Earlier this year our Marketing to Moms practice commissioned a survey of 1,264 U.S. women on a host of topics.  The complete study can be found here and I really encourage you to spend some time reviewing it. There are several surprises for we who think we know what women are thinking. But that is not the point of this post…

There is one table from the study that word of mouth marketers especially should heed. It shows which sources of information women find “essential” to their shopping, and which they turn to most often. Here’s the chart:

This is what the study says about this particular set of findings: “The challenge for marketers is not so much getting messages in front of her, but rather presenting messages that engage her attention, speak to her interests, and break through the profound sense of distrust she has for institutions in general, and businesses in particular. Her shopping is primarily shaped by conversations with her family and friends, Web sites she regularly visits, and coupons. Advertising and traditional media struggle to break through the clutter and win her trust.”

Clearly, whatever information sources are in the upper right quadrant score highest among women for 1) influence, and 2) frequency. It probably does not surprise you to see where the different forms of word of mouth (or “conversations”) line up. But what might surprise us (it did for me) is where blogs and social media sites appear – in the least important quadrant, the lower left. Actually, I recently saw the same finding in a client’s study of its customers and their purchase triggers.

So why are blogs and social media sites being labeled, by women in this case, as relatively unimportant for their shopping research? What we’re finding is that blogs and sites like Facebook are where women share information about their lives and their families, but not necessarily where they have conversations about brands. Instead, branded conversations happen primarily face to face and over the phone. But anyone who jumps to the conclusion that blogs and Facebook are somehow losing any impact – well, we know that’s not true. People who “like” a brand on Facebook also spend more money on that brand (see Mashable story), and Facebook refers more visitors to Groupon than any other site (thanks Leveraging Ideas). People who read blogs are your most active in social networks; they are the uber influencers and have tremendous influence. So the red circles feed into all that green activity in the upper right.

Take another look at the upper right. You’ll notice that coupons – yes, coupons – are at the top of the hill for frequency and helpfulness. So chalk one up for old school! (Also note where the other advertising channels line up, in purple.) Look at the mix in the sweet spot in the upper right, and you can see how the relatively new mashup of couponing and social networks (e.g., Groupon) has caught fire.

Ok, I’ve waxed on perhaps too much about this chart. If there is one thing to take away from it, it’s this: when it comes to effective marketing , it’s never just one thing. Consider the connectivity between difference channels of word of mouth, and strive for a blend that really moves the needle.

Do you have any other thoughts after reading our study or eyeballing this chart?

I usually don’t buy it.  Yes, I am a cheapskate.  I’m a product of an Irish father whose parents’ spending habits were shaped by the Great Depression.  If you don’t need it, you can’t spend money on it.

So how does a brand break through to me, a self-proclaimed tightwad, without couponing or deep discounting?   And beyond winning my dollars, how do I convince others to purchase as well?  One possible tactic:  cause-related marketing combined with free sampling.

This past weekend I participated in Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco.  The walk is a two-day event, held in nine different cities at various times across the U.S.   Thousands of women and men, who must raise $1,800 to participate, are rewarded with the task of walking 26.2 miles the first day, camping in a park overnight, and walking another 13.1 miles the following day.  (Just for fun, this year the organizers of the San Francisco walk stretched the route beyond the official marathon race parameters…but I digress.)  Because of the required fundraising goal, this event – along with the race’s national sponsors – Avon, Reebok, and Genentech BioOncology (a client and my husband’s employer) – serves as a major fundraiser for breast cancer research. The San Francisco walk alone contributed more than $5.5 million to organizations established to fight breast cancer and find a cure for the disease.

Throughout the walk, the Avon brand name spotlighted the trail.  You found it on the official t-shirt and on the inflated arch at the Start and the Finish lines of the race.  But more importantly, at every port-a-potty there was Avon vanilla-scented anti-bacterial hand soap and Avon SPF 40 sunscreen.  And to my surprise and complete elation, at the end of day one I found that each stall of the temporary showers   contained Avon shampoo and conditioner, Avon body wash and Avon lotion.   Very appropriate – and product sampling at its best!

Honestly, if it weren’t for those little toiletries sprinkled at strategic places over the walk, I don’t think I could have crossed the 40+ mile finish line on day two.

Using Avon products for two days has me thinking, “Where can I find my closest Avon representative?” and I really don’t care about the cost.  And once I walked under the Avon Arch, I found myself discussing the sampling products with my fellow walkers, friends and contributors, and encouraging them to purchase Avon and promote the brand that supports the walk.  Given Avon’s help to end breast cancer, I am ready to spend and endorse the brand that gave me incentive to finish.

So what about you?  What persuades you to spend? And – going one step further – does it encourage you to convince others to spend as well?

