My colleague shared this infographic from WOMMA with the office. Infographics always inspire me; I’m a very
visual person and I love stats and numbers, so they’re a great way of visually representing statistics. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about in my blog.
Apart from the fact this infographic is a great summary of what word of mouth is all about and how effective it is, it also reminded me of a fact that we experience every day at Soup, but which, if you believe everything you read about digital marketing, seems hard to believe: Nine in 10 branded conversations happen offline.
People talk about our clients’ campaigns with their friends, family and colleagues. Give them something to share around (a product, for example) and they have even more to talk about. And, of course, they also share things on Facebook or on a blog, but the vast majority of the conversations happen in the real world.
I find it frustrating that there is a disproportionate focus on online media and social media when it comes to word of mouth.
This is not to deny the role the internet plays in marketing and word of mouth. Our Soupers spread the word just like anyone else; through real-world conversations and online conversations like Facebook and blogs.
A great example is one of our recent campaigns where there is an effective online element is for Vita Weat Lunch slices. For this campaign we have a blogger element where we’ve asked bloggers to post a review. The bloggers go above and beyond. Have a look at this post, seriously, it’s amazing. Or this one. Sometimes we launch a Facebook page as part of a Soup campaign where influencers are the first to be engaged. A great example is the Tailwagging Facebook page we just launched together with Novartis Animal Heath Australia for Sentinel, which results in great consumer content.
Of course, our clients (and we too) are very enthusiastic about the online parts of our campaigns, because it’s so visible that people go above and beyond for their brands.
But although it’s not as visible, what’s happening offline is actually much bigger and therefore more influential. I would never suggest ignoring online media, just keep it in perspective and remember we still mostly live in the “real” world, not just a virtual one.
Tags: WOMMA
