Guideline - Elements of successful Word of Mouth / Viral Marketing

In this entry I will describe some of the aspects and elements that are necessary for successful word of mouth marketing.

Market research: What kind of word of mouth already exists about my company and products? What do customers and consumers say about my products, services and brands?

Reactive Management: Which of my customers are spreading negative word of mouth / talk negative about my products and brands? Why? What do I have to do in order to surprise my clients and customers so they transform there negative word of mouth into positive word of mouth?

Product policy: Which of my products have potential for creating word of mouth by themselves? How can I support and enhance this potential?

Communication policy: Does my communication have viral potential – do my messages spread from customer to customer? Do I use certain elements my advertising and communication that customers like to forward to each other and talk about? Is it easy for customers to send my marketing materials to other customers? Can Customers easily download and forward my advertising (posters, videos, audios, games….)? Do I incorporate the psychological elements of successful communication into my PR and advertising?

Customer Relationship Management: Do I know my satisfied customers? Do I know my most influential customers? Do I know, which opinions influence my market? Do I try to reach and bind these customers to my company?

Controlling: How to I measure the success of my activities? How can I recognize if word of mouth is improving or not? Do I know the Net Promoter Score (very important figure) of my company, my products and services? How can I improve my Net Promoter Score?

Advertising in Social Networks - Success or Failure??

Here is an interesting article about Social Networks and Advertising. Although many companies try very hard to use the different Social Networks like MySpace, Facebook or StudiVz (in Germany) for their advertising, only few of them really succeed with their approach.

"The truth about online ads is that precious few people actually click on them. And the percentage of people who respond to common "banner ads," the ubiquitous interactive posters that run in fixed places on sites, is shrinking steadily. The so-called click-through rate for those ads on major Web destinations such as Yahoo! (YHOO ), Microsoft (MSFT ), and AOL (TWX ) declined from 0.75% to 0.27% during 2006, according to Eyeblaster, a New York-based online ad serving and monitoring firm. It says that last March the average click rate on standard banner ads across the whole Web was 0.2%. This reflects a surge in new ads and Web pages, fueled by the rise in social networks."

In my opinion your success with these kinds of methods depends on your subtlety and your brand. If you only use aggressive advertising, you probably won't get very far (as hundreds of studies have shown us so far). If you combine your Strategy with professional PR, Stories that People want to talk about, a Brand that People want to be Part of and with your group of high involved Influentials - you will have probably better success in your marketing results.

Nike and Burger King - Two good examples for Word of Mouth Campaignes

I just want to mention two interesting marketing campaigns, which I noticed during the last 2 weeks.

The first campaign is from Nike and is focused on the creation of a special shoe for native Americans.
“… the Air Native N7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape of American Indians, and has a culturally specific look. It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost.”

The second campaign is from Burger King, which is currently promoting its new social networking community on the radio station NRJ. The interesting about this campaign is that Burger King combines offline Promotion (inside the Burger King Restaurants) with radio advertising (they got their own 4 hours show) and the Web 2.0 Social Networking Trend…

Both campaigns have some good word of mouth potential and could be used as cases studies for successful word of mouth / Viral marketing. I could go into the psychological and marketing details, but unfortunately I have no time ;->. I will go to Sofia / Bulgaria (from 21th till 28th) tomorrow and attend a another one of my intercultural trainings (I will also do some workshops there). If you want to reach me during this time, please write me an e-mail at: mathias-kraft@gmx.net. I will be back on the 29th.

Founder of BzzAgent talks about Word of Mouth / Viral Marketing

Dave Balter - the founder of BzzAgent talks on this video podcast about word of mouth marketing, viral relationships and the concept of BzzAgent.

Interesting for those people who want to get more into Word of Mouth Marketing and use its powerful potential for their Business.



Link: sevenload.com

What is Viral Marketing

This is a Report on Viral, Buzz and Word-of-mouth marketing on German television show nano, including statments from vm-people CEO Thomas Zorbach and Martin Oetting, consultant and researcher from ESCP-EAP.

Explains a little bit better what word of mouth is, my it is necessary and how you can use it for your Business.

Why Word of Mouth is important

Paul Marsden gives a short summary why Word of Mouth is important and why you should use it in your Business.

Person-to-Person Marketing – Time to use the Power of your customers

I was just reading a very interesting report of Dr. Sandeep Krishnamurthy. He has some really interesting insights about Open Source Marketing and Consumer Generated Media.

Although this report is from 2001, it has still a lot of valuable for the marketers of today (I think even more valuable then in 2001, because most of his hypothesis became true with the evolution of Web 2.0 and Consumer Generated Media).

For example - some of his facts are:

Fact 1: For most companies, the volume of customer-to-customer
interactions is greater than customer to employee interactions.
Fact 2: Consumers purchase decisions and shopping or service
experiences are routinely affected by other customers.
Fact 3: Consumers find the recommendation of a fellow consumer
more credible than the suggestion of a company employee.
Fact 4: Consumer-to-consumer relationships are ill-defined, hard
to control, constantly changing and organic.

