Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking

Business books seem to come in two flavors: Why you should and How to. Andy Sernovitz's "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking" starts with the basic concepts of word of mouth, hits the high points of why you should, and then gets right down to building the plan; he ends with sixteen things to start doing right now....and that alone is worth the price of the book! Andy Sernovitz delivers a quick start guide to word of mouth, with just enough background and concepts to keep you going. Highly recommended!

This is a terrific little tome on word-of-mouth marketing from a guy who clearly knows the subject pretty well. His prose are clear and to the point, his tone strictly conversational. But what else would you expect from a book about WOM marketing? Especially a good one...

I recently finished Andy Sernovitz's new book, "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking". Actually, I finished it a while ago, but haven't had time to do a full blog review. The book is a quick read - 4hrs total, give or take, and it's packed full not only of WOM theory and a bit of history, but also with some concrete ideas from real WOM marketers and a checklist or two to boot. I love checklists! The really "shocking" thing about this book, is that it's not one of those "wow, wouldn't it be cool if our company could do that" like "Blue Ocean Strategy, but rather, a book about WHAT EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD ALREADY BE DOING WITH THEIR MARKETING. Seriously, let's look, at what the book tells me to do. You need the Five Ts. Talkers, Topics, Tools, Taking Part and Tracking. * Talkers: Find people who will talk about you * Topics: Give people a reason to talk * Tools: Help the message spread faster and farther * Taking Part: Join the conversation * Tracking: Measure and understand what people are saying Andy has another tidbit that worth the price of the book (or a visit to his site). The Word of Mouth Marketing Manifesto: 1. Happy customers are your best advertising. Make people happy. 2. Marketing is easy: Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers. They will do your marketing for you, for free. 3. Ethics and good service come first. 4. UR the UE: You are the user experience (not what your ads say you are). 5. Negative word of mouth is an opportunity. Listen and learn. 6. People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation. 7. Be interesting or be invisible. 8. If it's not worth talking about, it's not worth doing. 9. Make the story of your company a good one. 10. It is more fun to work at a company that people want to talk about. 11. Use the power of word of mouth to make business treat people better. 12. Honest marketing makes more money.