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Word of Mouth: Luck or Marketing?

"Word of mouth is an outcome and a philosophy, not a marketing tactic. There's no 'marketer' in consumer-to-consumer. But word of mouth can be treated like traditional media in many ways, like tracking its impact." This quote is from BuzzMetrics CEO Jonathan Carson. He was presenting at the WOMMA conference. This comment struck me because some marketers do talk a lot about word of mouth as a marketing tactic. I would venture to say that although most word of mouth -- good or bad -- happens simply because people are in conversation, it is quite possible to create a buzz that gets people talking. The trick is to create something sustainable, instead of just a one-off that vanishes with the next company's new, cool thing. It's also possible to create a community that encourages customers to interact, with each other and with prospects -- giving them yet another reason and venue to talk about your products/services. Cymfony CMO Jim Nails says "giving customers a voice empowers them to share their opinions with others." It also shows that you're willing to listen, which, Nails says, will help to build a community of evangelists. The caveat, of course, is that word of mouth is "an uncontrolled, unprompted 'media' that sometimes behaves wildly," as Carson so aptly puts it. So when you do encourage word of mouth, keep in mind these age-old warnings: Be careful what you ask for; and, Expected the unexpected.