Definition:

A marketing method that relies on casual social interactions to promote a product.

Information:

This method has been in place even before the advent of the Internet and is hyped as the most effective marketing form. A person is more likely to believe something that comes from a person he knows or respects instead of a canned source like commercials and print ads.

A traditional promotion campaign for a concert tour would entail the distribution of fliers, filming of TV commercials, and publishing print ads in newspapers. However, word-of-mouth advertising has become even more powerful with the advent of online social networks. To cite a good example, late-night TV host Conan O’Brien was able to sell out ALL of the tickets in ALL of his concert venues just by sending out a single tweet. This then got retweeted on Twitter and shared on other social networks. The concert tour was held in mid-2010, just a few weeks after he was axed at NBC. Because of word-of-mouth, brand awareness for “Conan O’Brien” spread like wildfire – and it only took 140 well-crafted characters.