Each month, the Outsource Marketing Book Club gathers to review a marketing book of interest and chat it out. Our goal is simple: find new ways to help our clients.
Everyone knows word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing, and for that reason it’s one of the ingredients of Responsible Marketing. Problem is, few marketers seem to do it well.
Today we reviewed Word of Mouth Marketing, by Andy Sernovitz, one of the founding members of WOMMA. There have been a host of books on the topic, BuzzMarketing by Mark Hughes, The Anatomy of Buzz by Emmanuel Rosen and of course, Seth Godin’s Unleashing the IdeaVirus. I’ve read ’em all, and Sernovitz’s book is every bit as good, and in some ways better than it’s predecessors.
Our book club deemed it one of the best we’ve read in the last year. Why? Sernovitz finds the right balance between theory and application. Examples are simple and his how-to templates are actually usable straight out of the book. You read that right. And since we serve companies of all sizes (from the largest in the world to some small, interesting startups) we were excited to see his ideas really are for organizations of all sizes.
In the introduction, Sernovitz explains that word of mouth has made us more honest as marketers, that because of social media and ease of sharing information the following statement is true:
For the first time in the history of modern business, we have a force for good that is also driven by the all-powerful profit motive.
Can you see why I like it?
What’s the best word of mouth book you’ve read? I’d love to hear about it.
I am very impressed with the Sernovitz book Word of Mouth Marketing. The how-to templates are usable and worthy of marketers’ attention. Valuable info.