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Handouts, giveaways, and freebies are classic word of mouth tools. But before you put in the next order for yours, make sure you’ve got these key ingredients in the mix:
1. It’s valuable
2. It’s reusable
3. It’s fun
1. It’s valuable
A great handout will be valuable to your talker. Think umbrellas at a Seattle conference, seat cushions at the stadium, maps at tourist spots, or sunscreen at the beach. Remember, “valuable” doesn’t have to mean expensive — it just has to solve a problem for your potential talkers.
2. It’s reusable
Here’s an important element most handouts miss: It works best when your fans hang on to it and reuse it down the road. Sure, they may carry your cheap bag around the conference for a day — but it’s a much bigger win if they use it all year. More than the quality of the product, think about its design (does your logo really need to be that big?) and practicality (if all you’re going to offer is size XXXL shirts, why bother?).
3. It’s fun
Above all, people love to share the things that make them smile. It works for your copy, for your presentations, and for your handouts, too. We’ve seen it with the pins, buttons, and goofy giveaways we often share — and in another example, longtime sponsor of our BlogWell series, ICUC Moderation Services, hands out a booklet called “The World’s Funniest Moderated Comments: Uncensored” at each event.
[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Love from fans and happy customers isn’t worth much if prospective customers don’t see it. How to bring yours into the open:
1. Post reviews and testimonials
2. Promote the positive conversations
3. Pull fans together
1. Post reviews and testimonials
Reviews and testimonials are powerful word of mouth tools, but only if potential buyers can see them. Unbury yours by featuring them on your home page, your product pages, your sales collateral, on store shelves – anywhere customers might see them. If buyers can’t find your praise from happy customers, what good is it?
2. Promote the positive conversations
Look for people saying good things about you and get it in front of your potential customers. Simple tools like Google Alerts and Twitter searches will help you find these discussions. When you find them, look for opportunities to link to them, to include them in your content, and to point new customers to these third-party discussions.
3. Pull fans together
A great way to show off your word of mouth is to create opportunities for your talkers to come together. Potential customers take notice when you host rallies, user conferences, and fan get-togethers. This is word of mouth that becomes highly visible — and highly contagious.
[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Great word of mouth marketers are on the lookout for moments that are especially suited to starting conversations, because they know so much of word of mouth is about timing. A few opportunities you can do it:
1> For a holiday
2> For a launch
3> For a milestone
1> For a holiday
If you ever need a great excuse to test that fun, creative idea you’ve had to get fans talking, try aiming for a holiday. During Christmas, you can follow Jones Soda’s lead and release a new, oddball product. Or, if it’s a company-created holiday, you could try what Discovery did for Shark Week and promote all the stuff your fans are creating. And if it’s April Fools’, anything goes — like this tongue koozie from Molson Coors.
2> For a launch
Product launches have built-in word of mouth opportunities. You’ve got something new, exciting, and interesting to share — the trick is finding the right talkers and helping them pass it on. Try a beta release to eager testers (Microsoft is famous for this), an offer that lets them share it with a friend or two (this is how Gmail launched), or asking them to apply to get a first taste (lots of online communities start like this).
3> For a milestone
When you’ve accomplished something big, use that opportunity to let your fans get in on the celebration too. When LinkedIn broke 100 million users this year, they sent a special note to their first million members, thanking them for their support (and telling them what their exact join number was). How cool is that? It was a nice thank you to their long-time supporters and a great way to get these early adopters talking about LinkedIn.
As we continue to roll out our 2011 BlogWell schedule, we’re excited to announce we’ll be bringing the event to Washington, D.C. on May 4.
The afternoon will feature practical, how-to case studies from 8 great brands, including UnitedHealth Group, the U.S. Navy, ConAgra Foods, the IRS, and more.
BlogWell is one awesome, idea-filled afternoon focused on social media at big brands. There are no agencies and no startups (though they’re welcome to join and learn along with us!) – just smart executives from big companies sharing what they’ve learned.
Register and learn more about BlogWell: Click here
P.S. Have you been to a BlogWell yet? If not, here’s a peek at what to expect:
“The discussions were thought-provoking and inspirational.”
— Jim Lein, Oracle
“I came away inspired, energized, and with a nice bundle of new best practices to apply.”
— Ed Nicholson, Tyson Foods
“An amazing amount of useful material was presented in a timely, efficient way.”
— Donna Speigel, Crate and Barrel
“A well organized and well executed conference. Great job!”
— Todd Blecher, Boeing
“One of the best seminars of this type that I’ve seen in a long time.”
— Sandra Buettner, Johnson Controls
“A great forum for social media professionals to collaborate and learn from each other’s lessons and successes.”
— Jennie Ecclestone, General Motors
“The most valuable source for staying current on B2C and B2B social marketing techniques in Fortune 500 companies.”
— Paul Dunay, Avaya
“One of the most organized and informative events all year.”
— Jackie Bona, Google
Check it out: BlogWell
