Spread the word about your hot new product or company!
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful and persuasive weapon you can use, and it won't cost you anything! Based on George Silverman's years of consulting with successful word-of-mouth campaigns of his own clients, here is one of the first resources on how to harness the often underestimated power of word-of-mouth, and be heard above the media noise.
1. Word-of-mouth is actually the center of the marketing universe.
2. Just as it is untrue that the sun revolves around the earth, marketing does not really revolve around advertising, selling, and promotions. Much of marketing actually centers around illusion-creation.
3. Word-of-mouth offers an authenticity to it because the source is normally independent of the company, he or she is offering his or her own candid opinion and therefore, the marketing appears credible.
4. Advertising is the renting of a medium to send out a carefully crafted message to a specific audience. Everything is paid for, whereas word-of-mouth is a more effective tool; and best of all, it is absolutely free.
5. Word-of-mouth can take on a life of its own. There are no limits to how far-reaching it can be. Just study how fast a good joke on the e-mail circulates.
6. Studies have shown that a satisfied customer will tell an average of three people about a product or service she likes, and eleven people about a product or service with which she had a negative experience.
7. Because this is the age of the Internet, e-mail, websites, chat rooms, and video teleconferencing, word-of-mouth is even more important to businesses today than ever before.
8. The most important way by which sales can increase is by increasing the speed with which decisions are made. Decision speed is the time it takes for your customer to go from initial awareness to enthusiastic use and recommendation of your product or service. Simplicity, ease, and fun govern the decision process.
9. Marketing success is determined more by the time it takes for your customer to decide on your product than by any other single factor. Decision speed is more powerful than positioning, image, value, customer satisfaction, guarantees, or even product superiority.
10. Shortening the customer's decision cycle means your product's benefits, claims, and promises must be obvious and compelling; information must be clear, balanced, and credible; comparisons must reveal meaningful differences, your trials should be free and easy, your evaluations, clear and simple. Guarantees should be ironclad and generous. Testimonials and other word-of-mouth marketing must be relevant and believable. Delivery, training, and support offered must be superior.
11. A good way to spread the word on your company is to circulate true, positive stories about it. FedEx is famous for its legendary employee who hired a chopper just to deliver a package forgotten on the tarmac. People love a good story, and that is the essence of word of mouth.
12. There are 9 levels of word-of-mouth. They range from the public scandal of minus 4, the product boycott of minus 3, to the raving customers/advocates who tell you how great your product or service is (plus 3) to the "talk of the town" level (plus 4).
13. Examples of those who have reached plus 4 level of word-of-mouth marketing are:
14. Lexus Automobiles, Saturn Car Company, Harley-Davidson, Netscape Navigator, Celestial seasonings herbal tea, The Internet, and Apple Computer.
15. Some ways of harnessing word of mouth are by using experts like customers, suppliers, salespeople, experts' roundtable discussions and selling groups. Take advantage of seminars, workshops, and speaking engagements, dinner meetings, teleconferenced panel discussions, and trade shows. "Canned" Word of Mouth consists of putting out videotapes, audiotapes, using a well-designed website, or distributing CDs. There are also ways such as referral selling programs, testimonials, and networking methods, hotlines (1-800 numbers) and e-mail.
16. Using traditional media for Word of Mouth means using customer service as a word-of-mouth engine, public relations, placements, unusual events, promotions, word of mouth in ads, sales brochures, or direct mail, salesperson programs, sales stars, peer training, or using salespeople as word-of-mouth generators, word-of-mouth incentive programs ("Tell-a-friend" programs), useful gifts to customers (articles, how-to manuals) that they can give their friends.
17. Employees should be actively spreading word of mouth about your products. Spread stories around about examples of superior customer service. Give people a common mission and make rewards dependent on the accomplishment of that mission.
18. Word of mouth accelerates the process of customer decision-making, from deciding to decide, asking for information, weighing options, evaluating a free trial, and then finally becoming a customer and advocate.
19. With customer-oriented service, your company can increase sales via word of mouth.
Specific steps in creating a word of mouth campaign:
1. Find some way to get the product into the hands of key influencers.
2. Provide a channel for the influencers to talk and get all fired up about your product.
3. Gather testimonials and endorsements, like actual letters of praise.
4. Form an ongoing group that meets once a year in a resort but once a month by teleconference or daily by list group
5. Create fun events to bring users together and invite non-users. Saturn, Harley-Davidson, and Lexus have been successful with this approach.
6. Produce cassettes, videotapes, and clips on your Web site featuring enthusiastic customers talking with other enthusiastic customers. Custom-create some CDs for each potential customer.
7. Conduct seminars and workshops
8. Create a club with membership benefits
9. Pass out flyers. Tell friends. Offer special incentives and discounts for friends who tell their friends.
10. Use the Internet!
11. Do at least one outrageous thing to generate word of mouth.
12. Empower employees to go the extra mile.
13. Network and brainstorm for ideas
14. Run special sales
15. Script! Tell people exactly what to say in their word of mouth communication.
By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla href="http://www.bizsum.com "A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read" Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More!
mailto:freenewsletter@bizsum.com BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service.
(c) Copyright 2001-2005, BusinessSummaries.com
Regine Azurin is the President of a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking, "Reading and eBook... Read More
FISH! Tales: Real-Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Workplace... Read More
The Joy Of Dating Again is designed to be a... Read More
How To Write and Publish Your Own eBook in as... Read More
Moon Child by Simone Maroney is a larger sized adventure,... Read More
Oswald Spengler predicted a protracted winter in The Decline of... Read More
Going Deeper by Jean-Claude Koven is certainly a nicely presented,... Read More
This beautifully laid out trade paperback has a gorgeous and... Read More
"An excellent novel that will wring tears of frustration and... Read More
The author of Be the Leader: Make the Difference, a... Read More
Let me start with a small disclaimer: I am a... Read More
Kashmir has been a reason for at least three wars... Read More
EMPOWERING TEENAGERSFrom a new book: "Adolescence is a difficult period,... Read More
Bebe Moore Campbell weaves a tale of unrelenting love and... Read More
When asked what gave her the idea for the story,... Read More
In a profound and provocative work of scholarly detection, best-selling... Read More
From the depths of despair to the heights of hope.... Read More
Don't panic. Jack Mitchell, the author of Hug Your Customers:... Read More
Now add ten more car wash trucks, with the corresponding... Read More
In his ebook "Affiliate Mistakes Special Report," Chuck McCullough teaches... Read More
Book Release: Gina's Poems -- Adventures in Love Written... Read More
Why do some prayers seem to be answered while others... Read More
"Within the first few pages, I was engrossed and deeply... Read More
Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create... Read More
THE MORAL OF THE STORYLou Dubose and Jan Reid's new... Read More
For those of you who've been on another planet for... Read More
"The dedication in this book is a work of poetry... Read More
Dragon Tales by Mary C. Fairbanks is truly and entertaining... Read More
For any business to survive today, it needs to understand... Read More
This article is based on the following book:What Is The... Read More
Create Your Own Future: How to Master 12 Critical Factors... Read More
Kiss, Bow, Or Shake Hands: How To Do Business In... Read More
Author/Publisher Christmas in Dairyland by LeAnn R. Ralph Published by... Read More
Going Deeper by Jean-Claude Koven is certainly a nicely presented,... Read More
In his ebook "Affiliate Mistakes Special Report," Chuck McCullough teaches... Read More
Did Columbus first discover America?Did the Vikings first discover America?Did... Read More
The Storyteller New Book Offers Supernatural Tales Involving Everyday PeopleMartha... Read More
I have decided to start with this text as simply... Read More
The New York Times' columnist visits India often. I read... Read More
Blue's Clues for Success: The 8 Secrets Behind A Phenomenal... Read More
Title: Critical Condition: How Health Care In America Became Big... Read More
When I reached the top of the driveway after getting... Read More
On the Brink of Risk is a fiction novel inspired... Read More
King Bartholomew and the Jester's Riddle by Pina Mastromonaco is... Read More
Award winning author John Roynesdal, is a retired English teacher... Read More
Bebe Moore Campbell weaves a tale of unrelenting love and... Read More
This land is my memories. For two thousand years this... Read More
The "Rich Jerk" has created quite a stir on the... Read More
"Fern's Dragon is a wonderfully fun read that stimulates the... Read More
Now add ten more car wash trucks, with the corresponding... Read More
Somebody once said there are more book titles beginning with... Read More
What Color is Your Parachute? Reviewed by: Matt Keegan ©... Read More
Create Your Own Future: How to Master 12 Critical Factors... Read More
It is rare to find a brand new blueprint for... Read More
Author Joseph Yakel presents his own blend of humor and... Read More
Some book reviewers say that when they don't like a... Read More
Book Release: Gina's Poems -- Adventures in Love Written... Read More
Sir Isaac Newton knew about the Bible code 300 hundred... Read More
A missionary and his family were forced to camp outside... Read More
When asked what gave her the idea for the story,... Read More
"I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were portrayed very... Read More
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life is another book focusing... Read More
Spread the word about your hot new product or company!Word-of-mouth... Read More
Spiritual food for the soul: Allow Jerry to take you... Read More
Unfortunately, I have seen too many of even the most... Read More
Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan have created quite a stir... Read More
Book Reviews |