A shift in the media landscape makes it imperative for marketers to go "beyond the browser" with marketing efforts.

Many marketers and advertisers have been riveted by the recent shift in the media landscape, but that doesn’t mean that they have gained a true appreciation for the impact that today’s emerging media channels are having on this evolving industry. Whether marketers recognize it or not, these new media channels have already garnered the attention of what we used to consider our “traditional” consumers, emphasizing the need for marketers and advertisers to understand the urgency and impact of “going beyond the browser” to communicate with their desired audiences.

For the past couple of years, marketers have embraced hot topics such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or eCRM-- how to best manage customer relationships through marketing. Today and tomorrow, however, the number one topic of conversation will prove to be word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), especially as it gains traction across all demographics, extends reach and response across audiences and develops into one of the most effective ways to build brand equity online. As marketers become more educated on how emerging channels can support their consumer -- or even corporate-facing -- strategies, we will begin to see how sometimes going “beyond the browser” will deliver the greatest marketing or advertising results.

The power of blogs and bloggers

Take blogs (Weblogs) for example. A big debate is currently underway regarding the usefulness of blogs as advertising vehicles. I believe that they are a very important channel through which to reach our audience and one of the primary new ways we can effectively communicate brand messages in a genuine way to very specific groups of people who have hundreds of online acquaintances with those same specific interests.

A recent blog survey conducted by Edelman and Technorati found a disconnect between the amount of contact bloggers were willing to have with PR professionals and the amount they received. The online survey polled 821 bloggers and found that half wrote about a company or product at least once a week. When asked how they would like a company to contact them, only two percent said they didn't want companies to do so. A majority of respondents favored a personalized email. But only 16 percent of bloggers reported that companies or their PR firms generally attempt to interact with them in a personalized manner, and only 21 percent reported at least weekly correspondence from companies or their PR representatives. They reported much of the contact was a simple press release.

While this is important information about how many PR firms or companies are contacting bloggers, what is more important information to us as marketers is that the bloggers are positioning themselves as -- and truly are -- experts to their peers. If the value of your company or destination brand is in the hands of bloggers, shouldn’t you know what they are saying about you? Wouldn’t you want to influence that?

In the early days online, a listserv or discussion group could literally cripple a company that launched a new technology or product without the proper testing. I recall instances in which companies would consistently discount the opinions of listservs as they watched their sales decline, until they finally realized they could not simply ignore it and continue with business as usual. Companies finally understood that they had to go into the groups and communicate and manage customer and consumer messaging with facts. They had to be heard, and they had to manage crises. While a similar situation could easily occur today, we now have the opportunity to build relationships with bloggers, giving them facts that tell our story.  

Bloggers have the power of communication, and they lead the way with word of mouth. They are so serious about communication that they sign up for RSS feeds that alert them when one of their favorite blogs has been updated or modified. It is an unobtrusive “reminder” to check the blog. If you recall listservs or bulletin boards, you remember that many “authorities” were able to shape consumer confidence of newly released tech products by posting and positioning themselves with their peers. It is communication at its purest.

The mighty iPod

Another new word-of-mouth technology to consider is the iPod-- which now can even play videos! Savvy marketers use this technology to provide information to consumers who want to play the material on their iPod on their own time. Ignore, at your own risk, the power of this personal device, because it’s not just the Echo Boomers or Generation X that carry an iPod. Many boomers, CEOs and upper-level business people use the device and can afford the cost to enjoy their favorite music and videos.

According to a February 2005 survey from The Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than 22 million American adults own iPods or MP3 players and 29 percent of them have downloaded podcasts from the web so that they could listen to audio files at a time of their choosing. This means that more than six million adults have tried this new feature and downloaded internet “broadcasts” to their portable listening devices. And, with hugely successful iPod sales this past holiday season, this new media channel has opened doors to even more people in our target audiences.

Friend to friend

Another vastly popular and effective word-of-mouth marketing channel is one we call “viral marketing” in the form of “email to a friend.” This is usually a link prompt found at the bottom of an eNewsletter or permission email prompting the reader to “email to a friend” an online article, invitation or offer. Viral marketing has always been a strong online marketing strategy because people respond when the information is relevant to them and coming from those they know. People respond to recommendations they receive from friends and family.

In fact, a good first rule of online marketing is: always make sure your message is relevant to the audience and that the audience wants to receive it. The “viral effect” is at the heart of this rule-- whether it results in passing along a joke, information on a great event or a great travel offer. Viral marketing strategies are a great way to make sure you are hitting a relevant target audience.

Summary

While in its infancy today, word-of-mouth marketing is effective and here to stay, as is evidenced by the creation of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and the first ever conference on measurement, metrics and standards in word-of-mouth marketing held last July in Chicago. I believe it will prove to be one of the most effective online marketing and communications tools we can use. It’s time to get your plan in place.

If you don’t know what is being said about your product, you need to know. If you don’t know that your product fits a segment of the online market that you are not reaching, you need to find out, so you can educate them online, and they in turn, can educate others for you.

Leah Woolford is CEO of USDM.net, a leading interactive agency for the travel industry. Woolford has been an online marketer and technologist since 1993 when she founded her first internet company to market travel clients and clients in the telecom industry. Today Woolford is a sought after speaker and trainer, published author and recognized authority on interactive marketing and technology in the travel industry.