Each day, millions of consumers venture online to search and exchange product information and to seek out and share opinions. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has been shown to influence consumer actions across a variety of industries (King, Racherla, and Bush 2014). A significant portion of eWOM occurs on social media platforms. Whether it is a status update to Facebook of an upcoming vacation, a picture of a laundry room makeover on Pinterest, or a YouTube video discussing the features on the new iPhone, consumers are turning to a variety of social platforms to make everyday purchasing decisions easier for themselves and others. Indeed, social word of mouth (sWOM)—a subset of eWOM—has incredible reach with the potential to influence over two billion active social media consumers. The purpose of this book is to examine the influence of sWOM and provide guidance on how to operationalize its growing power. The goal of this book is to bring together industry best practices and academic research to help construct social media content that speaks with your brand voice, stimulates engagement, inspires consumers to share (#share), and complies with industry and federal guidelines. Each chapter highlights a key area of sWOM that will further your understanding and provide actionable information to assist you in mobilizing positive sWOM for your company.