If you look at the development of social networks like “Second Life”, MySpace or StudiVz or on the rise of technologies like video platforms, online games or Blogs you can find a lot of truth in his report.

The advertising misconception

I think this video illustrates quite well what is going on
in marketing and advertising right now - Enjoy.

To Blog or not to Blog: Key Questions for Marketers and Communications Professionals

Many companies have very simple questions: Should we have a blog? If so, what kind should it be? Who should maintain it? What should its purpose be? What will we use it for?

Before you start a blog and engage into Blog marketing – you should ask yourself these questions:

Are you willing to engage in a dialogue with your public?

What is your strategy for becoming an advocate with your consumers?

Does your company have a blog policy? If so, do your employees know about it?

Do your company’s employees contribute to blogs on your company’s Web site? On their own Web sites? Does your company have a policy about employees authoring their own blogs? Do employees know about such a policy?

Does your company’s communications agency have a blog strategy? Does the agency take blogs seriously? If it has a policy, do you know what it is? Has one been crafted for or presented to your company?

If your company has a blog, does anyone pay attention to how many hits it receives, who links to it and what kind of comments it receives?

Do you know how many times your company or brand was mentioned in blogs and in communication forums in the last year? Quarter? Month?

Does your company monitor blogs and online conversa­tions to determine what’s being said? Who handles the task, and how often? What kind of data is collected, and who receives it?

If your company monitors blogs and other online con­versations, does it also have a protocol for responding to negative information it finds? Who responds? What event(s) triggers such a response?

Does your company know whether existing consumers or critics—some of whom already might be in your customer database—are active bloggers or influential bloggers? (e.g., do you ask them questions about their blogging behavior when you interact with them in order to find out their level of blog activity?)

Do you understand the differences between the types of bloggers, e.g., credentialed media bloggers vs. consumer bloggers?

If financial analysts, media representatives and other outsiders are researching your company, do you know which blogs they consult?

When you launch a new product, event or campaign, does your company have a strategy for presenting the information to bloggers?

Because blogs are so easy to publish, has anyone determined whether certain elements of the blog-pub­lishing format should or could be easily adapted for your company Web site? • •

Are you willing to enter the world of blogging with honesty, frankness and humor? If you cannot get past “marketing speak” and defensiveness, then do not blog.

For more informations about these topics take a look at the Intelliseek site and the Keller Fay Group. I highly recommend their studies.

The Dont`s of Blogging in General

And here are the Don`ts - what not to do with Blogs or Bloggers...

Get drawn into a fight, especially if a blog contains information that makes you unhappy, nervous or angry. Do your best to respond with the truth, both on the blog and on your company’s Web site.

Alienate the blogging universe with unfounded criticism or slams.

Lie about who you are or post a “fake” blog that’s intended to serve as an advertising or marketing vehicle. You’ll be shot down almost as soon as you click on the “publish” or “post comment” link.

Be anonymous or pretend to be someone you’re not. They’ll find you out.

Use “seeding,” which is the practice where people who really don’t have a passion for your company, brand or issue are hired to promote it nonetheless. These seeding individuals and firms are paid to post comments or conversations on blogs and aren’t transparent about it.

Get wordy. Most blog posts are short on words and heavy with lots of links to other content.

Post a comment that sounds like an advertisement. If you’re engaging as a representative of your company or agency, identify yourself as such, offer to help or answer questions, and include links to Web sites, FAQ’s or other simple resources.

For more informations take a look at the Intelliseek / Nielsen Buzz Metrics site and their studies...

The Do`s of Blogging in General

I have taken this out of the Intelliseek study: Trust “Media” - How Real People Are Finally Being Heard. These are the "Does" - what a company should know about starting a Blog - thought it might be interesting ...

Be subtle, relevant and targeted when you engage with blogs and bloggers. Familiarize yourself with the writer’s subject, tone and style.

Keep a two-way relationship with the blogger…provide input, provide content, provide feedback.

Keep your blog postings and comments short and relevant.

Realize that whatever you post, or whatever comment you add to another’s blog, has the potential to be indexed by a search engine, such that it could become the first piece of content Internet users find when they search for your company, brand or the particular issue under discussion.

Tell the truth. It is best to get the truth out into the Blogosphere and keep attention focused on it if you think bloggers are unfairly spreading misinformation. Respond quickly, with the facts and with respect. Provide contact information for yourself or other people they can speak to or interview.

Understand that as “comment spam” increases, more blogs will place restrictions on commenting, either through required registration or filtering mechanisms that scan for spam before publishing comments.

Realize that timely purchases of keywords on Google AdWords Select or other paid search ad vehicles can be very effective very quickly (and sometimes are very inexpensive) if you get them at the moment of hatching.

Study shows – Blogs and Consumer Generated Media are the most trusted forms of word of mouth

Since I`m in the final stage of my thesis about Word of Mouth Marketing I wanted to share some interesting facts with you.

