WOMMA/Summit - Day 1: Who owns Word of Mouth?
"Word of Mouth" touches on many (all?) parts of an organization, and when multiple groups are participating in WOM tactics/programs/concepts how do you know who's in charge?
Implications:
* Ownable vs. talkable
* Focus on relevant engagement
* Silos are being torn down
* Greater focus on reaching and engaging the "right" customer
Rick Murray from Edelman WOM - typically owned by "someone with guts". This is a crucial part of this discussion. Whether you mean WOM or Social Media or Community, the reality is that it takes a damn thick skin and a cast iron fortitude to make real change happen.
The companies doing this right are all run by 22 year olds... they get it and there's no internal history/infrastructure/resistance to break down.
WOM is a sociological shift in the way we do business... we'll have to restructure ourselves accordingly.
One of the attendees talk about hiring a community manager - her responsibilities are so broad that it turns out that she's more focused on being the best "brand" person than a "community" person.
Jake: I'm growing increasingly concerned at the idea that community/WOM/blogging/social media is "just a tactic". The tactics of those things are the tactics. Those concepts are strategic, how you implement those strategies is where we get into tactics. OK, rant over.
Hiring community managers is becoming more difficult. "This is a management discipline not a management position". Love this!
"We're selling the CMO short. They should be trusted to hire and manage smart social people."
Jake: This idea of tactics vs. strategy troubles me. There's a tone that seems to say that it's one or the other. I understand that people have to show tactical, real-life results in order to continue to grow a WOM/social budget and thus activities. But that doesn't (or shouldn't) mean you rush out and start throwing tactics simply to start doing tactics. Those starting point tactics start with a strategy... your social strategy may well take into account the fact that the company needs slow growth.
An "owner" of WOM needs to be unbiased, agnostic, and cross-functional.
Marketing is now "perpetual beta.... always tweaking".
Who owns WOM? YOU!
