Word of Mouth Marketing is when you get a significant number of people to start talking about your organization, product or service.  Word of Mouth Marketing has been shown to have the best ROI on dollars spent and more people trust word of mouth than any other form of advertising.

This has been shown through studies, but it also just makes sense.  When was the last time a friend said you had to try something and you doubted it?  If you did doubt it, it was probably because of the character of your friend, not because of the product.

Word of Mouth Marketing works in any industry, but it is especially effective in areas where there are items that are buzzworthy.  Every day you probably promote something for someone without thinking about it.  Word of Mouth makes us feel good because we are helping the person we are telling and we appear knowledgeable.

Pay attention to the word of mouth you generate each day and you will find that, unbeknownst to you, you have been a marketer for some major companies, and they are not even compensating you.

How does the internet affect word of mouth marketing?

The internet has turned up the volume on word of mouth marketing.  You can set up a free blog and develop a devout following that will give your voice more reach.  In fact, many word of mouth marketing professionals rely solely on the buzz on blogs to measure word of mouth.

Tools have begun to come out that help organizations measure and control word of mouth better.  Buzzoodle challenges advocates to create word of mouth and track each instance, rewarding them with points and creating teams that use competition to create Word of Mouth.

The fear of bad word of mouth is always on the minds of marketing and PR professionals as well.  By being preemptive and creating a lot of good word of mouth, you can weather a negative word of mouth if it ever happens.