WOMMA rulez!!! Dá pra medir o marketing boca-a-boca...

Via Keith Bates. Preguiça de resumir, traduzir e comentar... também nem precisa... read it on, mate!

Word of Mouth Marketing is HOT! And so is WOMMA. You should have been there July 11. And now there’s Metrics for Measurement to prove how hot.

In case you missed their press release here's an excerpt: CHICAGO, July 11, 2005 -- Word of mouth marketing works, but how do you prove the ROI? The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), the official organization for the word of mouth marketing industry, today answered that question as it released the first set of standards for tracking and quantifying word of mouth (WOM) marketing.More than 30 top analytics experts worked with WOMMA to develop the
standards. Also being released today is "Measuring Word of Mouth, Volume 1," a collection of the latest thinking in the field of word of mouth marketing research. Nearly 200 marketers and researchers will discuss these topics this week at WOMMA's Measuring Word of Mouth Conference in Chicago. A copy of the Terminology Framework is available at http://www.womma.org/research.

Answering Six Critical Questions about Word of Mouth Marketing
Solving what had been a Tower of Babel problem of non-compatible terms and definitions, the WOMMA Terminology Framework provides a common language that media companies, word of mouth marketing
services firms, and brand marketers can use to plan, buy, and measure and describe word of mouth marketing. Both the Terminology Framework and the "Measuring Word of Mouth" report begin to answer the 6 critical questions that have a fundamental impact on the ROI of word of mouth campaigns:

1. How do you track and measure word of mouth?
2. How do you prove the ROI of WOM?
3. How do you know which strategies work best?
4. How do you optimize messages so they will go viral?
5. Why do consumers become advocates or detractors?
6. How does WOM fit into your media plan?

Buy the book Measuring Word of Mouth, it’s worth every penny of the $65, and could turn out to be a life saver if you make your living in sales or marketing.

How, exactly does one start a word of mouth marketing program?

That is a question I’ve been asked a lot over the past few months in my day job role as a sales and marketing consultant to the technology
industry. By now everyone is familiar with the books on the market that both inspire you to do it, and bury you alive under the nuances and complexities involved.

The choice seems to be do I go for influencer relations and hope my PR firm understands the process, or do I call in my ad agency and ask them to get creative and launch a viral marketing campaign. Actually, the answer is neither!

Because you need to do both! Because influencer relations and viral marketing are simply two major components of the same thing …word of
mouth marketing…but with major differences. Influencer relations can be very slow to bear fruit. And viral marketing can act like a flash in the pan (assuming you’re clever enough to make it work). This is why I focused last month’s blog on Accelerated Contagion.

Once you’ve fanned the flames with either an influencer or a viral program you need to maintain the heat. That’s where Accelerated Contagion comes in. For those interested in learning more about Accelerated Contagion watch this space next month when I hope to have a new site on the topic posted at www.keithbates.biz . BUT DON’T GO THERE YET! There’s just a 10 year old, archaic corporate site resting in the space which I’ve been too lazy to take down. Also, before posting the new site I’m toying with the idea (it’s actually in work) of producing my own viral campaign promoting the concept...which I
will send to my weblog readers before the real world sees it. As for getting started I would encourage you to heed the words of Mark Hughes in his recently published BUZZMARKETING. Mark Hughes is the CEO of the consulting firm Buzzmarketing and can be visited at www.buzzmarketing.com. The book is fascinating reading. I couldn’t put it down. If you have even a remote interest in word of mouth marketing you should buy it. The paragraph that Mark wrote that I think neatly sums up the buzz situation: “People tell others because you’ve given them something to talk about. That’s the essence, the key. If you haven’t given people something clever, amusing, catchy, remarkable … if you haven’t given them something they’ll enjoy sharing with others to entertain, to sound smart or clever, to sound with it—forget it. You ain’t got buzz.