May 7

Written by: Myra Norton
5/7/2010 6:43 AM

This article from the latest McKinsey Quarterly struck a chord with me.  The authors’ approach to dissecting “word of mouth” is clever and in my opinion, spot on.  In short, they identify three types of word-of-mouth:

 1.       Experiential – to put this one in Diffusion of Innovation terms, this is described as passing a positive experience of benefit from one person to another.

2.       Consequential – this is described as spreading a message rather than an experience.

3.       Intentional – this is described as when companies use celebrities to endorse products; thereby attempting to “intentionally” spread word of mouth

The authors articulate that experiential word of mouth is the most powerful.  I agree; however, I would posit that you can be intentional about activating experiential word of mouth.  The way to do that is not necessarily to use celebrities.  The way to do that is to connect with the networks of trust and advice-seeking around your product or service, and partner with the trusted voices in those networks to provide a positive experience of benefit they deem worthy of sharing.  Being intentional doesn’t mean being manipulative – it means meeting your customers where they are and paying attention not only to what matters to them, but also who matters to them.

Tags: