Power of WOM Marketing

Last week, Dan Killeen, our new associate who recently moved to Boston from a LA business venture capital firm, showed me this awesome site, Jetsetter. Jetsetter is part of the well known Giltgroup, a high end retail discount site to extend their offerings and enhance their competitive positioning.

So, as I mentioned, Dan told me this early Monday morning. I signed up and invited a few friends, having no idea if they ever joined or not. Tuesday afternoon, my colleague Emma was talking about how cool Jetsetter was and thanking me for showing it to her. I had not shown it to her. Devon, another colleague, had posted the link to Facebook, stating that I had discovered an awesome new travel site that she too wanted to share. Emma had seen it on Devon’s wall, while I didn’t even think she’d open the email yet! Wednesday, a $25 credit showed up in my account. Another friend had booked a vacation, and since I had “introduced” her to the site, I was rewarded.

These types of discount and loyalty sites are exploding right now. And not many of them are spending too much on advertising, but rather relying on WOM and inbound marketing.