Get the Word Out: By Picking the Right Consumers To Spread the Word Up Front, Marketers Can Spread the Word Fast

CHICAGO, Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a world where a funny YouTube video can become a web sensation overnight, new research published in the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing shows how marketers can help make that happen.

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A friend sends an e-mail message that reads "you've got to watch this" with a link to a funny cat video on YouTube. Or perhaps it's a post that appears in your Facebook newsfeed that shows a friend who recommends you to watch a wacky commercial. With the web making it possible to spread messages easier, faster and cheaper than ever before, marketers can hope to use these word-of-mouth recommendations to their benefit.

New research published in the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing examines the best seeding strategies marketers can use to help spread the word. Researchers and study authors Oliver Hinz, Bernd Skiera, Christian Barrot and Jan U. Becker ran field experiments on social network platforms and with customers from a mobile phone provider to track how messages spread virally to see where and how the greatest word-of-mouth influence originates.

In the study, getting the message to the most influential participants resulted in up to eight times more referrals than seeding to less influential participants. Further, this approach increased the number of referrals by more than half compared with a randomized seeding approach.

The authors say that marketers are well-advised to use sociometric data, such as the number of friends a person may have on Facebook, to identify who the greatest influencers may be for their particular message. In the case of brand-based messages, marketers could also use information in their customer databases to identify who their best advocates may be. "Marketers should pick highly connected persons as initial seeds if they hope to generate awareness or encourage transactions through their viral marketing campaigns because these hubs promise a wider spread of the viral message," the authors say.

The results can help marketers to more effectively spread their news and do so cheaply and quickly. Further details and recommendations can be found in the article "Seeding Strategies for Viral Marketing: An Empirical Comparison" in the November issue of the AMA's Journal of Marketing.

About the American Marketing Association:
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the professional association for individuals and organizations who are leading the practice, teaching, and development of marketing worldwide. Learn more at marketingpower.com.

Contact: Christopher Bartone – 312.542.9029 – [email protected]

SOURCE American Marketing Association