Word-of-Mouth in the News

The research of two UConn professors turned up in this article in the Fort Worth Business Press by Darwin Campbell. Please note the following excerpts and our editorial "My Take".

‘Word of mouth’ continues as valuable marketing tool

"Companies may be neglecting a valuable marketing tool: word of mouth. Marketing efforts well-designed toward eliciting referrals should see much greater returns from their advertising expenditures than do companies relying heavily on mass marketing.
"High-volume spenders and good referrers are not generally the same people, and the value of the best referrers can far exceed that of the good spenders.
"...return on investment of $13.60 for each dollar spent on the marketing campaign. ... standard return on marketing investments had previously been $4 to $6 for each dollar spent.
“Viral marketing spreads rapidly when satisfied customers share their positive experiences and bring referrals and business your way.”

My Take

Consumers want to cut through the static and clutter of advertising to find the local businesses their friends and neighbors trust. Local trusted service professionals need to somehow leverage their years spent satisfying their customers into a recurring source of qualified sales leads.

YouGottaCall believes that traditional advertising lacks the ability to distinguish a business's true quality or value. A new media which connects consumers to trusted services will better serve both local businesses and consumers. This new media will use the Web to create a connection engine.