The Power of Word of Mouth by Armelini and Villanuava - Essay Example

ID The of the article by Armelini and Villanuava is the rising power of social media in the field of marketing. The paper starts with a reminder that marketing has traditionally been conducted using methods that were related to the mass media of the late twentieth century. Companies used to make use of their internal communications departments to make sure that their message was understood by members of the organisation and then passed on to the outside world through real world means. Marketing campaigns took place using images and text, or by means of people standing in front of the customer in person and promoting the company’s goods. Even in the early twenty first century there was only a minimal use of the internet and that was usually through advertisements and manipulation of simple search processes. These methods had the advantage of being familiar to everyone, and they could easily be monitored to produce hard facts and figures which allowed companies to measure the effectiveness of their marketing and their ratings with the public. It is widely reported that all of this has changed now that social media have taken over the world. The authors observe that traditional media like television are still popular, but they are being affected by the time that consumers spend on more interactive media such as twitter. The size of the shift towards social media is very large, but even more striking is the speed with which this change has happened. Even within the last two or three years there have been massive changes in the percentage share of traditional and social media when it comes to attracting consumer attention. Paradoxically the authors see in these modern trends a return to one of the basic truths about marketing, namely that word of mouth sells products more effectively than big budget advertising. Social media open up a new channel in which old fashioned word of mouth can flourish once more. This is an exciting reality for many companies and it is clear that Name: ID engaging in dialogue with customers online is going to be an essential ingredient in marketing in the future. There are a few words of warning from the two authors, however. The first caveat to mention is the fact that social media cannot achieve all of the same things that traditional marketing campaigns used to do. For a start it is difficult to predict how a conversation with the public will go, because of the interactive nature of the communication. A company can control very tightly all of the images and texts which are published with the company logo in magazines or on television. This is not so in social media, because the consumers may react well or badly to a product, and they can turn the tables on a marketing professional by engaging in campaigns of their own. This can work in the company’s favor if the message is positive, but it can cause untold reputational damage if the consumers criticise or ridicule the product. The problem with social media is one of control: a company cannot exercise very much control about what is said about their products. Another point to remember is that social media has not replaced more traditional avenues for marketing. It is an additional channel, and it lends itself to particular segments of the market. The speed of its implementation can also offer companies an opportunity to step in and influence the way that a press story or marketing campaign is going. Some people have argued that it social media are free to use, and that this means a word of mouth campaign can be a cost effective option. In reality, however there are quite significant hidden costs in the operation of marketing activities online, such as the need to have sustained and knowledgeable staff input around the clock. Word of mouth can have an immediate and significant effect on sales. This sounds attractive, but it must be remembered that the sales can go down or up, depending on the kind of messages that are being sent Name: ID across the internet. The authors point out also that there are some products which lend themselves to word of mouth marketing better than others. The evidence appears to show that concrete and single purchase items are more suited to word of mouth marketing because people generally want to show off their purchase to their friends. Smaller everyday consumable goods are much more difficult to promote using social media. This is because people find small and unglamorous items boring and they see no need to tell their friends what they have purchased as a matter of course. The main conclusion of the article is that social media are likely to be around for a long time and so companies have to be clever and work out how best to exploit them to their best advantage. Instead of seeing social media as the answer to all their problems, companies must find their own ideal mix of traditional and new media formats and approaches. There is no single solution that will fit the needs of all kinds of company. Each brand and each sector need to work out how they can position their brand on a range of different platforms in order to obtain the maximum reach into their client sub-groups. There may be some small scale organisations which can survive very well in an internet-only niche, without ever needing to use traditional marketing methods, but for most companies a mix of different media will be the most sensible solution. Marketing through social media is still a relatively new field. The authors advise companies to watch what is going on and learn what others are doing in the field, and observe what consumers tell each other about their products. All of the normal procedures that go into designing a traditional advertising campaign should be applied to a social networks. Risk has to be weighed up in advance, and there has to be tight specification of the image that is desired, including the tone and level of the language used and the type of appeal that is Name ID intended with particular demographic groups. It is prudent to set targets, and measure performance, even if it is more difficult to devise measurements for this in social networking contexts. These details matter, and so long as a company ventures into social media marketing with their eyes open, there are huge gains to be made along with the considerable risks. The trick is finding the right balance and that only comes with experience. References Armelini, G. and Villanueva, J. (2011) The Power of Word of Mouth: Adding Social Media to the Marketing Mix. IESE Insight 9, 29-36. Read More