Buzz2009 Report: Andy Sernovitz’s Essential Steps for Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth marketing. WOMM. Why is this such a hot topic? It’s been the most successful marketing method since, well, since forever. When I managed restaurants, I knew that it really didn’t matter how much money I spent on yellow page ads, local newspaper and magazine ads or direct mail. I used those methods to keep our name in front of people, but what really mattered was what our guests were saying about us. Our best marketing happened when they talked to their friends, family, colleagues, neighbors or strangers about their good experience in our restaurant. As Andy said, your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what other people say it is. That’s the power of word of mouth marketing.

Like all the simple things in life – coffee, bread, beer – word of mouth marketing has become a hot topic in the last several years. Its effectiveness is being rediscovered and we’re figuring out the best way to use it to our advantage, whether we’re an association, charity or business. Positive WOMM can bring us success with member recruitment and engagement, community-building, grassroots advocacy, event marketing, public relations and more. Andy calls it a “sustainable renewable marketing engine.”

Here are Andy’s essential steps for WOMM, the five T’s:

• Identify the Talkers, your influencers. Look for them in your volunteers, members, industry non-members, event attendees, industry bloggers, readers, customers, and your members’ staff.
• Give your talkers portable, repeatable and emotional Topics to get excited about. How to find those topics? Ask yourself this question about any new product or service — would anybody tell a friend? What are your members talking about now? Do you know; are you listening? Don’t choose topics based on association politics and history. Be honest about it.
• Like David Meerman Scott, Andy tells us to provide Tools that will help your talkers share your topics with others – easy to forward emails with “tell a friend” forms, “share this” buttons on your web site or blog, free white papers to download from your web site, useful event swag to share with colleagues, promo codes for event registration or your online store, association logos and conference badges for their web sites, conference Twitter hashtags, or Flip video cameras for members to use at conferences.
• 

  Andy Sernovitz - photo by hyku/Flickr

  Take part in the conversation about you, even the negative ones. Be an active listener and know when you or your industry is being discussed. Be a participant, not a broadcaster, and join the conversation. When your name is mentioned on a blog, take advantage of the opportunity to comment, adding valuable content, or merely saying “thank you” in response to positive remarks, or if necessary, “I’m sorry, I can fix it, here’s my email.”

• Track and measure. Have your listening tools ready to go. Use Google Analytics for your web site and/or blog. Set up Google Alerts and Twitter searches for all variations of your association name, web site URL, conference name, and leadership’s names. BackTweets will alert you when your site URL has been shortened and shared on Twitter. Decide what you want to measure and establish your baseline so you can see what your new efforts are bringing you. When members join, attend an event, or buy a product, find out what led them to that decision. Were they motivated to buy from one of your traditional marketing methods (advertising, announcements, direct mail, etc) or did they learn about it from a friend? Keep track so you know what’s working.

Lindy Dreyer made Buzz2009 a living case study for applying the 5 T’s. Considering that more than 5,000 people registered to view the live webcast of one of the panels, I think they did well!

What are some other ways that associations can use these five T’s?

Social Marketing Tips for a Beach Hotel

I had a Twitter exchange the other day with an oceanfront hotel that is new to social marketing. They asked me to send them some tips so I decided to post them here as well. If you have any other tips, please share them in the Comments below.

General social marketing tips

Social marketing is part of your regular marketing, not separate. Make sure that all staff knows what you’re doing so they can make suggestions and contribute content. Social marketing is a full-time job. Your prospects don’t take off evenings and weekends (much like your hotel staff), so make sure someone is always listening/monitoring and replying/engaging.

Identify your target audiences and messages for each. Have a plan. Social marketing can be a great way to bring different departments together to brainstorm ideas and break down any organizational silos, but someone needs to take overall ownership so your plan has direction.

Before getting in too deep, take some measurements (a baseline) of your current marketing efforts and the return on them, so that you can measure the return on new social marketing efforts.

Grow your following/fan base by cross-promoting your blog, twitter, Facebook, web site, etc.

Focus on content marketing. Be a resource for your guests, prospects and locals. Don’t just broadcast sales pitches. Talk about your area, events, and local businesses. You will build up relationships based on trust in your content — that’s your goal, relationships. Relationships lead to purchases or referrals.

