Forrester Research Unveils "Word of Mouth Platforms" Report during Word of Mouth Marketing Summit

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Nov. 3, 2015 - PRLog -- Forrester Research announced its new "Word of Mouth Platforms" report at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's industry summit this morning.  This new Forrester report (https://www.forrester.com/Vendor+Landscape+WordOfMouth+Platforms/fulltext/-/E-res120907) focuses on technology platforms related to social media and consumer-to-consumer brand advocacy.

In an address called "How to Fix Word of Mouth Marketing,” during a meeting of more than 300 leading brand marketers, marketing agencies, vendors and social platforms, lead author and Forrester VP Nate Elliott, put blame on both vendors and brand buyers for the industry falling short of its potential. While citing research that shows word of mouth is highly trusted and drives brand discovery across categories, he criticized brands for under-resourcing word of mouth. He blamed marketers and vendors for not taking their marketing practices in the space seriously enough as evidenced by a proliferation of ill-timed hashtag hijacking and "post and pray" social media tactics. But most of all, Mr. Elliot said "measurement is a mess," decrying the use of inflated statistics to justify spending by marketers.

"Forrester is shining a much-needed light on the obstacles to the growth of our industry. While emphasizing the enormous commercial opportunity in the word of mouth space, Forrester challenges vendors and clients alike to raise our game to deliver our full potential," said Suzanne Fanning, WOMMA President.  "Forrester is correct that too many vendors and brands are using misleading or unhelpful numbers to justify budget requests.  Our Brand members' C-suites are not being fooled, and we don't want anything to lead to distrust in what we do."

WOMMA has worked on a new set of measurement guidelines with the Media Ratings Council and other leading organizations to help begin to solve this issue. Those guidelines will be released later this month.

The Return on WOMM (https://wommaorg.wufoo.com/forms/s1komypa0lsssi7/) (https://wommaorg.wufoo.com/forms/s1komypa0lsssi7/) market mix modeling study commissioned by WOMMA last year, and cited by Elliott today, estimates that word of mouth delivers $6 trillion in consumer sales annually. "With that kind of impact, there's no need to exaggerate our results. They speak for themselves," says Fanning.

ABOUT WOMMA

WOMMA, http://www.womma.org, is the official trade association for the word of mouth and social media marketing industries. The national, not-for-profit organization is committed to developing and maintaining appropriate ethical standards for advertisers engaging in such marketing practices, identifying meaningful measurement standards for such marketing practices, and defining "best practices" for the industry.

Founded in 2004, WOMMA's membership is made up of the most innovative and creative companies committed to advancing the word of mouth marketing industry through advocacy, education, and ethics.

For press inquiries, contact:

Suzanne Fanning
President of WOMMA
P: 1-312-577-7610
E: suzanne@womma.org