The founder and CEO of crmmetrix describes how to go from marketing to consumers to marketing with consumers.

As the industry is moving full speed towards building, generating and leveraging word of mouth (WOM) for marketers and their brands, it is worth remembering that WOM does not work the same way that advertising does, and more importantly, that WOM is not planned and managed as traditional mass media advertising campaigns are. This may sound basic for most readers, of course, but the underlying reason may not be as obvious as one may think. Let me explain.

Marketers and advertising agencies alike are used to talking to consumers rather than listening and conversing with them. How many times, for example, when you plan a campaign, do you refer to the message or the brand or product positioning? You probably don't know, because you do it every day, and have been doing it for years. In fact, until the rise of the internet, marketing had been all about talking to consumers (or even worse, "shouting" at them, louder and louder, to get your message across) rather than conversing and engaging them.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, then you should think about marketing less in terms of talking and more in terms of listening. This is specifically important when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing. The implication is that marketing is no longer about planning and shaping the message for the brand -- or in other words marketing to consumers -- but rather marketing is now about understanding and better listening to what consumers say about the brand, moving towards marketing with consumers.

To paraphrase best seller author Seth Godin, marketing is all about permission, not interruption, and we should add that permission only happens when you listen to conversations. As the ClueTrain Manifesto reminds us "markets are conversations," and conversations drive WOM and build relationships. 

What does this mean for word-of-mouth marketing?
In essence this means that in order to drive WOM, listening to and leveraging what people say is essential. To this end, let the consumers shape the message, or at least involve them in evolving your message. Move away from the traditional advertising message planning practice that tends to impose messages rather than invite conversations. In other words, as we stated earlier, stop talking and start conversing by listening to consumers; learn from them and shape your message with them.

We can summarize the implications for WOM campaign planning in the following way:

First: Listen to conversations. Learn from consumers and leverage the words consumers "recognize themselves in": a message is about an idea, and the words that support it best.

Second: Listen and engage the consumers who matter in your category. Leadership is not universal, but category related. Look at natural touch-points with your customers, such as the brand website, to find the influencers who want to engage with their favorite brands.

Third: Test the words. As stated earlier, evolving the message with influencers is key. Indeed, rather than just testing the message idea, test the words consumers will recognize themselves in. Let them have a say with a simple online VIP vote, for example.

Fourth: Seed trials and give them the ability to spread. Engage influencers further in trying and testing your product during an exclusive special VIP invitation. Give them the means to spread the word by making samples and campaign materials available (that they actually developed themselves, remember), and they will drive sales for you.

Fifth: Continue listening and keep involving them. Because markets are conversations, continuous listening to consumers during and after the campaign is key. Listening will not only provide the necessary measurement to better manage WOM, but will also naturally boost consumer engagement and relationship with your brand for your next campaign.

In summary, our experience shows that the simple ability to listen, value and respect consumers is the best driver of WOM. Although the approach may sound simple, it calls for a complete mind change from marketers to move away from talking and into listening and conversing to engage consumers. The sooner you change, the better, because the internet is here to stay and consumer empowerment will only grow.

So are you ready to evolve by listening?