Study Reveals Ineffective Word-of-Mouth Metrics
January 20 2006
More than half of organisations using word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing are unable to track WOM performance, and two thirds do not have faith in measurement systems for WOM marketing, according to a new study from Osterman Research and BoldMouth.com.
The study, released at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's (WOMMA) conference this week, finds that, despite the growing use of WOM marketing:
- 51.2% of marketers say they are unable to track the performance of their WOM marketing efforts, and see this as an argument against committing more resources to WOM.
- 67.4% either doubt, or are not certain at all, that the data they gather to measure WOM performance is valuable or meaningful.
- Only 28.6% have an established word of mouth marketing plan. Lack of metrics to evaluate effectiveness is the single largest reason - cited by 36.8% - for not creating a formal WOM marketing plan.
BoldMouth.com CEO Todd Tweedy says the study is 'a wake-up call for the WOM industry, and shows that organisations are facing significant marketing challenges in executing word-of-mouth campaigns'.
The survey of 112 WOM marketers was conducted online between December 8th, 2005 and January 16th, 2006 by Osterman Research.
BoldMouth.com, which helps organisations develop WOM marketing, is online at
www.boldmouth.com . The Osterman Research web site is at
www.ostermanresearch.com
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
