- ISBN13: 9781427798619
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Who Is Talking About You?
Foreword by Seth Godin and Afterword by Guy Kawasaki.
Master the art of word of mouth marketing with this 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 ev… More >>
Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, Revised Edition
I was really torn between giving this book three or four stars. What inclined me toward four was that I didn’t get a straight run through it, but instead was three quarters of the way through and had to put it aside for a week-which is a long time to put reading aside and then pick up again without it losing a great deal of its momentum. So, I went with the higher scoring in the belief that I would have had a more positive experience with the material if it had not been for a circumstance beyond the author’s control.
That being said, you may still be wondering what I found lacking to keep it from getting five stars. First of all, I don’t hand five stars out like candy (and I wish a lot of other reviewers would follow that lead, as it seems as though there are an over-abundance of five stars over at Amazon). I feel that a five star rating is for the exceptional. A four star is for the good. Three stars for the nominal, with two and one stars relegated to the bad and really stinky. I steer away from half stars as that smacks of indecision (and would require me having to add those images to my library and they are difficult to come by).
I rate this book at four stars because it is good. It is not exceptional. If you’re purchasing as marketing advice, it will provide you with enough to know that you need to buy more books by other authors that go into a good deal more detail. If you’ve already purchased a couple of marketing books, it will reinforce what you’ve already read and give you a good pep talk to keep you motivated. It is not going to enlighten you to anything new (unless it’s your first purchase of marketing material-in which case see point above about now knowing you need to buy more books).
As a writer, publisher and editor myself, I have to make one comment about the writing-more precisely the voice, or tone, of the book. I received the distinct impression that Mr. Sernovitz saw a trend of sales in marketing books, whipped one together with no real effort or research beyond what he already knew off the top of his head (which is considerable-no argument from me there) and tossed it out onto the market. Again, as in one of my prior reviews of a different book, I wish the author had taken more time, gone more indepth, researched and added to what he already knew and given us a real read. In many ways I felt teased, and a little cheated.
Rating: 4 / 5
Andy Sernovitz makes a point of mentioning that word of mouth advertising is as old as mankind. However, with new online media–forums, blogs, etc.–word of mouth can travel faster and further than ever before. Therefore, marketers need to understand how to use–and how not to use–Internet tools that can nowadays make or break a company.
Andy does a superb job of explaining all this in simple language that will make sense to skilled online marketers as well as business owners and executives who are just starting to figure out what business blogs are. He gives us the big picture view of word of mouth, as well as a sizable number of useful tips on how to execute effective word of mouth activities.
The book is not all about online marketing, either. One of my favorite tips is how Andy turns client business cards into luggage tags. What a great way to get talkers talking! It’s very cool that Andy not only introduces new concepts, but reminds us of old ones, like handing out logo pens, that we tend to forget as we’re swept up in the Internet craze. These things still work.
One thing that surprised me is Andy’s emphasis on email as a word of mouth tool, maybe even the most important word of mouth tool. I’ve heard so many complaints about spam and “in-box overload”, you wonder how long email will hold up for conversation or any other use.
There’s great stuff in here for any business, regardless of size or scope.
Rating: 4 / 5
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?
Rating: 5 / 5
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!
Rating: 1 / 5
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.
Rating: 5 / 5