Influencing Word-of-Mouth Marketing

DISCUSSION TOPIC:  Friends and Family Seal the Deal

TOPIC SUMMARY:

If you want to influence a consumer’s purchasing decisions, then it’s almost always best to get to their family and friends first. If you can convince family and friends to recommend a product or service, then you’re a long way down the road to making the sale. But how, just exactly, do you get friends and family to make a recommendation? That is the grail that most marketers seek and few find.

According to ZenithOptimedia, word-of-mouth (WOM), specifically those recommendations from family and friends, ranked highest in purchasing influences in the firm’s Touchpoints ROI Tracker study.

Discussion questions:  How do brands that generate positive word-of-mouth and personal references do it? How is it that (any brand you’d like to identify) is able to generate recommendations from family and friends when others do not?

My post:

The only way to generate positive word-of-mouth and personal references is by having a great product/service delivered in a manner that exceeds customer expectations.  Companies cannot manufacture referrals and positive comments.  When they try, it is usually disastrous.  The way to have engaged customers is through engaged employees.  If companies want positive word-of-mouth and referrals, they must start by focusing on their employees.

That said, there are tools that companies can use to analyze, if not influence, the dialogue.  The growing influence of social media outlets like Facebook, YouTube and others provides companies with both a way to analyze current word-of-mouth opinions and a means to react to any negative perceptions.  Used wisely and sincerely, communication through these portals can provide a company with good intelligence and a platform for customers to speak out.

Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! ^TM strategist

www.OsorioGroup.com

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Go to the full discussion at RetailWire.com:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12886    

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Customers are Talking. Are Retail Execs Listening?

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RETAILWIRE DISCUSSION TOPIC

Engaging in Digital Consumer Conversations – 1/30/08
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TOPIC SUMMARY:

With countless digital consumer conversations increasingly swaying opinions across the world, the most successful companies will be those that “merge traditional and digital consumer data and integrate them into their everyday operations.” That’s the conclusion of a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, How consumer conversation will transform business.However, the report also found that although executives recognize the potential of digital consumer conversations, they still have difficulty interpreting and reacting to them.

Discussion question: Do you also find that executives are having “difficulty interpreting and reacting” to the opportunity around digital conversations? How do you think companies should approach exploring the value behind digital conversations?

My post:

Executives in many (most?) companies don’t take the time to fully understand social media – what the conversations mean, their individual and aggregate relevance, the potential ROI from this arena, etc.  They tend to fall back on what they know and interpret social media data through the filter of traditional marketing and consumer data gathering methods.  With social media driving more and more consumer opinion and behavior, executives must engage those with social media expertise.  They need to determine how much weight to give social media in strategic planning and decision making.  It is not too late to attack this, but it soon may be.

 Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! ™ strategist

www.OsorioGroup.com

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GO TO THE FULL STORY AND DISCUSSION:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12726   

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Thank you for visiting my blog!  Please subscribe using the RSS button and comment on my posts.  Comments are the life-blood of any blog and I appreciate yours!

The Marketing Power of Blogs

As part of my role as a retail industry speaker, coach and consultant, I am now posting to relevant online retail blogs, sites, etc.  I will use my blog to bring these postings to you, my readers.  I will always provide a link to the originating site or blog so you can enjoy their full content if you should so desire. 

I hope that you will take the time to send a brief comment on my postings!

To your success and daring you to be contagious,

~Mike

Here is a recent posting to a discussion topic at RetailWire – a terrific resource for daily retail industry news and analysis.

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RETAILWIRE DISCUSSION TOPIC:
The Marketing Power of Blogs
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TOPIC SUMMARY:
For many small businesses, blogging is proving to be a low-cost, high-return way to create public awareness. Across businesses, blogging companies are still a small minority.  What do you think of the potential as well as the limitations of using a blog as a marketing tool? What types of businesses can best capitalize on blogging? What, if any, has been your experience with blogging?

My post:

The current wave of social media (YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, blogs, etc.) is teaching us that consumers want to be a part of the conversation. As a retailer, are you engaged fully with your customers in rich dialogue about your brand, products and services? If you are not blogging and using other social media, the answer is probably “no.” I highly encourage retailers to consider making social media an integrated part of their marketing strategy. That said, you cannot just “jump in.” Like everything else in your marketing arsenal, social media needs to be carefully thought through. Your customer’s experience on your blog must be congruent with other customer touch points. Other posters rightly stated that blogs work best for product categories where there is a desire for customer dialogue. Basics and consumer staples will not likely be effective blogging subjects. Consider
1) Who will be your blogger(s)? They must speak with an authentic voice, aligned with the company’s voice.
2) Can you commit to regular updates? If not, don’t start.
3) Have you prepared for the inevitable complaints and bad comments about your brand/product?
4) Have you considered a presence on other social media like MySpace or YouTube? You should. Most of your customers are in multiple social media sites–you need to be (authentically) where your customers are if you want to truly engage them in conversations.
Mike Osorio, Principal, www.OsorioGroup.com

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GO TO THE FULL STORY AND DISCUSSION:
http://www.retailwire.com/Email/Discussion.cfm/12654
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