Sam Decker, the former e-marketing guru of Dell.com and the author/editor of 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas has recently make a return to his roots in an Internet startup, Bazaarvoice.com, a word-of-mouth marketing company. Bazaarvoice obtained a $4M round of funding to boot!

You can get all of the official speak here, but for the real juice, checkout the interview that I conducted with Sam, or one that he recently did with Jennifer Rice over at Brand Mantra (among others).

Interview questions for Sam Decker.

Q. Sam, I find it interesting that word-of-mouth marketing firms are getting funding. I don't see other startup ad agencies or marketing firms getting funding, to what do you attribute this trend?

That the problem which word of mouth solves is getting larger, and the solutions and their acceptance are getting more mature. Customers are overloaded with information and choice. I don't see either of those abating. The only place to turn is each other. The marketing model is changing. Marketing will become less about selling and more about helping people buy and providing relevant and credible information to make those decisions. Those come from word of mouth, for lack of a less hyped term!

Q. Word-of-mouth is an almost pre-historic form of marketing - why all the hype now? What happened?

The "Web", in its broadest sense, has hit mainstream. Evidence of this is Walmart.com was the big growth story this holiday season. Web 1.0 was rehearsal, and a lot of people dropped out of audition (I was part of three of those companies :-). Now, eCommerce and social networking tools (including blogs) are connecting us exponentially faster than early forms of word of mouth. In addition, its becoming more and more measureable with maturing solution and online metrics. And finally, the emergence of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) has amplified the topic.

Q. Word-of-mouth is typically seen as a B2C tactic, but I'm a B2B marketer. What WOM wisdom does Bazaarvoice have for B2B marketers on the subject of WOM marketing?

First, we all Cs in our B roles. Even in B2B purchases, we buy on emotion and justify with fact. "Fact" could be recommendations from colleagues, or what you hear about a product or company reputation. The question is how does the word of mouth information flow. The key is to put a system or environment in place where it is convenient and motivating to share opinions with other customers. This could absolutely occur on a B2B web site...in fact, for many B2Bs they have highly motivated and passionate users of their product (i.e. experts) that want to share their opinion. Not only on the purchase decision and quality, but on the uses and realized benefits too.

Q. Are you thinking of writing another book, Sam, perhaps one on WOM marketing?

If I write more Q&As, maybe I'll have enough content! I'm focused on making Bazaarvoice a great company right now. From this experience, working with a large set of clients on a best-in-class marketing platform, I'm sure there's some valuable learning. In the meantime, I'll be posting what I learn on my blog at www.deckermarketing.com

Q. It's interesting that you're moving from such an operationally efficient, large company as Dell (who has struggled with word of mouth on blogs) to Bazaarvoice - a startup focused on a highly mysterious form of marketing. Any thoughts on the contrast of these two experiences, and how highly-meterics and efficient companies can improve their business with word of mouth.

This is what is so exciting for me. There is a deep gorge between the day to day business operations and the democracy and ambiguity of word of mouth. We're creating a bridge between these two cliffs with tools, systems, processes and metrics to bring word of mouth closer to a company's online experience. Once it's part of the operations, and you can see results, you can't ignore and you can start to optimize. This is where companies like Dell do very well (rhyme not intended).

Q. Out of the gate, can you give us a glimpse of what do your first 90 days will look like - both personally and as a company?

In addition to company launch activities (PR, speaking, shows, web site, etc.), I'll be spending a lot of time with clients and prospects. I had the fortunate experience of running consumer Dell.com for several years, but I won't base our product roadmap on these assumptions. We are 100% client focused, and our clients will be collaborative partners in developing the best-in-class word of mouth services. I'll also be writing more on my blog (we'll also create a Bazaarvoice blog) to share what we learn.

Q. What's unique about Bazaarvoice that separates from the other WOM marketing purveyors out there?

First, we can narrow our definition to product-based word of mouth, not viral or buzz campaigns. And narrow our purpose to enabling and creating word of mouth. After that, we're totally unique! :-)

Our purpose is to enable and amplify customer conversations that may otherwise be happening to a less extent. We are a fully managed solution, bringing to bear technology, bandwidth, services, analytics and expertise to make it easy and cost effective. Our founders have years of experiencing building technology and services for the top brands in online retail and ecommerce, and I have years of being an online retailer. Moreover, we are all metrics- and result-oriented. So, all that to say is 'we get it'. We'll soon launch our full story, and you'll see our early clients are getting it too!

If you're an online retailer interested in learning more, you can email sam at sam [at] bazaarvoice dot com.

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