Day 10 – Marketing Arsenal

It has been said that “sticks and stones break my bones but words will never hurt me”.   In business this is far from the truth for words are what make or break a business.

In marketing there is something called a “buzz.”   The best way to describe this phenomenon is to picture a beehive and the buzzing sound and hundreds of worker bees are busy doing what they need to do to get the job done for the Queen and for the hive.

Your clients and your  community are your worker bees.  While they may not specifically be on your payroll, do not underestimate that fact that people are either working for you and your business or working against you and your business.

Word of Mouth marketing is the passing of information by verbal methods by personal recommendations.   We all have participated in this in one way or another whether we realized it or not.

Someone asks us if we know a great Chinese restaurant – we give a name of a business.   We have just participated in Word of Mouth marketing.    We talk about a new commercial for a vehicle, or an advertisement for deodorant or perhaps dog food that we can’t stand – we have just participated in Word of Mouth marketing as even a negative expression generates interest.

If the person we are talking to has never seen the commercial or advertisement or has never heard of the product we have referenced what is the first thing they are going to do?   They are going to specifically look for that particular commercial, the certain advertisement we have referenced and they are going to watch and listen to see what we have seen and experienced to gauge whether or not they feel the same way as we do.

While many think that controlling or even influencing what people say is impossible this is not true.  As we understand Word of Mouth marketing both in its artificial as well as its naturally-generated forms we can understand better how to make this essential tool work for us and not against us.

Artificial Word of Mouth Marketing

You may not have realized it but not all word of mouth marketing happens spontaneously and without coxing or incentive-based encouragement.    In fact, there are some forms of word of mouth marketing that are carefully and meticulous planned, paid for and promoted using means that some might find unethical.

Regardless of what we believe should be or should not be, the world of marketing is influenced by many forms of artificial Word of Mouth Marketing including:  Stealth Marketing or Astroturfing.

Stealth Marketing

As the name implies – stealth marketing is marketing that a consumer does not know exactly where it came from.   It seemingly comes out of nowhere and the source of its initial promotion is unclear or unknown.  All a potential consumer knows is that someone they admire or respect such as their favorite actor or celebrity is endorsing the product or service.

Think about some of the commercials you have watched on TV for life insurance or diabetes or medical testing supplies that have featured a celebrity on it and in the small print at the bottom you see a disclosure “paid endorsement” or “compensated product endorser.”

What this business is trying to do is eliminate any possibility of being associated with stealth marketing by making you aware that the person saying the positive things about their company is being paid to do so.   A stealth marketing campaign would employ those in positions of influence, pay them to say something nice about a product or service and NOT disclose that information to you.   This is not a consumer-friendly form of marketing as it takes advantage of customer trust and loyalty.

Astroturfing or Green Marketing

How many of us have looked at the reviews for a particular book on Amazon.com or a perhaps what people are saying about a movie, a car, or a new software program and let someone else’s opinion – whether we knew them or not – influence our decision?

If we are honest, we all have.    We want to see what others are saying, how a product helped them or vice versa and we translate their benefits into one thought, “How will this help me?”

Business owners who use astroturfing take advantage of customer trust and loyalty and abuse this falsely paying people to say or write positive things about their product on blogs, message boards, websites, and more to artificially inflate the marketing influence of a product or service.

In light of the reality of artificial word of mouth marketing being utilized – how do we protect ourselves and our clients?

1.     Never pay for people to say nice things about you, your products or your services.

If you have a great product or service – you won’t have to pay anyone to say positive things about you.  They will naturally want to share the details of their “good deal” or “great new product” with their friends and family.   The best things in word of mouth marketing are free – because the authenticity of praise is backed up by a superior product or service that will let you build your business over the long term and facilitate customer loyalty for years to come.

2.     Use common sense in collecting endorsements

If someone has something to gain from saying something positive about your product or service, they may not be entirely truthful or express what needs to be said about your product.   Remember, when you were a kid and your mom or dad could tell when you were lying or not being completely honest?  In Word of Mouth marketing the truth just sounds different, it is presented different and whether a person realizes it or not – they pick up on that and will choose to either ignore what their “gut” is telling them or will listen to their intuition and in turn, you will lose a customer by not being entirely above board in your Word of Mouth marketing.

3.      Be wise in believing endorsements

If something sounds too good to be true; it probably is.   It is wise to be cautious of things presented completely positively as everything has a downside and if a person presents a product or service as something everyone needs either they do not know their product, their true market or they are lying.   Ensure that when you are checking into a new product or service – especially one that you will in turn offer your customers – that you do your homework or “due diligence” which simply means that you take the time and make the effort to test what a person or what a company portrays and projects about their products and services is legit.

Artificial marketing can make a person wealthy, but what it costs in reputation after consumers learn the truth make it not worth it.   In the end, the best investment you can make in your word of mouth marketing strategies is in the encouragement and promotion of  NATURALLY-GENERATED Word of Mouth marketing.

