12 best books on word of mouth marketing

Word of mouth marketing is the oldest, most cost-effective and effective way to generate customers and grow any business.

Despite its importance, word of mouth is somewhat underrepresented in the business book genre. In working on our own book of word of mouth, co-author Daniel Lemin and I spent hundreds of hours reviewing existing literature on the subject, both business books and academic literature.

I was asked for referrals, so I finally sat down and wrote down my list of word of mouth marketing books. my favorite this. Note that while there are other good books on word of mouth, this list represents books that I personally enjoy more. Your distance may vary.

In addition, there are many other books on business and marketing related to word of mouth or its components but not ABOUT word of mouth. . I have some notes on that at the end.

Hey 12 best word-of-mouth marketing books in alphabetical order by title. Links are not affiliate links.

Released 10 years ago, this hit by Emanuel Rosen remains the standard of the genre.

Probably the best book ever on tribalism and customer community stimulation. The case studies in this book are legendary. Authors Robbin Phillips, Geno Church, Spike Jones, and Greg Cordell are still driving the WOMM conversation, more than 8 years later. Also, check out the Phillips and Cordell sequel: Passion Dialogue .

This book by Wharton Professor Jonah Berger is possibly an all-time bestseller focusing on the subject of word of mouth. This is an engaging book that combines popular culture case studies with scholarly research. Also looking for the sequel: Invisible influence .

Making things more observable makes them easier to imitate, which makes them more likely to become popular.

Create Evangelizers for Customers

Great case studies in this one, including longstanding word-of-mouth successes like Southwest Airlines, Krispy Kreme, and Build -A-Bear Workshop. Authors Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell put a lot of heart into this book and coined the term “evangelizing clients.” It was released to excellent reviews, including on The New York Times .

Quote of the killer:

We are drowning in a sea of media and information overload. In a world with so many choices, how do people make decisions? By relying on trusted friends, colleagues or family members. In the new world of marketing, evangelists serve as key influencers for future customers.

Face-to-Facebook

Written by Ed Keller and Brad Fay (formerly of KellerFay Group and now part of EngagementLabs) this book debunks the notion that social media IS word of mouth. Research documented here shows that in 2012, 90% of all word of mouth communication took place offline, not online. And even today, word of mouth is still 50% offline, according to their latest data.

Quote the killer:

The most successful businesses of the future will be those that adopt a model that puts people – instead of technology – at the center of their products, campaigns, and market strategies. They will realize that people have a much larger impact on each other than we previously realized, and that consumers are more than just a collection of individuals.

Fizz

Ted Wright has probably achieved more as a word of mouth marketing practitioner than any other living person. Fizz tells the inside story of how Ted and his team transformed seemingly “meh” brands in beer, dairy, and vacuumed developers by word of mouth. A must-read for anyone serious about the subject.

Quote of the killer:

Made to Stick

Made to Stick is not really a classic word of mouth and can instead be seen as one of the catalysts for the modern phenomenon of “business storytelling.” But as one of the best-selling marketing books ever, this book by Chip and Dan Heath (their other books are also excellent) is a cornerstone text in the word-of-mouth world. . Don't try to run a business without reading it.

Quote of the killer:

What is important to people? People are important to themselves. It should come as no surprise that a reliable way to get people interested is to invoke self-interest.

Purple beef

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Seth Godin is almost 20 bestsellers on marketing and business, this book remains among my two favorites (along with Marketing allowed ). Purple Cow not really for word of mouth, at least not in the sense of acting like Fizz or Chat trigger . But this is an important book on positioning, almost impossible to get by word of mouth without embracing this book. If you like Blue Ocean Strategy but if you want to be really entertained, read this (and Difference mentioned below).

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Referral tool

Word of mouth is often seen as something that consumer-oriented companies must have but is optional (at most) for B2B companies. The flip side is the truth. In B2B, word of mouth is often referred to as a “referral”. There are a few differences in the mechanics here (see my articles on proactive and reactive word of mouth for an illustration) but the reality is that the data shows that ~50% of ALL purchases are influenced by word of mouth, but 91% of B2B purchases are influenced by word of mouth.

This book by John Jantsch (everything he writes is worth your time) talks about the mechanics of how to make your business famous, truly “word of mouth, with more structure” .”

A more recent book on the same subject is also outstanding Clear Win by Steve Woodruff.

Quote of the killer:

The hypothalamus loves validation – it registers the joy of doing good and being recognized for it, and is where the need to belong to something bigger than ourselves is. This is the social motivation to generate referrals. Physiologically, humans are wired to make referrals. That's why so many businesses can grow and thrive just by using this business building strategy.

Chat trigger

My Project with Daniel Lemin is the most recent of these, and we are standing on the shoulders of giants. In fact, we interviewed almost every author mentioned here because Talk Trigger and we simply wouldn't have a book without their work.

What Talk Trigger in addition to oral literature is a SYSTEM, a proven methodological framework for how to create, test, deploy, and measure word of mouth. We also include a very diverse collection of case studies from B2C and B2B; from small and large businesses; and from US and global companies, to ensure that all readers can see how Talk Trigger applies to them.

To know more about Chat Trigger System please visit TalkTriggers.com where we have lots of useful, free resources. And of course, if we can help you create victory word of mouth strategy for your company, please contact .

Quote the killer:

Humans are now powerful in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. This is why the time to enable chat has never been better – or more necessary. The ability of businesses to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and corporate loyalty is becoming as fragile as a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this change, aiming to create a point of difference that helps customers tell authentic, engaging, believable stories about your business and its products or services. Karma; Stories generate new customers through referrals and recommendations.

Tipping point

In some ways, the grandfather of them all. Malcolm Gladwell's book on maven and its connectors changed the language of marketing and communication forever and transitioned into pop culture. One of the most important marketing books last 30 years, Tipping point is mandatory for all business owners and managers.

In the same way that Purple Cow and Infectious are great companions to Activate chat , Limit point Great combination with Fizz .

Killer Quote:

In other words, there is more than one way to introduce an epidemic. Epidemiology is a function of the carriers of the infectious agent, the infectious agent itself, and the environment in which the infectious agent is active. And when an epidemic breaks out, when it's knocked out of equilibrium, it explodes because something happened, some change happened in one (or two or three) regions. there. These three agents of change I call the Law of the Few, the Fixed Factor, and the Power of Context.

Word of mouth

A popular and powerful book that explores why word of mouth is important, its key drivers and functions, and how to make it work for business. Great examples from Andy Sernovitz, one of the founding members of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. This book is considered an important read, even years after it was first published.

(listen to my conversation with Andy on the My Social Expert podcast)

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