← DictionaryWord of Mouth
also called WOM
People recommending a business to each other unprompted.
People telling each other about you.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Word of Mouth lives under Marketing — Channels. The working definition is simple: people recommending a business to each other unprompted.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
Word of Mouth comes up in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It is usually discussed together with Earned Media and Brand Trust. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Getting Word of Mouth wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a way of thinking, not a thing you can hold. People telling each other about you.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Word of Mouth as shorthand and expect no explanation — people recommending a business to each other unprompted.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: people telling each other about you.
The Bottom Line
Keep Word of Mouth plain: people telling each other about you. That is the version that holds up in a real project.