I just read a post on The Influencial Marketing Blog called “The 3 Philosophies of Word of Mouth Marketing.” The writer had attended WOMM-U 2008, an event dedicated to the fast-growing branch of marketing, and picked up on some common themes about how WOM was defined. These included:

1. WOM is a Channel
2. WOM is an Outcome
3. WOM is Viral / Buzz

He says “WOM as a channel” would be an excellent way to to describe WOM to traditional marketers who are accustomed to media channels, while”WOM as an outcome” suggests that ultimately WOM is an outcome to all forms of marketing. So in some ways, everything we do stimulates WOM.

The final idea is probably the most common description. “WOM is Viral” suggests that the ultimate purpose of WOM is for messages to go viral. The writer agrues that while this is perhaps the most popular thought, it isn’t necessarily true. He says that viral tends to describe one person passing something to another person, regardless of quality, while in its purest form, WOM is intended to create positive buzz.

So how do you define WOM?