Reading Reflection #2

Let's Get Energized!

What is the most wallet-savvy and effective way for a product or a service to be advertised to the public? 

Let me give you a hint: we (not big-wig company-paid marketers) are the ones who do it, without even realizing it, almost everyday with friends, coworkers, family. The answer: word of mouth viral marketing (Groundswell)!!! 

Explaining Word of Mouth

Ever complain to someone else about one product over another, or raved about your newest buy? Well, every time you speak about a product, every time you talk about the benefits of one product verses another, you are acting as a viral marketer (cool title, isn't it?) and your weapon of choice is word of mouth.

You and your handy-dandy word of mouth are pretty darn effective too:  

Figure 1

So why is word of mouth so successful? As summarized in the book Groundswell, the power of word of mouth enables "energizing of the base"-- a fancy way for saying that word of mouth increases the spread of recognition, which increases purchasing. Once tapped, word of mouth can be the most valuable microphone a business has (Groundswell).

How do companies use the groundswell to energize consumers through word of mouth? Cue the  review boards on almost every company website, and company social media page. Review boards are one of the key ways in which companies can amplify word of mouth. (Groundswell). 

This makes total sense. Who even thinks about buying something before they scroll through online reviews? Why do we do this when companies have already laid out their information? Because we trust Barbara from Montana more then we trust a company (Groundswell). Bellow you can find some screenshots of review boards. The first is off of Google Maps- so a review board powered by a company not directly affiliated with the business being reviewed. The latter is a review board from a company website that was set-up in order for customers to review their products and help other customers get a taste of what to expect from the product.

Figure 2: Review of Annie's Clark Brunch on Google Maps 

Figure 3: Review of Sperry sneakers on their website 

Companies know that, that is why they establish those review boards and spend time monitoring them --a small price to pay considering we do most of the work. So, next time you post a review about your favorite product give your self a pat on the back:  you are a viral marketer and you are helping to energize support by contributing to the groundswell.