Good blogs to read:

• http://altitudebranding.com/
• http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
• http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/
• http://youcantbuythat.com/
• http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/
  

  (photo by kakissel/Flickr)

Web Site

• Your home page tells me why I’d want to go to your town, but not why I would want to pick your hotel as my accommodation.
• Break up your paragraphs. The one on your landing page is a bit long — break it into two. Online readers prefer smaller paragraphs. Use bullets or lists when appropriate.
• $100 gift card giveaway – I completed the form, but when I was done, it closed the window. Have the entry form page open up in a new window so your home page is still up when they are finished.
• The Newsletter page has a sign-up form yet says “No newsletter available at this time!” Get rid of that page. When you do have a newsletter, post a sample so readers know what they will be getting. Don’t do a newsletter if it’s not a valuable resource for readers. Remember, it’s about their needs, not yours.
• The index on the home page is way too long. Consolidate the categories so there is less for the eye to scan. Readers will glaze over it, missing things.
  • Home Page should be at the top of the list.
  • Book Online should be near the top.
• Make your social marketing a feature on your home page.
  • Provide a link to your blog (currently it’s buried in the index).
  • Add a Follow Us on Twitter badge. I found a bunch here — http://www.twitterbuttons.com/more.html.
  • Add a Facebook badge.

Blog

• Position yourself as an expert and resource. Have fun with it.
  • Behind the scenes at the Inn.
  • Buy some Flip video cameras and get creative. Feature video interviews with staff or local business owners and VIPs. Tease us with videos of beautiful sunrises or late afternoons on the beach — something we’ll only see by staying at your hotel
  • Teach us about weather, the ocean, the animals and birds. Nothing too long, keep it short and simple, but interesting.
  • Write about the different things we can do while staying in your hotel — outdoor activities, shopping, dining, kids activities, etc.
  • Share recipes from the kitchen or from local businesses.
• Add a Follow Us on Twitter and Facebook badges.
• Use photos and embedded videos.
  

  (photo by tyreseus/Flickr)

Facebook

• Create a Page (not a Group) so you can have Fans.
• Don’t do too many updates a day or your fans may hide you from their feed.
• Keep it interesting and fresh. Post things that fans will want to read and/or share with their Facebook friends.
  • Use blog content if it’s short and simple. You can do an RSS feed of your blog to your Facebook page.
  • Post interesting photos and videos.
• Resources:
  • http://www.allfacebook.com/
  • http://whyfacebook.com/

Twitter

• Use Tweetdeck. Sort your people into groups. You’ll know best what they should be, but possibly, Past Guests, Prospects, Prospects You’ve Interacted With (Working Prospects), Competition, Rock Stars (properties who you think are doing a great job), Marketing Resources, Local Businesses
• Follow everyone who follows you. It looks like you might be doing that already.
• Follow local businesses, your competition and other properties who have a social media presence.
• Use Twitter Search or Tweetdeck search.Search on terms like your town’s name or abbreviation, your hotel name, summer vacation, [state] beach, beach vacation, etc. You may have to refine these as I can imagine it would get unwieldy.
  • You can also create an RSS feed for these terms on the Twitter search page and feed it into your Google Reader.
• Participate in conversations. Be a personality, not just a brand. People feel loyalty and get interested in people, not brands. Be a resource for people on the area.
• Don’t just broadcast. Ask questions. Run polls (twtpoll). Be conversational in your writing. Retweet – very important.
• Answer questions. Run a filter in Tweetdeck on your All Friends column (+ ?) and answer any questions that you can, but don’t turn your answers into sales pitches. Be a resource.
• If there are enough twitterers in the area, do a tweet-up at your property. As the host, provide something free, like hors d’oeuvres.
• Good resource: http://www.twitip.com/

Flickr

• Create a page. Start with posting photos that you take. Ask guests to contribute. Put badge on blog, Facebook page and web site.
• Have a photo contest with different categories, for example, photo that best captures relaxing at the beach, best sand castle, best beach set-up, etc.

Social marketing resources:

• http://www.technotheory.com/how-to-use-social-media-guide/
• http://www.chrisbrogan.com/if-i-started-today/
• http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/100-resources-to-boost-your-social-media-savvy-top-tips-advice-from-the-experts/
• http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/how-to-sell-social-media-to-cynics-skeptics-luddites-tips-resources-advice/

These are my “quick and dirty” ideas. What other suggestions do you all have?

The Seven Rules of the Rave

Marketing Profs held a one-day virtual conference in early April, and one of their keynote speakers was David Meerman Scott, author of the recently released World Wide Rave and The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

His seven Rules of the Rave apply to any business or organization that wants to create online buzz with their customers or members, and I wanted to share them with you.

1. Nobody cares about your products, except you.
Ouch, but this is true. Your members and customers care primarily about themselves. They care about your organization to the extent that you can solve their problems or meet their needs. So you need to be really clear about how you do that, using language they use, no gobbledygook or corporate-speak. Remember, it’s not about you, they don’t care how big you are or how many awards you’ve won. They do care about how you’re going to make their lives easier, so tell them that in their language.

