SHOOT FROM THE HIP

I attended the WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) conference last week in Las Vegas. In past years WOMMA has been one of the highlights of our marketing education and this year was no exception. Meeting up with peers, brands, and thought leaders in WOMM gives us a fantastic perspective on what’s happening in our industry and how others are leveraging WOM to create unique and engaging marketing programs. As I listened to the speakers and networked with my fellow attendees, I noticed a few common themes began to surface:

Twitter – Social media is always a large part of the WOMMA conference. After all, it is one of the best mechanisms for spreading WOM online. This year we were all atwitter about Twitter. Every third person at WOMMA (including me!) spent the conference tweeting presenter sound bites, planning in-face meetings (called tweet-ups), and getting to know each other over the twitterverse. Figures on how many people are using Twitter are actually hard to come by, but some estimate it’s as many as 11 million users. With that many users, it’s become obvious to marketers and brands alike that Twitter is here to stay. So, as marketers, how do we use it?

On day one, keynote speaker Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, talked about the company’s unique culture and corporate transparency via twitter.

Hsieh has his own public twitter account that consumers can use to communicate with him and over the years he has encouraged over 450 Zappos employees to join twitter as well. Together they field customer service questions, earnings inquiries, and describe a day in the life of a Zappos employee.

Additionally, Zappos has set up a website that tracks any mention of their company on twitter. The good, the bad and the frivolous are all documented on this online WOM community. Zappos is a fantasic example of a young cutting edge company using social media to create an online culture, amplify their own WOM and set themselves apart with excellent customer service.

Blogger Outreach – Consumers are reading blogs in record numbers and using them to gather insight and advice about what brands to trust and products to purchase. It’s become clear that blogger outreach has never been more important for our clients. Several of the featured case studies at WOMMA this year had an online influencer component. Food Network’s SheSpeaks blogger previews and HP’s 31 Days of the Dragon were two stellar examples. As a company that specializes in these types of programs, we’re thrilled that brands are embracing personal relationships with key influencers and bloggers. It’s an important facet to the modern brand experience and will only get more and more common as traditional marketing tactics get lost in the shuffle.

Measuring WOM – How do we measure and calculate WOM reach? This has become, quite literally, a million dollar question. Several presentations this year addressed the need for solid measurements and analytics in the WOMM industry. While this is true, it’s important to realize just how far we’ve come in the few short years since WOMMA was born. Even though WOM has existed since human beings began using the spoken word, ten years ago selling-in a strictly WOM program would have been nearly impossible. How would we prove that people were talking? Would it really effect product sales? There was very little research in support of WOM marketing tactics, so brands needed to take a leap of faith.

Because of those ground-breaking brands, we’re fortunate to have files of case studies highlighting WOM success. We now have Keller Fay’s TalkTrack to supply us with research and data about online and offline conversations and WOMMA’s research blog and white papers keep us up to date with the latest industry measurement information. As we move forward in this new marketing frontier, it’s up to all of us to shape WOM success measurement by continuing to produce projects that deliver results.

WOMMA Ethics Panel

WOMMA Ethics and Standards – Did you know it’s against the WOMMA ethics code to pay a blogger to write about a product without full disclosure? During a spirited lunchtime discussion, conference attendees and WOMMA members were given the opportunity to weigh in on an upcoming overhaul of the WOMMA code of ethics. The code is central to the WOMM industry, identifying boundaries and appropriate tactics that brands and agencies must adhere to in order to remain on the right side of marketing law. We’re trained to push boundaries and think in new and different ways everyday, so it’s imperative to have the code so that no one inadvertently crosses the line in the name of innovation. Social media, blogs and online marketing are evolving everyday. As we move forward it will become more and more difficult to know what’s acceptable without clear direction. To comment on the current code and offer suggestions on it’s rewrites, visit:

http://www.womma.org/ethics/code/submit/

Like I said, the WOMMA conference did not disappoint! It was great to meet everyone in person (and on twitter) and join in on the WOMMA discussion. As usual, I learned so much from the agencies and brands represented. I can’t wait to get back to work and start working on our next WOM program.