A. Guttmann
Research Lead covering media
Word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing and advertising – statistics & facts
Some brands can walk that walk, but can they talk that talk and be the talk of the town? That is the question word-of-mouth (WOM) efforts try to answer with a resounding 'yes,' as few other marketing channels offer such a platform for brand promotion. It assumes that, if more and more people chat about a novelty, their high awareness level will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and consumers will literally buy into it. During a 2023 survey, WOM emerged as internet users' leading source of brand discovery in the United States, reaching about 36 percent of respondents. For comparison, the shares of social media and mobile app advertisements stood slightly below 32 and 21 percent, respectively. While influencer marketing plays an increasingly relevant role in creating the ever-wished buzz, the art of turning a product or service into the name on everybody's lips entails omnichannel strategies combined with a deep understanding of target groups.