2. No coercion required.
If it takes a hard or deceptive sell to get people to pay attention, are you really offering something of value? Are you speaking to the right audience? Scott used the example of a funny banner ad touting “parents against reprehensible metal music” that led to a Toyota matrix landing page. Huh? Don’t waste people’s time with gimmicks. Shoot straight.

3. Lose control.
Let your members and customers use word-of-mouth or word-of-mouse to spread your message. Find ways to empower them to be your evangelists. Scott talked about how the Grateful Dead lost control of their music by allowing their fans to record concerts and then trade tapes. This viral marketing led to the Dead becoming the most popular touring band in history. They made it easy for their fans to do the work for them. Put a useful resource on your site and make it easy to spread around – don’t put up any barriers to getting it, like requiring registration or email addresses.

4. Put down roots.
Be where your members and customers are. Fish where the fish are. Participate in communities and be a trusted source. Get friendly with bloggers — they are influencers.

5. Create triggers that encourage people to share.
Make it easy for your members and customers by giving them something they can share with others that will get your name out there. A restaurant can provide recipes and a shopping list based on what’s on sale that week at the local supermarket, or what’s in season at the farmers’ market. Find out who the influencers are and give them something to share, something to blog about or talk about.

6. Point the world to your virtual doorstep.
Sharing is great but you need to get them back to your doorstep where they can learn about you and might get interested in doing business with you. Make sure your URL is on everything. Create a special landing page to measure the effectiveness of your viral marketing. Give a special discount code to those who land there.

7. Stop making excuses.
Anyone can create a world wide rave. You don’t have to be a “social media expert” to come up with one, besides there are no social media experts. Think about the content or knowledge that lives in your organization and find a way to share it following these rules and your word-of-mouth and word-of mouse will spread.

I’m a Geek for Content Marketing

And I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m an information junkie, so content marketing makes my heart go pitter-patter. It’s such a smart marketing strategy — be a source of knowledge for your customers, give them information they can use, keep them coming back for more, and be the one they turn to when they’re ready to spend some money. Don’t pitch me, teach me.

Marketing and social media blogs are all abuzz these days about content marketing because it works. It’s a perfect fit for associations that are already providing content to members. Members join associations for advocacy, networking, education and information. As the web becomes the primary source for news and information, associations must be the source that members depend on for their knowledge and education.

I’ve learned more from blogs (via RSS feed or twitter) in the last few years than I have from association web sites, publications or conferences, and I’m sure I’m not alone. That’s a dangerous trend for associations. Everyone’s a publisher now. Are you better than the competition for your members’ attention? When it’s time for a member to renew, there should be no question in her mind about the value of the information, knowledge and education that the association provides. Push your content out via RSS feeds, blogs (and comments), e-newsletters, LinkedIn groups, webinars, Facebook pages, and twitter. Lure your members back to your web site. Make your site remarkable and bookmarkable – the one-stop shop for knowledge. When members think (or talk) about your association, you want them to remember how much smarter and therefore successful you made them. Use your content to cement that relationship.

When prospects visit your site, give them the option of signing up for a special biweekly e-newsletter or a special RSS feed. You now have their permission to market to them, but do it wisely. Don’t try to blatantly recruit them, instead educate them and give them a sample of the valuable content you give to your members. Give them a pass to one of your webinars. Establish a relationship with them where you position yourself as a valuable source of knowledge.

Where do you get all this additional content?

• Look to the expertise of all of your staff — what can they provide that will help your members get ahead or run their business?

• Look to your members. Are they already creating content that can be tweaked for your purposes? If not, give them a chance to shine, talk to them about their expertise and how they can share it. This can be a win-win for everyone as long as you have editorial control so copy doesn’t get spammy.

• Don’t limit your search to the members you already know. If you survey your members regularly on their fields of expertise (and you should upon their joining and renewal each year), you will know of others who can contribute.

• Work with your conference speakers to create articles, webinars, or podcasts based on their sessions.

• Can you partner with other organizations to share content?

• Can’t afford to pay for content? What about a trade for membership dues or conference registration?

• Consider the idea of sponsored content. Generate revenue by giving your advertisers and sponsors the opportunity to create educational webinars, videos or podcasts for your web site.

When you make your 2010 budget, you know you will budget for advocacy, conferences, trade shows and meetings. Have you allocated financial and staff resources for content creation as well?

I’ll be returning to this topic again and again because it’s interesting to see how companies are using content marketing, and to imagine how they could use it, to build relationships with customers and capture market share. I’ll do some more exploring in future posts, but I would love to see some innovative examples of how associations are using content as a recruitment or retention tool. Do you know of any?