Scott Davila + cute baby

Damon Ragusa

We recently reached out to some thought leaders in the word of mouth and social media realm about topics that will be presented and discussed at School of WOM, May 9-11.

Today, two thought leaders answer our questions on storytelling, offline WOM, and brand culture. They are Scott Davila, VP & B2B Team Leader at CRT-Tanaka; and Damon Ragusa, President & CEO at ThinkVine Corporation.

“Storytelling” seems to be the latest buzz word in word-of-mouth and social media marketing today, do you see this as just a fad or a sustainable movement?

Scott: Brands are created by stories over time. So storytelling isn’t a fad, but a much needed focus and emphasis on using social media to build a brand. Whereas pre-Internet, storytelling was in the hands of marketers, social networks have changed the game by putting the role in the consumers hands. The key for brands is to empower them by delivering an exceptional experience that inspires them to share their stories (i.e. Zappos).

Damon: Storytelling is a critical part of the marketing analytics function.  One could argue that good marketing research and analytics is about combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to a story.  For that reason I believe it’s not a fad but maybe a little hype.  It’s the marketers way of saying “stop giving me a bunch of numbers and statistics and tell me what to do with it.”

With such a heavy emphasis on online and digital tactics these days, what can marketers do to focus on their offline touch points?

Scott: Marketers should focus more on improving the customer experience. In this recent survey, it’s clear that word of mouth via social media, product review sites, etc. where consumer share their experiences is what drives business results.

Damon: Marketers should do nothing different.  Online, digital, traditional media…these are all just labels.  Eventually everything will be just “media” again and we can get back to what we do.  The focus should be on understanding the collective impact of every spend…not just the last click or things that can be easily counted.  Not just focusing on the individual silos or what the media and blogosphere happens to be blabbering about this week.

What are your thoughts on the future of word-of-mouth and social media marketing as it relates to brand culture within an organization?

Scott: Word of mouth and social media marketing requires organizations to create a culture that puts the customer first. A customer-centric culture empowers an organization and its employees to deliver an exceptional product/service, which in turn will inspire consumers to share their positive experiences with others.

Damon: Obviously the explosion of social media platforms and the adoption of social media by people has opened it up as a significant vehicle for communicating a brand to a community.  It cannot be understated how significant the change has been in a short period.  But social media is a part of the overall WOM strategy.  So tactically I see brands that take a similar course around activating WOM campaigns as they do with social media platforms as the ones that have the best success factor.  That, and, continuing to focus an integrated brand message across all vehicles.

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About the Authors

Scott is Vice President and leader of the agency’s business-to-business (B2B) marketing team. He has more than 12 years of public relations and marketing experience in the fields of B2B marketing, strategic planning, brand development, sales communications, social marketing and media relations.

As President & CEO of ThinkVine, Damon Ragusa shapes the company’s strategy, product direction and is responsible for overall performance. An accomplished entrepreneur and marketing technologist, Damon has successfully transitioned ThinkVine from a custom solutions consultancy into a software-as-a-service enterprise in the marketing optimization space.