According to an recent Intelliseek study (and a lot of other studies too) Consumer Generated Media and Blogs are under the most trusted and influential forms of word of mouth.
On of the main reasons for this is, that people just trust other consumers more then companies…

For more informations – take a look at the Intelliseek site and look for the study:CGM 101

Connecting with Customers – What can companies do in order to drive business growth

Get a corporate Blog and do it professionally
 o Set up rules for Blogging in your company
 o Look at best practise Blogs, learn what is useful and would benefit your company – apply it

Measure & Manage your Net Promoter Score
 o what is your current Net Promoter Score
 o where are your strengths, where are your weaknesses
 o how is company positioned in comparison to your competitors
 o what strategies and tools can you apply in order to make it better

Get into the dialogue with your loyal customers
 o convert them into Brand Evangelists
 o Build a Database with their names & specific data
 o Communicate with them, build a relationship & give them benefits
 o use their potential

Integrate a customer feedback system (or a CRM) and make it easy for your customers to get in contact with you.

Focus your Service on customer satisfaction & customer Loyalty
 o studies have shown, that a god complain management can convert
    unsatisfied customers into  satisfied customers
 o Net Promoter Score says that the ratio of very satisfied customers vs.
     unsatisfied customers is a key metric  for your company’s growth –
     do you think this important?

Make use & encourage your Evangelists to create Consumer Generated Media (give them some Guidelines so they do it right)
 o help and encourage them (for example give them incentives,
     invite them into your company…)
     create a win– win situation for all parties

In short - Connect with your customers & build a community & use their potential

The Newbie Guide to Word of Mouth Marketing

Since I have started to write about Word of Mouth and its importance for Business Success, I get often asked – “So, you are the Business Psychologist, tell us what can we really do in order to make use out of this new developments in marketing and this word of mouth stuff?”

Here is the “Newbie Guide to Word of Mouth Marketing”:

1. get some of the popular books, studies and read some good Blogs about Word of Mouth, Viral Marketing,Web 2.0…
in order to get the basic understanding of the concepts and foundations of these areas (in the next weeks & months I will post something about the Word of Mouth Resources that were valuable for me)

2. find out the current situation in your company / NGO – how do you address word of mouth marketing:
    a. where is your potential – where are your strengths
    b. what is your USP – which tools and messages to you use to
         communicate it
    c. where are your weaknesses
    d. where do you want to be in 5 years / what do you want to reach
         at the strategic level
    e. what can you do increase your strengths and remove your
         weaknesses

3. next identify the things that you can do right now, the changes that have to be made in your company and the tools and strategies you want to use in order to drive growth

4. make these idea a priority in your top management (as with all important projects, the support & understanding of the top management is crucial)

Web 2.0 and Consumer Generated Media

Since Web 2.0 has started, it has become very easy for people to publish websites, write about their experiences with Brands, buzz about their opinions and promote their favourite products or to put up hate sites for companies they don’t like.

This so called Consumer Generated Media is becoming more and more powerful, since Google’s search algorithm makes it easy to find word of mouth at the top categories. The other fact is that people belief more in what other customers have to say about a brand, then what a brand has to say about itself with advertising (of course this is depended on how powerful your brand image is, but most of the time it is true). This makes it crucial for a brand to interact with its Influential Customers.

Just to give you a short list of Consumer Generated Media:
- Blogs enable everybody who can use the Internet to publish his / her own websites
- New mobile technology enables (mostly younger) customers to produce videos with almost no effort
- YouTube enables these people to publish their videos online
- Word of Mouth in Online Communities - before buying a product a lot of people look into the internet in order to see what users have to say about the product

Today Consumers are generating even more marketing messages then the companies itself. Companies have no other choice then to connect and communicate with their customers, otherwise the marketing will happen without them.

Ressources:
If you want to know more about CGM and how to manage it – take a look at the Blog.
Read about how Web 2.0 has changed Marketing.
There are some very interesting studies of the Keller Fay Group about Internet Word of Mouth and Consumer Generated Media - highly recommended.

The Net Promoter Score & why it is important for your Business

A lot of studies have shown, that what people say and think about your brand & company is directly related to the profit and sales your company makes. If people are talking negative word mouth about your brand, it is likely that your profits will be affected negative by that. If they talk positive about you, this will also be reflected in your sales.

There is a more or less new metric that explains this interesting Correlation, take a look at the Net Promoter Score by Fred Reichheld and Paul Marsdens Articles on Seed to Spread and Advocacy drives growth.

Some may argue – is that really true, do I really have to care what my customers think, can’t I just do my marketing and tell my customers what to think about my company and brand…?
Maybe this was true 60 or 70 years ago but since Web 2.0 the time has changed, people are connected now through tools like Blogs, Forums, Websites… and produce more marketing themselves then a company can do, this term is called Consumer Generated Media and it will play a leading role in future marketing.

Six degrees of separation @ Web 2.0

I was just checking the "Six degrees of separation" Theory for the Psychology Part of my Viral Marketing Thesis and encountered coincidently the Six Degrees Site of the Actor Kevin Bacon.

This site is a good example how you can use the possibilities of Web 2.0 for marketing your ideas and bringing it into different social networks. Through its structure (you can embed it into your Blog, put videos on it, donate money & tell it your friends...) and the celebrities advertising for it, the site has a good viral potential.