WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz spells out the differences between honest word of mouth marketing and sleazy stealth campaigns.

Marketing is easy

Step 1. Earn the respect and recommendation of consumers.

Step 2. They will do the rest.

Word of mouth is on the rise because marketers have finally begun to understand that a happy customer is the greatest advertisement. When consumers trust marketers they will recommend their products.

Traditional advertising is hurting because consumers don't trust it: they see through the slick production values and they tune it out. 

We're learning to listen to consumers. This is a good thing for the future of marketing.

Word of mouth marketing is not stealth marketing

Word of mouth is listening to the consumer and giving them a voice. Stealth marketing is tricking people. 

Honest marketers oppose all forms of stealth and deception. Stealth marketers are scumbags who should be hunted down. 

Word of mouth cannot be faked. 

Deception, infiltration, dishonesty, shilling and other attempts to manipulate consumers or the conversation are bad. Honest marketers do not do this, will not do this, and will get caught if they try. Sleazy behavior will be exposed by the public and backfire horribly on anyone who attempts it.

Disclosure is good. Demand disclosure. 

We want consumers to talk -- openly and honestly. That's the point of word of mouth marketing.  Insist that any relationship between consumers and marketers be clearly disclosed from the beginning. Smart marketers understand that disclosure makes messages more powerful because it makes them more trustworthy.

Simple rules for staying honest

Happy, interested people will say good things about you. It's doesn't take much more than that. Understand this concept, devote yourself to it, and you will be a successful word of mouth marketer.

1. Stick to the Honesty ROI. WOMMA's Ethics Code focuses on a simple principle: The Honesty ROI. 

Honest marketers never do marketing that violates these rules and never ask consumers to violate them.

• Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're representing
• Honesty of Opinion: You only say what you really believe
• Honesty of Identity: You never lie about who you are

2. Set up internal guidelines to stop stealth campaigns.  Make sure there is a review process and that someone is asking the tough questions. Many great brands have been deeply embarrassed when an uninformed junior brand manager hires an iffy agency to do a sleazy stealth campaign. Make your values clear.

3. Expose stealth marketing. Step up and say something when you see a stealth campaign. Blog it, call a reporter -- whatever it takes. Stealth thrives on secrecy, so take it away. 

Word of mouth makes all marketing more honest

Word of mouth is the feedback loop that forces marketers to pay attention to the consumer. It brings advertisers out of isolation and forces them to confront the reality of the impact that their products and marketing have on real people. It puts the consumers at the head of the boardroom table.

Word of mouth protects consumers by giving them a voice. The kind of marketing we do gives a powerful platform to consumers -- and forces marketers to respect them. We empower consumers by engaging with them in blogs, message boards, communities and in the real world. We give people the power to voice their dissatisfaction and expose dishonesty.

We're the marketers who have learned to listen. Word of mouth marketers don't have a choice. We can't do what we do unless consumers are happily willing to relay our message. So we're getting good at making them happy. When all marketers learn to respect consumers' word of mouth, all marketing will be more honest.

All marketers should be held to this higher standard.

You need to fight against deception and stealth

This is your fight. You don't have the option to sit back while people confuse pro-consumer word of mouth with sleazy stealth. Your reputation depends on it.

If you sit back, we're going to repeat the unhappy history of email marketing. Reporters and consumers started referring to all commercial email as "spam," lumping responsible messages from respected brands in with the worst kinds of sleaze. 

What happened? Everyone stopped talking about honest ways to use email. Legal departments told honest brands to sit on the sidelines. Few companies fought for anti-spam laws. And the spammers ran free, unopposed.

You have to take action to make it clear that honest marketers don't use stealth marketing and oppose stealth marketing. We need to work together in the fight for higher standards, pointing out the bad actors while supporting the early efforts of honest marketers.

You have to step up now to make sure that your reputation and honest marketing tactics don't get tarred with the actions of a sleazy few.

Andy Sernovitz is CEO of WOMMA, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and blogs at GasPedal. WOMMA is a non-profit association that is building a word of mouth marketing industry based on ethics, measurable ROI and best practices. More than 175 companies have joined the organization this year. Learn more about how you can master word of mouth at womma.org.