An in-depth look at word of mouth marketing techniques.

I was invited to download this book for free as a member of BzzAgent, a word of mouth marketing company. BzzAgent is sort of like Early Reviewers, only with all sorts of products. I've mostly stuck to their book-related campaigns in the years I've been a member, but I've also discovered some other interesting products through the site.

The book is pretty interesting. It's evidently a sort of extended add for BzzAgent and for the marketing concepts Balter has developed, but I didn't find that that took too much away from the reading experience. Balter backs up his ideas with concrete examples of word of mouth marketing that's worked. Most of these are pretty modern, (ie, the iPhone and the hoopla that surrounded its release), but there are also a few older examples, (ie, the Grateful Dead). As is often the case with books that discuss marketing phenomena, I can see it reading as somewhat dated in a couple of years, but right now I found it very effective. I also found many of the stories pretty entertaining. I can see myself bringing up some of these examples in conversation.

The book is nicely organized. Balter begins by discussing some basic marketing concepts, then moves into a deeper discussion of word of mouth. He talks about its strengths, its weaknesses, and the ways companies can make it work for them. As a private individual, I do find it rather disconcerting to read about the ways companies try to manipulate consumers, but I don't think there was much, if any, emphasis on bilking people here. Balter emphasizes that word of mouth needs to be true. People can and should talk about what they liked about products, but they should also tell each other what they disliked. It's an interesting approach, and according to the author companies can benefit just as much from negative publicity as from positive endorsements. As long as people are talking, it's all good.

All in all, I found this worth reading. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in admin studies or marketing techniques. You can download it for free from this website.. ( )