The other day I wrote about a word of mouth sequence that I'd witnessed (and participated in).

So I was interested to see Seth Godin's post about how hard it is to get word of mouth marketing going.

This made me think about why the people I know talk about products (the story from the previous post is certainly not an isolated example).

My friends talk about the products they like and enjoy recommending exceptional products to each other. It's a way of pooling knowledge and, honestly, people bond around this.

To take a trivial example, if your friend can tell you where the good hand lotion is, you don't have to try six different brands and waste time and money. This generates a certain amount of gratitude, and, if the hand lotion is good, then it's more likely you'll trust your friend's recommendation in future.

It does take an exceptional product, though, to generate this sort of discussion. To take an example at random, tooth floss is almost never a source of conversation. The product itself has to be worth talking about.

And this may be Godin's point. Give people a reason to talk about your product, whether it's because it's an exceptional product, it's promoted by brilliant marketing, or has some other remarkable quality, and your marketing will be that much easier.