Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

More than 6.5 million Americans regularly give word-of-mouth advice, according to research firm EMarketer.

The L.A. Times on Friday reported (with a measure of dismay) that smart marketers are taking advantage of the human instinct to be helpful by enlisting armies of what we at Nation Ranch call “advocates” to spread the gospel about their products.

According to the story, Procter & Gamble enlists more than 750,000 unpaid “connectors” to sample products and talk to their friends about them.  Each of these connectors receives coupons or sometimes the product itself to share with friends or family members.

Steve Knox, head of P&G’s word-of-mouth division, called Tremor, says that the typical connector will speak to approximately 25 people per day.

Recently, P&G sent samples of its Dawn Direct Foam dishwashing soap to a group of its connector moms, along with literature offering advice on how to promote the product as a fun way to get the kids interested in washing dishes.  The campaign increased sales of the product by 50 percent.

As social media gains momentum, this sort of advocacy takes on even larger meaning, as consumers will more routinely visit message boards, chat rooms and other networking sites to gather information and advice on products and services.

EMarketer estimates that by the year 2011, 20 percent of adult Internet users will be word-of-mouth “influencers,” whose advice will be actively sought by other consumers.

All of this may all sound very Malcolm Gladwell, but it all makes a lot of sense.