Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking [Hardcover]

Andy Sernovitz (Author), Guy Kawasaki (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

Who Is Talking About You? Master the art of word of mouth marketing with this fun, practical, hands-on guide. With straightforward advice and humor, marketing expert Andy Sernovitz will show you how the world’s most respected and profitable companies get their best customers for free through the power of word of mouth. Learn the five essential steps that make word of mouth work and everything you need to get started using them. Understand the real purpose of blogs, communities, viral email, evangelists, and buzz—when to use them and how simple it is to make them work. Learn what sparks the irrepressible enthusiasm of Apple and TiVo fans. Understand why everyone is talking about a certain restaurant, car, band, or dry cleaner—and why other businesses and products are ignored. Discover why some products become huge successes without a penny of promotion—and why some multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns fail to get noticed. Open your eyes to a new way of doing business—that honest marketing makes more money, because customers who trust you will talk about you. Learn how to be the remarkable company that people want to share with their friends.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"A quick, practical, and extremely useful guide to word of mouth marketing." - Emanuel Rosen, author of The Anatomy of Buzz

"This book is to Gladwell's The Tipping Point as Engineering is to Physics. If you want to understand the deep sociological theories behind interpersonal communication, this isn't the book for you. If you want to understand how to harness interpersonal communication to drive your business, then buy this book." - David Godes, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School

"Word of mouth is the valuable currency in today's advertising-saturated world. Andy Sernovitz has written a book packed with ideas on how to do word of mouth marketing the right way." - Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, authors of Creating Customer Evangelists

"It's brief. It's elementary. It's obvious. But the Truth often is. Read this book to relearn what you always knew just in time for it to change your business life." - Bob Garfield, Co-Host of NPR's On The Media

"A primer chock full of great stories, tips, and exercises to make you a better word of mouth marketer, no matter what size company you work for. Read it, and you will increase your influence with your customers, and make yourself more influential in your company." - Ed Keller and Jon Berry, The Keller Fay Group, authors of The Influentials

"It's an actionable guide for anyone looking to capture the power of word of mouth. Andy has written a book that shows just how simple it is to get people talking about your business. You should read this book and then tell a friend." - Brad Santeler, Director, Kimberly-Clark

"No one knows word of mouth (the good, the bad, and the measurable) better than Andy Sernovitz." - Peter Fader, Professor, Wharton School of Business

"Andy's approach is practical, affordable and, best of all, ethical. Don't waste your money on mass marketing: Spend it on this book and start people talking." - Greg Stielstra, author of PyroMarketing

"Andy brings it together perfectly: the vision, the strategy, and the practical how-to. It's all here." - Geoff Ramsey, CEO, eMarketer

"The coolest book on the hottest topic in marketing and communication. Andy tells it all and tells it like it really is. The 5Ts are the best organizing framework for word of mouth I have seen yet. Use them and profit. No hype. No smoke and mirrors. No overblown promises." - Don E. Schultz, Professor Emeritus-in-Service, Northwestern University

About the Author

Andy Sernovitz teaches word of mouth marketing to the biggest brands and thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses. He is a popular keynote speaker and CEO of GasPedal and SocialMedia.org. He is also the President Emeritus of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and teaches word of mouth marketing at Northwestern University. An 18-year veteran of the interactive marketing business, Andy has spent years helping companies learn how to do fantastic marketing. He taught entrepreneurship at The Wharton School, ran a business incubator, and started half a dozen companies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Business; illustrated edition edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419593331
• ISBN-13: 978-1419593338
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Direct
  • #49 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Public Relations

More About the Author

Andy Sernovitz teaches word of mouth marketing to the biggest brands and thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses. He is a popular keynote speaker and CEO of GasPedal and Socialmedia.org. He is also the President Emeritus of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and teaches word of mouth marketing at Northwestern University. An 18-year veteran of the interactive marketing business, Andy has spent years helping companies learn how to do fantastic marketing. He taught entrepreneurship at The Wharton School, ran a business incubator, and started half a dozen companies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Word of Mouth Marketing - An Essential Read!, November 17, 2006

By 

Dana "Dana VanDen Heuvel" (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (Hardcover)

I recently finished Andy Sernovitz's new book, "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking". Actually, I finished it a while ago, but haven't had time to do a full blog review.

