C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue: The Calf-Path xiii

Introduction 1

Why Th is Book—and Word-of-Mouth Marketing Today—Is Diff erent •

Secrets • “Let’s Go Up a Level of Abstraction” • Stupid Questions •

Customer = Prospect unless Customer ≠ Prospect • “Buy” = “Buy into”

= “Adopt” = “Believe,” Also, “Sell” = “Convince” = “Persuade” • Product

= Service = Idea = Methodology • Word-of-Mouth Marketing Is NOT

Word-of-Mouth Advertising

CHAPTER 1 The Systematic Approach to Word of Mouth 7

Th e Digital-Information-Knowledge-Transportation-Communications-

Internet-Marketing-Word-of-Mouth Revolutions • Th e Dot-Com Super

Bowl • Th e New Media • Th e New Challenges of Marketing • Th is

Book Has a New Purpose—Our Goals Have Changed • A Trip into a

New Way of Th inking

CHAPTER 2 Dominating Your Market by Easifying the Customer

Decision Cycle 27

Th e Function of Word of Mouth • What Is Marketing? • Decision Speed

• Your Decision Easifi cation System • How to Do It • Cut Decision

Time in Half

CHAPTER 3 How to Use Word of Mouth to Easify the Decision Process 51

Property 1. Word of Mouth’s Megapower • Property 2. Th e Speed of

Word of Mouth • Property 3. Independent Credibility • Property 4.

Th e Hidden Advantage of Word of Mouth: Experience Delivery • Property

5. Word of Mouth Is More Relevant and Complete • Property 6.

Word of Mouth Feeds on Itself • Property 7. Word of Mouth Itself

Becomes One of the Product’s Attributes

CHAPTER 4 The Decision Process 79

Th e Decision Process—Overview • Th e Adopter Types: How Word of

Mouth Works for Diff erent Types of Decision Makers • Decision

Styles—Putting Together the Adopter Types With the Decision Stages •

Th e Decision Matrix

CHAPTER 5 Six Ms to Live By 105

Th e Six Ms • Give Th em Something to Talk About • So, the Form Is

Stories. What’s the Content?

CHAPTER 6 The 2nd M: The Mavens 123

Delivering the Message • Th e Controversy: Infl uencers Versus Peers •

Sources of Word of Mouth • Expert-to-Expert Word of Mouth •

Expert-to-Peer and Peer-to-Peer Word of Mouth • Th e Catch-22 of

Marketing • Delivery of Word of Mouth • Th e Care and Feeding of

Champions

CHAPTER 7 The 3rd M: Motivation 141

Beware of a Trap: Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Word of Mouth • Th e

Secret Exception • Another Trap

CHAPTER 8 The 4th M: Means or Media 145

Additional Ideas • Search Engine Optimization • Getting Involved

CHAPTER 9 The 5th M: Measurement 155

Th e Problem • Th e Diff erence Between Measurement and Research •

How to Research Word of Mouth • Other Research Designs

CHAPTER 10 The 6th M: Multiplication 161

What Is Trust? • Further Secrets of Trust

CHAPTER 11 (Almost) Everything I Learned About Marketing,

I Learned in My Father’s Drugstore. Let Me Share It With You. 165

Key Secrets from My Father’s Example • More Secrets from My Father’s

Example

CHAPTER 12 Constructing the Ultimate Word-of-Mouth Campaign 173

Th e First Word-of-Mouth Programs • How I First Harnessed Word of

Mouth • Success Stories of Word-of-Mouth Sessions • Making Word

of Mouth More Valuable • Situations Th at Benefi t from Word-of-Mouth

Programs, Events, and Sites • Products With Which You Should Avoid

Word-of-Mouth Events

CHAPTER 13 Six Steps to Harnessing Word of Mouth 189

Constructing Your Word-of-Mouth Campaign • An Example of the

Six-Step Process • Th e Process in Detail • Product Seeding • Very

Expensive Products • Internal Word of Mouth • Word-of-Mouth

Campaigns With High-Ticket, Professional Products

CHAPTER 14 Which Methods Work Best for What?

A Word-of-Mouth Checklist 207

Sources and Delivery Mechanisms • Word-of-Mouth Checklist

viii Contents

CHAPTER 15 Word-of-Mouth Marketing for Specifi c Audiences

and Circumstances 213

How to Develop a WOMworthy Diff erentiation in a Practice or Profession

• Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing for Specifi c, Special, or Narrower

Circumstances • Additional Tips, Techniques, and Suggestions

CHAPTER 16 Tips, Techniques, and Suggestions That Will Make

It Easier 231

Who Can Help You Construct Word-of-Mouth Campaigns? • Wordof-

Mouth Fraud and Other Shady Practices

Epilogue: Let’s Talk 235

Bibliography 237

Recommended Reading 239

Appendix 243

Index 251

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