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Honest praise from happy customers will always be more effective than any sales copy you could write. As a word of mouth marketer, your job is to help these great talkers get in front of potential customers. How to do it:
1. Feature their reviews
2. Highlight their work
3. Help them meet prospects
1. Feature their reviews
Reviews are one of the best ways to get the voices of your customers in front of your prospects. Try pointing to Yelp reviews and sites like Angie’s List, hosting reviews on your product pages, or even pulling in customer comments from Twitter. But remember: This only works if you’re willing to commit to full transparency by featuring all of the feedback — even the not-so-great stuff.
2. Highlight their work
Most marketers focus on telling prospects how they can help them do amazing things. But great word of mouth marketers know it’s much more powerful to have a real customer show them. Try highlighting the great work of your customers by getting them on stage at industry events, coordinating interviews with relevant publications, or featuring them in your own case studies and white papers.
3. Help them meet prospects
When you get happy customers talking to your prospects, good things happen. Try bringing these groups together with simple events like a conference call, a webinar, or even a backyard BBQ. But it doesn’t have to be an event. For example, we’ve seen companies do this by putting a simple form on their website that allows any prospect to send an email to a few current customers for a quick reference check.
[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.]
Whether you’re a one-location store or a national retail chain, you can have amazing word of mouth. How to get started:
1. Give them something to share
2. Give them a reason to bring a friend
3. Give them the chance to leave a review
1. Give them something to share
Never let a customer walk out the door without offering them something to share. Think practical — like coupons, catalogs, and samples. But also try the fun stuff, like stickers, posters, pins, and buttons.
2. Give them a reason to bring a friend
You’re doing all that work to get a customer in the door — with just a little more effort, maybe you could get their friends too. Events like REI’s evening and weekend classes or the group rides that local Harley-Davidson dealerships coordinate are great at this. And don’t forget the classics — things like group discounts and multiple coupons that have to be used at the same time.
3. Give them the chance to leave a review
Too often the only way for a customer to leave feedback for a retailer is to go online and post a negative review. Head off that negative word of mouth and encourage more happy customers to leave reviews by making it really easy. Give out lots of feedback and comment forms — and don’t forget that checkbox that says, “Yes, I give permission to use my comments in your marketing materials.”
[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.]
Last week we talked about how to get more testimonials. This week, it’s all about how to find and feature the very best ones.
What to look for in a great testimonial:
1> It’s specific
2> It’s short
3> It’s personal
1> It’s specific
A great testimonial directly addresses a customer’s concerns. If project budgets and timelines are a big deal to your prospects, look for happy customers who can speak to that. This is why testimonials are so valuable — just a few words from a happy client can overcome hesitations from prospective customers that your copywriting and sales pitches can’t
2> It’s short
When it comes to testimonials, you usually don’t need much more than a sentence or two. If a fan sends you a long testimonial, it’s fine to cut out just the best phrase or two — as long as you don’t lose the meaning behind what they said. Long, rambling testimonials will only confuse prospects, so don’t be shy about trimming to get to the point.
3> It’s personal
Jargon-free, plain-English testimonials are what you’re looking for. You don’t want robotic reviews — you want real customers talking about real experiences, in a tone they’d use in real conversations. This is why your best testimonials will often come from video interviews where the customer can speak freely and unscripted.