The book is a quick read - 4hrs total, give or take, and it's packed full not only of WOM theory and a bit of history, but also with some concrete ideas from real WOM marketers and a checklist or two to boot. I love checklists!

The really "shocking" thing about this book, is that it's not one of those "wow, wouldn't it be cool if our company could do that" like "Blue Ocean Strategy, but rather, a book about WHAT EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD ALREADY BE DOING WITH THEIR MARKETING. Seriously, let's look, at what the book tells me to do.

You need the Five Ts. Talkers, Topics, Tools, Taking Part and Tracking.

* Talkers: Find people who will talk about you
* Topics: Give people a reason to talk
* Tools: Help the message spread faster and farther
* Taking Part: Join the conversation
* Tracking: Measure and understand what people are saying

Andy has another tidbit that worth the price of the book (or a visit to his site). The Word of Mouth Marketing Manifesto:

1. Happy customers are your best advertising. Make people happy.
2. Marketing is easy: Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers. They will do your marketing for you, for free.
3. Ethics and good service come first.
4. UR the UE: You are the user experience (not what your ads say you are).
5. Negative word of mouth is an opportunity. Listen and learn.
6. People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation.
7. Be interesting or be invisible.
8. If it's not worth talking about, it's not worth doing.
9. Make the story of your company a good one.
10. It is more fun to work at a company that people want to talk about.
11. Use the power of word of mouth to make business treat people better.
12. Honest marketing makes more money.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brainstorming guide to becoming remarkable, April 21, 2008

By 

Lindy Dreyer (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (Hardcover)

This book is exactly what it promises to be...a fun, practical, hands-on guide to the art of word of mouth (WOM) marketing. This book is about getting back to the basics and fueling your desire to build a remarkable organization. The quick summary of what's in the book...

* 3 Reasons People Talk About You
* 4 Rules of Word of Mouth Marketing
* 5 Ts of Word of Mouth Marketing
* 6 Big Ideas: Deep Stuff That Changes Marketing Forever

The first 59 pages of the book give a thorough, yet concise, overview of the concepts of WOM marketing. For me, the really juicy stuff began on page 61--the HOW-TO section. (That's the pragmatist in me.) Page after page, I found myself writing down ideas, usually a spin-off of something Andy's seen or done...which is a considerable amount. Going back through my notes, many of these ideas are things we can do right away along with things we should have always been doing, but somehow got off track. This book is like a brainstorming guide...it helps you focus on the WOM concepts that matter most.

Word of warning...if you're looking for detailed, data-driven analysis of WOM, this is not your book. Most of the negative reviews on Amazon criticized the book for being too "obvious" or "simple." I'd argue that it's the simple and obvious ideas that make this book so powerful, not just for marketing and PR professionals, but for anyone in your organization who interacts with your customers and prospects.

BONUS: One of the 5 Ts of Word of Mouth is TOPIC. People often latch onto the most unexpected topics and we need to have the courage to run with it. Andy uses the example of RedEnvelope. Their unexpected topic? Beautiful gift packaging. I've personally ordered from RedEnvelope...it was a gift for my mom. The first thing I heard from her after she received the gift? "The package was just beautiful! It came in this great red box with a giant bow!" She told all her friends about her "gift in the big red box." Not only did I look like the world's greatest daughter, but RedEnvelope likely got a few new customers.

What's your big red box?

47 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars basic concepts presented as something fresh and radical, October 7, 2007

By 

Ala "Prompter" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (Hardcover)

I've just gotten into WOM marketing and so I assumed that my knowledge on the subject is limited. After reading this book, however, I came to think that I could be a marketing guru as well. The ideas described in this book could be summarized on three pages and still those pages would not be worth reading! Rules such as: make your message interesting or make it short or make it easy to remember are obvious for all those who are capable to think logically. Others (e.g. Chinese banquet example) are simply ridiculous!
I expected to learn a lot from this book. I learned nothing new. Plus, the book appear to contradict all the rules he lists: it could definitely be shorter and more interesting!