Small Talk

May 10, 2010 »

Time to go back to school!

Question: Isn’t word of mouth the same as social media?

Answer: No, it’s not.

When I joined HealthTalker, everything I knew about word of mouth marketing (WOM) was from my marketing class textbook. But I learned quickly that WOM is not about free products, rewards, Facebook or Twitter. It’s about people. According to MarketingProfs, 80% of people trust family members whom they see in-person, and in-turn, trust their recommendations!

At HealthTalker, we design and implement WOM programs for pharmaceutical and biotech companies - it’s our sweet spot. We consider our programs to be innovative and we believe we are the best at what we do. But how do we stay the best? If you sit back and rely only on what you once knew, you will be left behind. We plan to stay on top by constantly developing our platform and programs, using best practices and learning from others’ experiences.

On May 23rd I will be attending School of WOM in Chicago. I expect to connect, contribute, and collaborate with course instructors and industry peers. HealthTalker recognizes how important it is to attend these types of events. The conference floor may have taken a hit in recent years, but the opportunity for a WOM refresher and for making a new connection keeps these events alive and buzzing.

I doubt I’ll be the only person traveling from Boston to Chicago. WOMMA has built an impressive roster of speakers including Boston-based Hubspot’s Mike Volpe, BzzAgent’s Dave Balter (WOMMA co-founder) and Boston Market’s Gretchen Paules. There are some other lesser-known companies like Google, Coca-Cola and Yahoo also speaking! 

While there are a number of sessions on my must attend list - The Discovery Channel, Dan Heath (co-author of Made to Stick), the International Olympic Committee and Kodak’s theory of “The 4 E’s” - I’m most excited about one that was recommended by a friend (WOM in action!). My good friend Emily Murphy works closely with Love146, an organization fighting to abolish child sex slavery. Their CEO, Rob Morris, will be delivering a keynote that I won’t be missing. 

For more on School of WOM or WOMMA, check out www.womma.org.

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