, It\u2019s Theirs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><strong>Andy Marken<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>      <\/strong><strong>andy@markencom.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-1-482c448843b3.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Artist Peter Paul Rubens<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Everyone wants to jump into the word-of-mout<\/em><em>h<\/em><em> (WOM) marketin<\/em><em>g<\/em><em>, communications<\/em><em> den.  T<\/em><em>he rewards <\/em><em>seem huge<\/em><em>.  <\/em><em>The p<\/em><em>roblem is when the audience starts scratching, chewing divine intervention doesn\u2019t answer the call.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In traditional terms, marketing meant advertising \u2013 radio\/TV, print, direct mail, shows, etc.\u2014and publicity.<\/p>\n<p>But just a few years ago, Gallup reported that only 10 percent of folks really believed these folks.<\/p>\n<p>Bummer, dude!<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the iNet, Web and now mobile have rushed in to fill the gap. <\/p>\n<p>Suddenly there are fast, cheap ways of reaching people \u2013 search, keywords, converting traffic, online video, banners, email targeting, podcasts, webcasts and the nebulous but cool social media.  <\/p>\n<p>The sheer volume of information available has dramatically altered the balance of power between companies (marketing\/communications) and consumers. <\/p>\n<p>As folks have become overloaded, they have become increasingly skeptical about traditional company-driven advertising, marketing, and communications.  <\/p>\n<p>The targets have taken control.<\/p>\n<p> Oh sure, they prefer to make purchasing decisions independently; but there\u2019s no reason they shouldn\u2019t have a little assistance.<\/p>\n<p>And the most efficient, most effective assistance is Word-of-Mouth (WOM).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-2-57c8be836a42.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Forrester<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Trusted Sources \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>To hear marketing people talk, there\u2019s a world of ways to reach today\u2019s consumer.  The problem <\/em><em>is<\/em><em> the information source they believe is one outside the company\u2019s control.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the goal:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increase awareness, interaction with the brand<\/li>\n<li>Sales <\/li>\n<li>Create customer, fan community<\/li>\n<li>Increase website traffic<\/li>\n<li>Sales <\/li>\n<li>Identify customer wants\/needs<\/li>\n<li>Identify customers, business opportunities<\/li>\n<li>Sales <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That\u2019s so cool!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Power Shift<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The power shift to consumers reflects the way people make purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n<p>People make their decisions to buy a product by drawing information from a growing number of traditional and \u201cnew\u201d sources.<\/p>\n<p>Word of mouth has a degree of influence at every stage of the process.<\/p>\n<p>No wonder marketing, web folks, ad people, publicists want to \u201cmanage\u201d the action.  You know, run LinkedIn, Facebook, Tweet, Digg, Flickr, YouTube activities.  <\/p>\n<p>So, what if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>iGen, YGen folks are dropping their Likes like flies<\/li>\n<li>Kids are tweeting, TikToking for dollars now<\/li>\n<li>The most valued WOM guidance isn\u2019t done at any of the online locations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-3-6904abf2a111.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source \u2013 Keller Fay Group<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WOM Conversations \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>Add the offline word-of-mouth (face-to-face and phone) and you have 92<\/em><em> percent<\/em><em> of the conversations taking place outside a company\u2019s sphere of influence.  Perhaps that\u2019s why quality of product and quality of service\/support are of major concern.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yep, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mintel.com\/\">Mintel<\/a>, 34 percent of the Internet users who bought a product or service based on a recommendation got that tip from a friend or relative.<\/p>\n<p>A quarter took the safe route\u2026advice from a spouse or domestic partner. <\/p>\n<p>Word-of-mouth recommendations can move consumers to make a purchase. <\/p>\n<p>Along the way, they gather information and insights to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Determine if they\u2019ll seek out more information<\/li>\n<li>Pass along to others<\/li>\n<li>Build credibility\/believability in what they\u2019ve heard<\/li>\n<li>Determine if they\u2019ll purchase<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course, the top priorities should be an excellent product\/service, trusting relationship and outstanding support.  <\/p>\n<p>Then, everything should go smoothly.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-4-da6a2a9d7449.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source\u00a0\u2013\u00a0San Diego Zoo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Gentle Giants \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>Every company wants customers to be gentle giants to accept their best efforts and be happy with that.  Unfortunately, they want more today \u2026 lots more.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The problem is, not everyone is sweet, cuddly, friendly.<\/p>\n<p>However, the sheer number of people that purchase based on recommendations proves companies, marketing, communications have to pay attention to word-of-mouth \u2026 regardless of the challenges, dangers.  <\/p>\n<p>The biggest concern and stumbling block for most people who want to rush out to be the company\/product advocate is that the online folks tend to fall into three main categories \u2013 pro, con, who knows.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-5-6ec72993d8e3.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source \u2013 Zocalo Group<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Customers You Don\u2019t See \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>Every company has a very visible group of happy customers.   They\u2019re the ones you want to talk with and hear from.  Unfortunately, if there\u2019s a large number under the surface who <\/em><em>is<\/em><em> dissatisfied, they can heat up the crowd.  