What is your go to method for finding a resource to help you fix your roof, your pipes or your car? More importantly, how do your customers find out about you and your product or service?
More often than not it is on Facebook or other social media outlets. Can anyone recommend a Korean restaurant in Wilmington, NC? Does anyone in Raleigh have a painter who shows up on time and does great work? Does anyone know a wine shop that offers educational classes on wine?
The consumer journey isn’t really that different today than it was 25 years ago, it is just easier to get the recommendations because access to a community is so simple. What are the implications for brands trying to grow their products and services when they sell to consumers?
Are You Using Word of Mouse Marketing?
Timbo Reid from Australia has a podcast called Small Business, Big Marketing. He likes to call word of mouth marketing by the phrase – Word of Mouse. What do companies do that helps them leverage the power of a click of a mouse to spread the word?
Great companies don’t just do the work. They do it with flair, humanity and through the unexpected. They make you want to tell a story of how they did something for you that demonstrated the promises they make. A few years ago when I had my a new roof put on my house, I blogged about The Aluminum Company from North Carolina whose mistake could have been a disaster for them, but instead, they stuck to their promise to make their customers happy. Read what happened to me when the roof nails flattened all four of my tires! Is your brand delivering on its promise of service?
Great companies trust you. I buy the same gluten free pasta from Tinkyada at Whole Foods several times each month. For some reason, I bought a bag that wouldn’t cook properly. I came to the store and although I didn’t have the receipt, the bag or the pasta, the woman at the return area said she was sorry and why don’t I get two bags to replace the one I bought. No questions asked. I don’t think she recognized me from previous trips but she was trained by Whole Foods to trust the customer. I’m sure they get ripped off every now and again, but this story motivated me to write about how much I enjoy shopping at Whole Foods. The posts were seen by several thousand folks as were my tweets and Instagram posts. They did something human – and I shared the love. Is your brand delivering on its promise of trust?
Great companies are listening: Technology is allowing us to hear better – not just with smaller hearing aids but with tools for social media. Great companies like the one my friend Paul Mabray founded called VinTank, (now part of W20), provide tools for the wine industry to hear the conversation about their brand. Imagine the bazillion Facebook posts about great wines from Sonoma, Napa, the Finger Lakes and every wine region in America. Suddenly businesses have tools to listen and learn and respond. Their vision has always been “to transform customer relationships and understand through intelligent context.” Pretty powerful stuff. How good a job is your brand doing to listen – really listen to customers and then using that data and those insights to delight your customers?
Customer Marketing. Customer marketing means something brand new when a click of the mouse can take a story and distribute it to a community of thousands in a moment. Are your customers doing the marketing for you? Are you giving your consumers a reason to tell a story about you. It is really that simple. What is your business doing to get mentioned and talked about by our customers? Is your brand helping your own customers market your brand for you?
I’d love to hear examples in the comment section below how you help your customers market your brand.
Interested in growing your business? I can help you increase profitable revenue with marketing insights. To learn more, click this link.
