As we go on, it is better if we explain what WOM is …

Wom; if we try to analyze the English definition we can interpret this word as mouth-to-mouth or spoken marketing… however I’ve never been too fond of classic definitions. For this reason lets argue in a simple manner what WOM is and what it is not.

Actually ‘word clusters’ such as power of speech, gossip effect, I buy what my friends tell me, I ask 10 people before I shop, recommendations are important for me explain what WOM is.

WOM marketing is not a new concept since people have been placed recommendations on each other for years. Due to the fact that it has been common among people for years, WOM marketing was never considered as a means of marketing until it became very important recently.

If we try to analyze the reasons why it became so important we will see that in earlier times people used to address their complaints to their friends and this way only mere 10 people would hear about your concerns. But today no secret can be concealed with the developments in Internet technology. If a vendor acts in fault, they are bound to pay the price. Thanks to Internet, today we can share out thoughts with thousands of people compared to times when only a mere 10 people would actually hear what we have to say. Companies resisting to acquire a bad reputation are interested with this aspect. They started to emphasize their customers complaints. Extreme efforts are made to transform negative WOM into a positive one.

When a sale begins in any location, not more than 1 hour later nearly a hundred thousand people know about it. Today, this is how the system works, one persons hears about such sale, transfers this information into a sharing platform on the Internet, maybe informs their friends using msn messenger service and even uses facebook to disseminate such information. When any user on such sharing platform goes through the same stages, you can imagine people being reached.

Another point is that people give importance to recommendations. In other words number of conscious consumers have increased with the use of internet. Consumers have gained an advantageous place because internet web sites offer price comparison features. All market players are holding their position in this discount war. They are ready to play the cards up their sleeves. Every vendor seems to offer something to consumers and consumers are not buying into traditional advertisements but they prefer to do market researches of their own, investigate if a real discount if offered, scrutinize with product is more advantageous. While doing so, they take opinions of others and upon receiving positive remarks they tend to purchase such product. We can say that phases of shopping have differentiated somehow and recommendations are considered an important stage in taking purchasing decisions.

In order to positively benefit from WOM, you must take your place wherever your customers are located, acknowledge their thoughts and adapt your activities in the light of this information. If necessary, you must be active on the streets and basically everywhere and sail before the WOM effect wind.

I would like to conclude this entry by providing statistics from United States. For example; according to BIG Research 2005 report, WOM’s effect on purchasing is higher than TV, radio, internet and printed media. It is mentioned that the best way to increase sales is through WOM. Also according to Keller Fay Group’s research, 3.5 billion remarks (discussions) about brands are made between individuals every day in United States and 92% of these discussions are made via internet or in other words this is the percentage for non face-to-face discussions.

I must also state that various accelerating methods to have people talk about you and your marks (WOM) can be applied. One of these methods can be viral marketing which is a format of mailing activities and another one is organizing events or an advergame on the internet. We can also mention events, bringing consumers and products together. This way we can bring together potential clients with our products and to direct their potential talks to us.