How important is word of mouth marketing? If you’re familiar with my recent situations with Network Solutions, then you’ll know that, to me, word of mouth marketing is everything. But why?
Last week, I had the privilege to attend the annual conference of the Portland chapter of the American Marketing Association - Forward ‘08. It was a day-long conference on nontraditional marketing. While most of the day involved discussions on newly developed technologies and the merits of social networking, the first keynote focused on word of mouth marketing.
Think back to discussions we’ve had on the “perfect customer” and on “storytellers.” Inarguably, these two categories of people are vital to building your business - the perfect customer supports your bottom line and the storyteller brings the perfect customer to you in the first place. Word of mouth marketing focuses on the storytellers in a way that makes so-called ‘nontraditional’ marketing seem like common sense.
The example we used at the conference was of a restaurant. Since I’m currently sitting in a cafe, though, I’ll use that as my example. The regulars come in every day and, typically, order the same thing. This predictability lets the cafe owner budget for the week and forecast out through the month. Unfortunately, the regulars aren’t going out and driving new business this direction. If I go to the cafe every day, what’s so special about it to make me want to encourage my friends to go? It’s just part of my routine.
New customers, though, can be easily impressed. It could be the floorplan, the outstanding customer service, a unique product offering, or a special event held every Tuesday morning at 8:23am. Whatever your unique selling proposition is, it needs to be compelling enough that these newcomers will tell all of their friends about it. It needs to be simple, relevant, and portable. Above all, it needs to be organic - nothing kills buzz faster than the store owner asking new customers to talk up the product or offering payment (affiliate marketing anyone?) to current customers who bring in their friends.
Negative word of mouth can kill your business overnight. Likewise, positive word of mouth can build you into a powerful market mogul in a matter of days. You know who your regular customers are, and you should value, respect, and defend them with everything you’ve got. But what are you doing to get new customers excited about your brand. Are you selling just another cup of coffee, or are you opening the doors to brand evangelism?