The key is <\/em><em>to cool<\/em><em> off the detractors so at least they\u2019re quiet, if not happy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>WOM Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Researchers at COLLOQUY \u201cdiscovered\u201d that the most loyal company\/product champions (brand evangelists) said they (31 percent) were more likely to share information about a bad experience than a good one.<\/p>\n<p>This is to be expected because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The folks they call Madvocates naturally feel a little more \u201centitled\u201d because they\u2019re talking about you more to folks.<\/li>\n<li>Service for the past five years of the FTC\u2019s (Federal Trade Commission\u2019s) study was right up there with identity theft and debt collection.<\/li>\n<li>Folks who have problems are 10 times more likely to \u201ctell others\u201d than people who were satisfied.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Surprised?<\/p>\n<p>Shouldn\u2019t be.   <\/p>\n<p>They may want the lowest price possible, but they also expect the highest level of service available!<\/p>\n<p>These folks are nothing like the negative folks.  <\/p>\n<p>You know, your determined detractors.<\/p>\n<p>These are the human black holes.<\/p>\n<p>The time\/energy\/emotion vampires.<\/p>\n<p>They both suck the life out of you.  <\/p>\n<p>They totally take all the fun out of being involved in the social media arena.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s probably why support people look terribly old after a few years on the job!<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t stoop to their levels, because your advocates and the bees feel sorry when they see them descend on you.<\/p>\n<p>The strong ones will come to your defense&#8211;and more rigorously than you would have dared.  <\/p>\n<p>A fast exit button or social media wooden cross will get you outta\u2019 there while the good citizens keep them busy.<\/p>\n<p>Just don\u2019t return!<\/p>\n<p>Lots of company folks with a reasonably secure future lurk on the sideline like people going past an auto accident.<\/p>\n<p>They have another reason for not getting involved<em>\u2026\u201d better<\/em><em> you than me<\/em><em>,<\/em><em> buddy!<\/em><em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If that reason doesn\u2019t work, they say it\u2019s too new, too liquid and can\u2019t be efficiently\/effectively measured.<\/p>\n<p>Deluded person!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chatter Marketing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Folks call it chatter marketing \u2013 the art\/science of monitoring the opt-in customer and prospects online behavior.  <\/p>\n<p>Every expert and would-be-expert offer monitoring\/measurement tools \u2013 we found 20 &#8212; (a lot of them free and some actually do something).  <\/p>\n<p>But recently, McKinsey developed a series of clear, concise graphics which highlight the WOM touch points and help you measure the results.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-6-854e22092cc9.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source &#8211; McKinsey<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Measuring WOM \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>The challenge for management is to measure the value\/return-on-investment for their word-of-mouth marketing efforts.  The key is to determine the weighted impact of each message on the company\u2019s brand.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With the McKinsey chart, it is pretty easy for you to follow the effect of WOM on your brand:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The content has to address key product\/service features<\/li>\n<li>It must give an identity to the individual sending the WOM message (they have to know something about the sender and his\/her expertise)<\/li>\n<li>The message must circulate in the proper environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Companies spend millions to develop elaborate, crafty ad campaigns, but the message that has the most impact and power is the WOM recommendation from a trusted source.<\/p>\n<p>You can ignore human black holes and emotional vampires but their problems, issues, challenges won\u2019t go away.  <\/p>\n<p>Addressing them, working with them as best you can will help you keep pace with your peers\u2026and your customers.  <\/p>\n<p>Everyone is on social media.  They don\u2019t know anymore about it than you do\u2026don\u2019t let &#x27;em kid you.<\/p>\n<p>WOM marketing?   <\/p>\n<p>Same thing.<\/p>\n<p>Get onboard and get involved.<\/p>\n<p>Just remember, people often push and shove on social media so\u2026it can be rough.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/embedded-7-a0d1b5c73416.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source\u00a0\u2013\u00a0boredpanda<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Social Media Load \u2013 <\/strong><\/em><em>The hottest subject for marketing people (and the people who hawk them) is social media marketing.   The great thing <\/em><em>is,<\/em><em> there are so <\/em><em>many<\/em><em> tools that are just <\/em><em>right for you.  O.K., so you don\u2019t understand them all, but jump on \u2026 the more the merrier.  <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Remember how Leonardo DiCaprio warned you, <em>\u201cThey don&#x27;t want heroes; what they want is to see you fall.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p># # # <\/p>\n<p>Andy Marken \u2013 <a href=\"mailto:andy@markencom.com\">andy@markencom.com<\/a> &#8211; is an author of more than 900 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media &amp; entertainment, consumer electronics, software and applications. He is an internationally recognized marketing\/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film\/video production fields. He also has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media and industry analysts\/consultants<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Andy Marken WOM\u2026It\u2019s an Art, It\u2019s Science, It\u2019s Theirs By Andy Marken andy@markencom.com Source\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Artist Peter Paul Rubens Everyone wants to jump into the word-of-mouth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,25],"tags":[45,44,47,46,43,42],"class_list":["post-189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-tech-news","tag-brand-advocacy","tag-consumer-behavior","tag-customer-trust","tag-digital-marketing","tag-social-media-marketing","tag-word-of-mouth-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions\/190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theusdaily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}