social-media-mafia1

Barcamps are great to exchange ideas with fellow professionals you would never otherwise met. Around 40 marketing professionals braved the rain to attend Media Camp London #2 last Saturday. The interesting Twitter chatter that took place on the day can be found right here.

One of the sessions I took part in, led me to think about the differences between WOM and digital PR, and this post attempts to identify the subtle nuances between both disciplines.

WOM, is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. Word of mouth marketing which emcompasses a variety of sub-categories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programmes, work with consumer generated media and more.

Source: Wikipedia


WOM Marketing campaigns tend to include the biggies;  influencer marketing i.e. blogs  integrated with Twitter, Flickr, FriendFeed and sometimes social networks such as Facebook which all play a distinctive role as part of an integrated social media campaign.

The aim of WOM marketing to influence the online decision-making process and ultimately lead to purchase.

Assume I am in the market for a new Skypephone – as an Internet addict, I would probably use resources such as 3mobilebuzz to find out about the the service and mobile phone reviews. Reading about people’s experiences about a mobile phone or a provider is likely to influence my decision.

WOM Marketing is therefore a long-term effort that aims to create a community of brand ambassadors, who are promoting a brand and influencing other consumers with their reviews.

I see Digital PR, on the other hand, as a short-term strategic effort.

Digital  public relations, or interactive PR, is the use of Internet tools and technologies such as search engines, Web 2.0 social bookmarking, new media relations, blogging and social media marketing. Interactive PR allows companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying solely on mainstream publications and communicate directly with the public, customers and prospects.

Source: Wikipedia


Digital PR is well -suited – probably more so than advertising – to handle whatever programs a company or brand launches in the Web 2.0 space;  PR practitioners are well-versed in managing conversations.

Digital PR practitioners can be compared to brand image consultants - they interact with influencers and online communities, listen to consumers and respond to them.

In terms of execution, Digital PR campaigns tend to place greater emphasis on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or Bebo. Engaging communities via social networks is much harder than engaging bloggers who are constantly active online which is the reason why I see digital PR a short-term strategic effort.

What are your thoughts on this? I’d really love to generate a debate on the topic :)