You may see your cause as the most important thing in the world — and your followers may too — but that doesn’t automatically make it easy to talk about.
Diseases, war, political issues, and controversial topics are often tough topics to talk about. Even if everyone at the party hopes for peace in Darfur, nobody feels like bringing up genocide.
But a little word of mouth marketing can go a long way toward making these conversations easier. It’s not about making light of serious issues, it’s about giving talkers an easier way to start the discussion.
How a word of mouth supergenius does it:
Breast cancer is a serious epidemic. In 2006 alone, some 40,000 mothers, daughters, sisters, and nieces died from the disease.
It affects so many, yet it’s so hard to talk about. That’s why these nipple badges designed by Pia Knight are such a fantastic, fun way to raise money and awareness about breast cancer.
Since their debut in 2003, they’ve been featured in magazines, worn by The Rolling Stones, and the source for a whole bunch of conversations about a very serious topic.
Learn more: Brand Flakes for Breakfast
With a blog and a quickly-growing Twitter account, Tyson is creating awareness of the issue and the groups involved in the fight against hunger, leveraging its in-kind donations, and increasing employee involvement and company pride.
In this free audio recording, find out how Tyson Foods uses social media tools to engage stakeholders around the company’s primary philanthropic focus, the issue of hunger.
Download the free audio file
Learn more about future calls and events like this
[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Disease, war, famine, political issues — they’re all serious, difficult topics to bring up. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to help your fans spread their support for your cause, here’s how:
1> Find a middleman
2> Find a symbol
3> Find a positive
1> Find a middleman
It’s hard for people to talk to someone they barely know about awkward or serious topics. Try to find a “middleman” — a talker with established trust with those you’re trying to reach — and educate them on your issue. Teachers, doctors, parents, or public officials could all be excellent mediators for the topics you’re trying to share.
2> Find a symbol
When the topic is too tough to talk about, give them something else to share with the world. Colors, wristbands, and themed events make it easy for people who believe in a message to share it without having to discuss diseases or world issues. If you can find something to symbolize the issue you care about, you can give supporters a way to talk without focusing on the tough details.
3> Find a positive
People are much better at sharing good news — so try to keep the themes of your topics about how you and your supporters are saving lives, curing illnesses, and changing the world. You could create a special newsletter or big celebration focused on highlighting all the great things your cause or organization has accomplished. Just remember: People are much more willing to drag in their friends if it feels like they’re having lots of success and making a difference.
When Asi
of No Man's Blog and Nicky of Monster-Munch wanted to raise money for NSPCC, an organization devoted to ending child abuse, they came up with a unique word of mouth / 6 degrees of separation project entitled, "This Book Will Be Famous" — a handmade book designed to be passed around.
Here's Asi's description of how it works:
Every person who receives this book leaves a trace on the next available page. What is a trace, you ask? Anything you fancy, really. A picture, a poem, a shoelace, your mum’s choc-chip cookies recipe or, if you’re a Rock Star, a pair of tickets to one of your gigs would be pretty awesome.
Once they’ve left their trace on their page they will send the book to the most famous person they know personally. What is famous? Well, that’s for them to decide. The important bit here is that they can comfortably email or call that person and be certain that he/she will be willing to take part, leave
their own trace and pass it on to the most famous person they know. There are only six pages on this book – but that should be enough to make it to someone like Stephen Fry, Nelson Mandela, Angelina Jolie or even Rick Astley!
Once we get the book from the last famous person, we’ll auction it on eBay and donate all the money to the NSPCC.
The Lesson: Create something designed to be passed around — something that fans can contribute to, share and help promote.
Photo credits: Book image from Asi's blog.
Breast cancer is a serious epidemic. In 2006 alone, some 40,000 mothers, daughters, sisters, and nieces died from the disease.
