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Study Squashes Buzz on Word-of-Mouth

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Jan 19, 2006 

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Sarah Novotny  |

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Study Squashes Buzz on Word-of-Mouth

While word-of-mouth continues to be hyped and touted by execs as a powerful marketing tool, a new study from Osterman Research and BoldMouth.com disputes its potency. The key findings from the study, which were released today at the WOMMA basic training conference at Disney World, revealed that few organizations know how to link word-of-mouth practices to existing marketing communications efforts to drive business growth.

Two significant results of the study, which was conducted online from mid-December 2005 to mid-January 2006, claimed that despite the growing use of word-of-mouth, only 28.6 percent of all respondents have an established word of mouth marketing plan and only 12.7% of all respondents have a formalized WOM plan.

Additionally, most marketers surveyed — 51.2 percent — admitted that they are unable to track the performance of their WOM marketing efforts. They see this as a serious limitation not just on their effectiveness, but as an argument against committing additional resources to WOM.

In addition to a lack of planning, expertise and tracking results, the study also found that marketers face further obstacles in scaling their WOM campaigns and justifying their campaign budget to the rest of their organization. According to a statement by BoldMouth.com CEO Todd Tweedy, “The study is a wake-up call for the WOM industry and shows organization are facing significant marketing challenges in executing word-of-mouth campaigns.” Tweedy adds, “More importantly, these barriers are likely to leave many organizations ‘stranded on second base’ as they attempt to hit a marketing home run with word-of-mouth.”

Tags: Boldmouth.com, Osterman_research, Todd_Tweedy and word_of_mouth_marketing

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