Word-of-Mouth marketing may be the oldest form of
advertising but, as a marketing discipline, "WOM" is still
a relatively new phenomenon. Viral marketing, buzz
marketing, blogging, community marketing, customer
evangelism and other "consumer-to-consumer" techniques all
inspire people to recommend your product or service.
Properly executed, WOM marketing is an incredibly effective
weapon in your marketing arsenal, because the message comes
from a trusted source. The key ingredients of any
word-of-mouth marketing campaign are:
1. Giving people a reason to talk about you.
2. Making it easy for people to share information about you.
3. Engaging and energizing those people to spread the good
word.
Here are six steps to help you generate positive
word-of-mouth:
1. It starts with customer satisfaction
A happy customer is a potential advocate and an influencer.
An unhappy customer is even more powerful - one survey of
"customer rage" found that 85% of unhappy customers share
their bad experiences with others. If you don't have a good
story to tell, there's nothing pleasant to buzz about.
Measure your customer satisfaction by asking your clients
whether they would recommend you. This "customer loyalty"
metric can be the most important number you can track.
Learn how to apply it to your business with The Ultimate
Question by Fred Reichheld.
2. Give your customers a voice
Make it easy for customers to recommend your product or
service. Facilitate communication. Establish user groups,
fan clubs, message boards - anything that encourages
positive conversation about your business. Start by adding
a "tell-a-friend" component to your website with companies
like Tell-a-Friend Wizard or free services like bpath.com.
3. Find and equip your customer evangelists
These are the "sneezers," or influential customers who will
tell their friends about you. Think of them as your
superfans. Give them inside information and reward their
evangelism with recognition and support.
You can look for ideas and inspiration at the Viral & Buzz
Marketing Association. Learn more about "tech-fluentials"
and "mom-fluentials" at Burson-Marsteller's E-fluentials
site.
4. Join the blogosphere
Obviously, abusiness blog creates a two-way dialogue with
your customers and facilitates active discussion among your
fans. Blogs are the perfect tool to encourage open
communication and information sharing. If you haven't
already, you can build your own blog in minutes with
Blogger or TypePad, among others.
5. Listen and respond to feedback
Your blog also provides instant feedback from your
customers. Participate in the online conversation and take
the pulse of your supporters - and your detractors. Use
sites like FeedBurner to track and analyze your blog
traffic.
6. Keep it honest
Good word-of-mouth marketing is honest, transparent and
real. Stealth marketing, "shilling" and spam tactics are
unethical and should be avoided at all costs! The Word of
Mouth Marketing Association has taken a leadership role in
WOM ethics. Before you begin your efforts, refer to the
WOMMA Code of Ethics.
Don't limit your word-of-mouth efforts. Consider using
other forms of WOM such as cause marketing, referral
programs and product seeding. The most important thing to
remember is to turn your message into a story that is easy
to pass along. People don't repeat ad messages, they share
experiences. Go forth and spread the word!
----------------------------------------------------
Lou Bortone is an award-winning writer, marketer and
television producer who spent over 20 years in the
television industry, including several years as Senior Vice
President of Marketing & Advertising for Fox Family
Worldwide in L.A. Today, Lou specializes in helping
entrepreneurs create breakthrough video for the Internet.
Email Lou at lou@theonlinevideoguy.com or visit
http://www.theonlinevideoguy.com .
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