• by Wayne Friedman , November 18, 2014

The research from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) -- paid for by agency and brand sponsors, including AT&T, Discovery Communications, Intuit, PepsiCo and Weight Watchers -- says the study was based on “sophisticated econometric modeling of sales and marketing data provided by participating brands on a confidential basis.”

The study came from “consumer word of mouth” in six categories -- telecommunications, food, beverage, software, personal services and television -- through online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations.

Word of mouth resulted in 13% of consumer sales -- and in higher price-point sales, word of mouth resulted up to 20% of sales, the study revealed.

“This is the first public demonstration of the measurement of word-of-mouth sales effectiveness,” stated Alice Sylvester of Sequent Partners, consultants for the project.

Overall, one-third of the “sales impact” is attributable to word of mouth -- as an “amplifier” to paid media, such as television. Paid media delivers 69% of sales impact. The study says most of the impact of word of mouth works independently of advertising.

The research also showed that an offline word-of-mouth impression drives at least five times more sales than a paid advertising impression. Word of mouth’s impact happens closer to the time of purchase than traditional media — often within two weeks.

When “offline” was compared to “online” word-of-mouth marketing, “offline” had two-thirds the impact of word-of-mouth on business sales, with one-third the impact for “online.”

Analysis was conducted by Analytic Partners, an independent analytics consultancy. Nancy Smith, president of Analytic Partners, said: “Word of mouth is an area that begs for more deliberate decisioning and planning from marketers, as it works hand-in-glove with paid media.”