I have to admit that I am a “Twilighter,” (i.e., a Twilight saga fan). I heard about the books through a friend’s sister and proceeded to read them, enjoy them and insist that my friends read them and be amazed. This trend started me thinking about how underground art forms including music and literature can become mainstream through word of mouth.
Stephenie Meyer, like J.K. Rowling, did not start out with a famous connection or prestigious degree from an Ivy-league university. She simply had an amazing idea that she crafted into a story with her excellent writing skills, and a small fan base was born. Years later, MTV is supporting her upcoming independent film adaptation of the first novel, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. So how did all of this happen without a massive public relations budget from the get-go?
Word of mouth is powerful. Who do we trust more than the people in our own lives? As I mentioned in my post about charity: water, our personal connections are the strongest. That is why word of mouth is such a powerful tool in public relations. It draws from the strongest network our stakeholders have and resounds with personal touch points.
Word of mouth is also budget-friendly. In fact, much of the success of social media tactics lies in word of mouth through social media. I just became a supporter of Barack Obama on Facebook because I saw through recent updates that one of my friends had joined the group as well. All of the information we receive through our social networking tools comes from those we choose to connect with. Social media is, in a way, electronic word of mouth.
Public relations practitioners from all industries can appreciate this tactic. For those in technology, it is the words of analysts they trust. For those in consumer products, it is the magazine editors and friends of stakeholders that spread a product’s popularity through their own positive reviews. Our stakeholders can act as publicists because they know their audience better than anyone else through personal friendships and networks.
So, anyone want to borrow my copy of Twilight?
