This article written by Diarmaid Byrne, Editor, STQ, was published in issue 06 of Social Technology Quarterly. Summary: The consumer generated megaphone gives insights into what consumers really feel about a brand, which should be a focal point for brands.

1. Kuliza
Obsolence
The traditional purchase funnel that drove
advertising and marketing strategies, tactics,
and budgets is obsolete. No longer can
companies rely on targeting as many people
as possible, knowing that a percentage of
them will filter down the funnel and ultimately
purchase the product. What has changed is
that the consumer - and fans in particular - is
now a larger influencer on purchase decisions
than advertisers. It is more important for
brands to focus on the consumer generated
‘megaphone’ than solely on the purchase
funnel, and evolve ways for their customers
and fans to advocate products and services.
The
Consumer
Generated
Funnel
Word of Mouth Marketing
Forecast 2003 – 2013
2003: $313m
2004: $487m
2005: $722m
2006: $981m
2007: $1351m
2008: $1543m
2009: $1701m
2010: $1918m
2011: $2204m
2012: $2572m
2013: $3043m
Sentiment expressed by
word-of-mouth marketing:
66% of brand-related conversations
are mostly positive
8% of brand-related conversations
are mostly negative
The driving forces of
purchase decisions:
54% word-of-mouth
47% information on a website
42% email sent by a friend
31% online reviews
Commerce
by Diarmaid Byrne
Illustration Credit: Amit Mirchandani

2. Social Technology Quarterly 06
References
Conroy, Pat, and Anupam Narula. “A new
breed of brand advocates: Social networking
redefines consumer engagement.” Deloitte
Development LLC,n.d.Web.15 Oct 2012.
Jackie, Huba.“14 new statistics about word of
mouth marketing.” Church of Customer. N.p.,
17 2011.
“Word-of-Mouth Spending to Reach $3
Billion by 2013.”Marketing Charts.PQ Media,
07 2009.
“Consumers Believe in Positive Word-of-
Mouth.” eMarketer 02 12 2010.
Credibility of advocates:
59% of Americans believe offline
WOM to be highly credible
49% of Americans believe online
WOM to be highly credible
Compared to negative WOM,
positive WOM is more than twice as
likely to get people to seek further
information.
Less than 50% of respondents
deem negative WOM as credible
Main activities of brand
advocates:
1. Recommending verbally
2. Payingmore for this than
other brands
3. Purchasing favorite brand
multiple times when on sale
4. Sharing the product /
coupons with others
5. Searching for coupons in
store circulars
6. Searching for special offer
coupons online