Retweet: The Infectious Power Of Word Of Mouth
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/11/23/retweet-the-infectious-power-of-the-word-of-mouth/

Per Manisha: "Jeremiah Oqyang discusses the power word of mouth marketing has in his article about WOM marketing and Twitter- "ReTweet: The Infectious Power of Word of Mouth". The repaid speed at which information is shared on Twitter makes it a powerful source for marketing- especially WOM marketing. If someone takes the time to "ReTweet" this means not only did they take it as a source of information, but that they also wanted to share this information with their friends by copying the original tweet and sending it on. He states "we trust the opinions of people we know more than anyone else", so how does this influence companies?"

So maybe instead of getting your company on twitter, paying marketers to mention you are on twitter, and paying people to blog about your company, forget all that and just make awesome stuff that gets people excited about your products, hire people that represent the company well, and when your stuff is so awesome that friends share it with other friends, you may not even need "social media marketing" after all.

forget all that and just make awesome stuff that gets people excited about your products, hire people that represent the company well, and when your stuff is so awesome that friends share it with other friends, you may not even need "social media marketing" after all.”

The Rainbow company makes awesome stuff, has a great website (pretty damn slick all-CSS one at that), and helpful catalog materials (both online and off). They got on my radar when a friend dug up their details for a blog post, in a way no marketing budget could influence.

contagion

Call it viral, buzz or word-of-mouth advertising: Getting customers to spread the word about a new product through their social or professional networks is a hot strategy in the marketing world. Its proponents insist that the technique -- whether online or face-to-face -- is sure to boost a company's return on investment (ROI).

research papers or on conference speaker lists. "Physician 184 was self-effacing. He did not want to stand on a soap box," said Van den Bulte. "He was respected, but not in a flashy fashion. He was the opposite of a rock star."

The Buzz Starts Here: Finding the First Mouth for Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Knowledge@Wharton Marketing Research ArticleView Article on Knowledge@Wharton Mobile

In a session yesterday at Forrester’s Marketing Forum, Forrester analysts Josh Bernoff and Augie Ray presented research findings on peer influence and word of mouth marketing. Some of the statistics were surprising, and the presentation was rife with practical tips for marketers we thought worth sharing.

Masable word of mouth marketing