Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is one of the least expensive and one of the most effective ways to make your product or service known throughout the marketplace. Did you know that there’s an association that offers ethical guidelines on word-of-mouth campaigns?

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) offers a code of conduct for such marketing effects. Their newly updated code includes the following guidelines:

1. Respect and promote practices that abide by an understanding that the consumer, not the marketer, is fundamentally in charge and in control and dictates the terms of the consumer-marketer relationship.

2. Openness and honesty between consumers and marketers requires that consumers engaged in a word-of-mouth programs disclose their relationships with marketers with other consumers and marketers disclose their relationships with consumers in relation to word-of-mouth initiatives.

3. Clear disclosure of identity is vital to establishing trust and credibility. Identification should not be blurred in a manner that misleads consumers as to the true identity of the individual with whom they are communicating.

4. Respect the privacy of consumer at all times and comply with the highest privacy, opt-in and permission standards.

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