The facts below are obvious to our customers.

1. Nielsen: 

Word-of-Mouth Study, Keller Fay “Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace”

“People buy from people they trust, NOT from corporations.”

“Word-of-Mouth recommendations from friends remain most credible form of advertising among consumers; branded websites are the second-highest-rated form.” 
 

2. Paul Adams: Former VP Facebook Brand & Design:

“You need to reorient your business model around people, not technology.” “Don’t have a Facebook strategy, or a Twitter strategy, or a Foursquare strategy”. “Map to human behavior and not to technology.”

3. Talk Track: (Keller Fay) “The Word-of-Mouth Experts”:

3,600 people 13-69 measured throughout the year, year-after-year. 

1. The average American talks about 10 brands per day.
2. Typical conversations last about 3-5 minutes.
3. More than two-thirds involve a recommendation to buy, consider, or avoid.

• 90% of branded conversations take place offline, in-person, verbally.
• 8% take place online.

Online is important, but only AFTER your product is considered by word-of-mouth.

Our customers are VERY web and social media savvy.

They have robust social media and web departments and call centers.

They also see the exponentially large results from Live Word-of-Mouth endorsements.

You may have the best product. You may have a killer online presence, but if your target does not know you, or your brand’s story, or trust you, you cannot hit your sales goals.