Highly recommended : harnessing the power of word of mouth and social media to build your brand and your business

Reach more customers and grow your business with today's most powerful marketing tool: Word-of-Mouth Highly Recommended shows the impact of customer recommendations on businesses—transforming how people buy, how you reach customers, how you improve products, and ultimately how you can grow your company by leveraging the power of recommendations. It explains why word-of-mouth recommendations are marketing's "holy grail," how to get people talking, who gives recommendations, where recommendations occur, what it takes to build a recommendable brand, and how to instill WOM into every aspect of a business and at the center of any marketing mix. Paul M. Rand is the founder, President and CEO of Zócalo Group, one of the world's leading word of mouth and social media marketing agencies and one of the fastest growing companies inside Omnicom Group, the 2nd largest global advertising and marketing holding company. He also serves at the Chief Digital Officer for Ketchum, a leading global communications firm. What do you trust more - an advertisement or a friend? Seize the power of today's most powerful marketing tool--WORD OF MOUTH According to Nielsen, 92 percent of consumers report that a word of mouth (WOM) recommendation is the top reason they buy a product or service. The founder of one of today's most successful digital and social marketing firms, Paul M. Rand has been at the forefront of WOM marketing since social media and smartphones began revolutionizing the way we do business. In Highly Recommended, Rand reveals how customer recommendations in the digital space have radically transformed the way people buy--which means you need to come up with new methods to reach customers and improve your products. Highly Recommended provides everything you need to seize the competitive edge and grow your company. With WOM success stories from Stew Leonard's, Red Robin, Frito-Lay, Kimberly-Clark, Amazon, and other industry leaders, Highly Recommended puts you on the fast track to taking control of the dialogue about your business thatʼs already taking place. You have instant access to just about everything your customers are saying about you. You can't afford not to take advantage of this opportunity. And you can bet that your competition is working on it right now. The power of WOM can't be overstated. It's the most important marketing tool today. Apply the lessons of one of the pioneers of word of mouth marketing to ensure that your brand is Highly Recommended. -- From the publisher. Foreword / by Margo Georgiadis, President, Americas, Google Introduction : living a recommendable life Preface Word of mouth recommendations : marketing's holy grail Stew Leonard's and the 30 minute recommendation Why Angie and her list are worth $650 million Fixing what advertising has broken A whole new model for a whole new world The power of positive recommendations Where, how and why we recommend Some recommendations are more valuable than others : the influencer ecosystem and the Oprah effect The roadmap to recommendations Know : understanding where and how your brand and your competitors are talked about and recommended Plan : developing a recommendable brand strategy, articulating your sharable story Identify : discover those people whose recommendations influence your brand's purchase decisions Activate : creating compelling content and experiences that engage the 90/10 rule Protect : identifying and neutralizing "hear me's", "reputation terrorists" and "competitive destroyers" Beyond marketing : operationalizing recommendations Customer service that gets you recommended Becoming the most recommended place to work (HR) Creating products and offerings your customers tell you they will buy (Product Innovation/R & D) Built by recommendations : tying it all together.