*This post was guest authored for Fleishman-Hillard Word of Mouth by Beth Ward

If you shout “Fire!” in a theater, you’d better be telling the truth or you could be heading for the back seat of a squad car. But I witnessed a different kind of shouting at the movie theater on Sunday.  Before the main feature (“Eclipse” from the Twilight series) started, I was watching a particularly appealing (at least to me) trailer for an upcoming Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren movie called “Red.”  As the preview ended, two people shouted out. The first one announced to everyone in the theater, “Let’s go see that!” Quite an endorsement. And then the second one countered, loudly, with a one-word deflator: “Rental.”

I don’t recall ever hearing people shout out their opinions about upcoming movies to a room of strangers. This truly is the age of the recommendation, when people feel empowered, and perhaps obligated, to spread their opinions about products and services – and entertainment. Could it be that social media is conditioning a growing segment of consumers to feel comfortable giving their opinions to people they don’t know?  It’s certainly plausible to me.

And for marketers, what does this mean? It means putting more emphasis on identifying your supporters and making sure they have the information (e.g., compelling stories about your brand) and tools (easy ways to share) to amplify your brand voice. The studio behind “Red” spent tens of millions creating its film, yet months before anybody can buy a ticket, moviegoers’ perceptions of the film are already being shaped by their peers.

In my previous post I talked through the similarities B2B and WOM share. Both forms of communication have aligned goals and share the same social media space. But both have one more thing in common – aside from the abbreviations I keep mentioning…

Turns out, some of the emerging WOM trends are big in the B2B arena, too. With WOM, community organizers are utilized to generate buzz. In B2B, sales teams are taking this role. Who better to act as a brand ambassador than a passionate, knowledgeable employee? The key here is training – the employee needs the right tools to be an effective ambassador, especially online. Relationships need to be built and nurtured before any selling can happen and any negative discussions should be handled delicately in the public space – and possibly taken offline.

Traditionally, most B2B business happens offline. Particularly at face-to-face trade shows, which are really just hubs of word-of-mouth promotions, right? Everyone wants to talk up their booth to get the most traffic and, in turn, build their brand’s reputation. We’re using some current WOM mobile techniques here to build buzz. For example, location-based smartphone apps like Foursquare, allow users to “check in” at various locations (including your booth) and unlock perks, coupons or information. This sort of opt-in tracking also makes it easier to “follow” someone and set up a quick face-to-face meeting on the showroom floor.

Mobile devices make it so easy to connect, don’t they? You can do almost anything with your smartphone – including generate business leads. For B2B, mobile sites, e-newsletters and opt-in texts are the basic ways to connect with current or potential customers. Smartphone apps, such as Salesforce or any mileage trackers, are great on-the-go tools for the sales teams. The really emerging on-the-go trend is QR codes – unique barcode style images that can be read by cell phone cameras (with the help of a scanning app). Once read, the code triggers the device to pull up a specific URL, so you can direct the user to any piece of information you’d like.

WOM and B2B are using a lot of the same techniques – just for different audiences. What else is WOM doing that could be useful in B2B?

I was reading a post by Jay Baer over at his blog Convince and Convert about the concept of the “opportunity economy” and how smart companies can use opportunities presented by social media to capitalize on positive, real-time business – not just monitor social media channels for the negative comments and try to appease unhappy customers.

It’s an interesting perspective and reminded me of an experience I had last fall when planning a long weekend getaway to Napa Valley.  I’d never been to Napa Valley before, so in addition to asking some of my more-traveled co-workers for recommendations on wineries and hotels, I sent a Tweet out to my network of Twitter followers also asking for recommendations. I expected to receive a few half-hearted comments about this place or that, but what I didn’t expect was a personalized message from a business in the area. The Silverado Resort reached out to me, asked me about my dates of stay, and referred me to a special promotion they were running for late September stays. I was so impressed by their attentiveness and willingness to help me (something also known as “customer service” that many businesses seemed to have forgotten these days) that I booked a room.

I should also point out that I wasn’t treated any differently than any other potential customer. I didn’t receive any special deals or discounts that weren’t already available to the general public. They just happened to be paying attention and made it easier for me to find out about their promotions. That alone is a win in my book as far as capitalizing on the opportunity economy. But what happened next earned the Silverado Resort a gold star in superior service from me.

When we arrived, we were given an upgrade to a junior suite (it was my husband’s birthday weekend, so that was a nice surprise) and about 15 minutes after check-in, a special delivery was brought to our room.

A cheese and cracker spread, along with fruit and a bottle of the resort’s own Chardonnay and a personalized thank you card from the public relations coordinator, who also manages the Silverado Resort Twitter channel. We felt like royalty! Some might say, “That’s great, but businesses can’t afford to do that all the time.” I beg to differ, at least in this case. The investment the Silverado Resort put into our specialty cheese platter and wine, at most, was probably about $50. But when you include the price that we paid for our stay, along with our meals at the resort restaurant and a couple’s massage at the resort spa, I’d say that the return on investment was well worth it for the resort from a business perspective. Since then, I’ve recommended the Silverado Resort to several friends and relatives, and my entire social network, including this blog post, and all it took was an upgraded room and a cheese and fruit platter.  Oh and of course, a little listening. Can’t forget about that one!