Naturally-Generated Word of Mouth Marketing

The natural form of Word of Mouth marketing is differentiated from the artificial by great products, great services and doing everything you can to reinforce the great things people say.

You don’t pay for it.
You don’t lie for it.
You don’t deceive for it.

You simply offer what your customers need in ways they can afford and you do what you say and you ensure that your products do what they say they will do.

It is this investment in the personal and direct needs of a customer that generates the true buzz that carries volumes in promoting our business.   While artificial forms of Word of Mouth marketing are carefully controlled in the beginning and there is no accountability for the “like wildfire” effect of their influence – naturally-generated Word of Mouth marketing ensures that we are accountable for what is being said in the media, in advertising and within the details of our product line.

Control the Media

We can control the media by controlling what is said about our business and our products through established methods of public relations (which we will discuss in more detail in the next chapter) including press releases, our public relations and more.

Control the Advertising

While we cannot influence every word someone else says, we can watch what we say and ensure that no matter what, we do not make promises we can’t keep or promises that we have no intention of keeping.   While life happens and things can naturally interfere with our daily to-do list, if we are intentionally being dishonest in order to gain popularity or to acquire that artificial buzz – in the long run, its going to hurt our businesses.

We cannot control a lie as a lie will always want to be revealed by the truth – but we can always be ensured that “truth in advertising” leads to greater rewards in truthful Word of Mouth marketing

Control the Product Line

Quality matters.   Quantity is great but in the long run, quality is what counts and produces the positive influence we want in a marketplace.  If we sacrifice quality of product for quantity of customers, we are going to have a higher return rate of NEGATIVE Word of Mouth marketing by the end results not truly satisfying or meeting our customers’ needs.

It is essential that we take the time to study the market, know our clients’ needs and ensure that the products and services we are offering them are of the quality they need and want, not just build the quantity of sales or number of customers we want.

The Big Picture of Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of Mouth Marketing works best in two directions:

1.  From the inside of your business out.

2.  From the outside of your business in.

Inside-Out

By focusing on the internal needs of your business first, you are most likely to build the best Word of Mouth marketing base possible.   This works in many ways but most prominently by allowing you and your staff and employees to take ownership in your organization.

This does not mean that someone besides you owns your business, this means that they care about the success or failure of your business as much as you do and work hard to guarantee the success of your business by providing your clients and customers what they need, when they need and in ways that are meaningful to them.

You generate great Word of Mouth marketing inside to outside of your organization by:

1.  Being a great person to work for

The golden rule of treat others as you want to be treated comes into play here.   By valuing the strengths of your employees and acknowledging even their smallest efforts to do a great thing to build your business – you are reinforcing their sense of worth and their investment in your business.   You can show value and appreciation by bonuses, incentives, compensation packages, special rewards such as gift cards, movie or sports tickets, and more.   The small investment you make in ways to value your employee in by saying “Thank You” and going that extra mile to do little and big things to make your work place a great place to work in – does key thing:  Gives Your Employees Plenty of Great Examples of Why You and Your Company Are Great To Work With.

2.  Offer special classes, training and seminars to your staff

The people who always have something to say and are never boring are those people who never stop learning.   By offering your employees special classes, training and seminars that are paid-for, perhaps providing a “day off” from normal duties, paid lunch or even at a fun location are excellent ways to teach your employees to value others as they themselves are valued.  The truth is, courtesy is not often taught and in a “how does this benefit me” society, true customer service is a lost art.

If you are not sure where to begin in this area – let us help you.  We offer training seminars on site in accounting practices, startup and marketing, payroll practices, marketing building techniques and business consulting startup.    Contact us and let us show you how we can motivate your staff to really work for you by working for themselves and their clients in a mutually-beneficial way.

Outside-In

Similar to how care and consideration from the inside-out of your organization, Outside-In techniques show value of the customer.   The main reason why people do not explore outside of what they know is that they are unsure about the truth of what you are saying, how a product or service could actually benefit them and they are afraid that they will be taken advantage of.

By taking away the “mystery” you have built by advertising, you will improve your Word of Mouth advertising by working from the Outside-In by providing classes and seminars to teach your clients how to use or utilize your products or services.

There are many benefits to one-on-one appointments and meetings especially in the area of personal finances, but on many occasions holding seminars expands our sphere of influence immensely by uniting our customers and clients in a collective movement that allows them to not only empower themselves but each other with our products and services.

By participating in a seminar or training that goes beyond the surface information, we are giving our clients a voice and a platform in which they can express their problems or concerns (that we in turn can respond to and improve where we should) as well as a place where they know that they are not alone, that there are others out their that have similar needs and that by working together we can do great things to improve business and facilitate success for everyone.

In Summary

Word of Mouth marketing is less about what you want people to say about you, your products and your services and more about what you do to ensure that they have plenty of positive things to say about the quality of your products and services.

Tomorrow – The Ins and Outs of Public Relations