Word of Mouth Marketing - How to Generate Part 2

[Guest guest]

More word of mouth thoughts...this person says whether many of the WOM ideas are wothy or worthless.

Interestingly, there are thousands of webpages on word of mouth -- but really scant pages on WOM for developing a medical practice.

Hmmmmm.

Locke, MD

http://brainsonfire.com/blog/heard-at-wombat-2/

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) says:

So Spike … of the 43 WOM ideas shared during the WOMMA Panel, which were WORTHY and which were WORTHLESS? June 26th, 2006 at 6:36 am

Spike says:

You’re killin’ me, good Doctor. Let me get through my workday and you’ll have your answer. June 26th, 2006 at 8:47 am

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) says:

Allow me to rephrase my question … of the 43 WOM ideas shared, which were WORTHIEST and WORTHLESSIEST? (That should be more manageable to answer.) June 26th, 2006 at 10:25 am

Spike says:

You asked for it:

1. If you train your sales force in the ways of evangelism, they become better recruiters.WORTHY, but not exactly a “go home and implement” tool.

2. Make it easy for people to find you and tell people about you.WORTHY

3. Create a market advisory council.WORTHY

4. Use interesting stories to bring your WOM topics to life.WORTHLESS – your identity should already do that.

5. Encourage your brand champions to tell two friends about you, not just one.WORTHLESS – Give them something to talk about

6. Do something unexpected and generous for your customers — send a free product (include an extra for them to pass along to a friend) just for being a valued customer. WORTHY, but you don’t have to bribe your customers, just surprise and delight

7. Identify influentials using online social networking sites. WORTHY, depending on your views of “influentials”

8. Reach the influencers that don’t raise their hand. WORTHLESS

9. Create experiences around your products and services. WORTHY

10. Be an evangelist for your evangelists (Send them framed versions of case studies you’ve done with them, blog about them, show them off in your newsletters.) WORTHY

11. Use a memorable collectible as a dinner table centerpiece with the winner’s sticker on the bottom of their chair. WORTHLESS – this is just a sad gimmick, not a WOM tool

12. Give your audience business card holders packed with ‘tell-someone’ referral cards.WORTHLESS – another bad giveaway gimmick

13. It’s not just marketing: embed WOM into your sales culture. WORTHY, but not takehome actionable.

14. Use humor or “did you know” language to help consumers feel like they have something funny or unique to add to the conversation. WORTHLESS

15. Ask your customers to talk about you. WORTHLESS – this is WOM creationism!

16. Hide it. Discovery is a trigger for WOM, so make your tool or marketing message hard to find and you’llcreate something people will want to talk about and share. WORTHY

17. Leverage provocative content to make everyday product talk-worthy. Borderline WORTHY

18. Ensure you get the best ideas by engaging your WOM agency early in a paid consulting role.WORTHLESS as a WOM tool, but great advice nonetheless!

19. Make friends with some bloggers (they don’t even have to be famous). WORTHY – but I would add, “and don’t ask them for favors.“

20. Give your evangelists something to talk about. WORTHY

21. Give out your marketing collateral in something noticeable that gets people talking.WORTHLESS – another gimmick

22. Create a story and let consumers share their best stories of interactions with your product or service. – WORTHY

23. Create a VIP customer pool and use it. WORTHY

24. Make it easy for people to easily spread the word about you (Create a button for their blog or web site, a card or CD they can pass along to a friend, or build a ‘tell a friend’ option.) WORTHY

25. Release exclusive content (”insider information”) and let your avid customers react and interact with it. WORTHY

26. Create clever 30-second virals and post to your home page. Borderline WORTHY – in this day and age of viral saturation, it’s gonna have to be either really great or really relevant to be effective.

27. Take a cue from gossip rags such as InFocus or US Weekly and use surveys to add interesting facts to your WOM stories. WORTHLESS – this is just a tiny add-on.

28. Let your customers create — provide ways to make it easy for consumers to customize and show off their creativity. WORTHY

29. Use ‘free or low-charge’ release services to announce new products and services like Soflow, 24-7 PR, PR Leap, PR Free. WORTHLESS – this is cheep PR, not WOM.

30. Let your evangelists know you’re listening. (Comment on their blogs, invite them to webinars or to your office for a VIP Tour and to meet the product or service teams, schedule meet-ups in cities and invite your customers to attend). – WORTHY

31. Measure results, not actions. – WORTHY – a lot of WOMM is touchy-feely, which is important, but we’re also here to drive sales.

32. Put the right tools in the hands of your most influential consumers to help them tell your story. – WORTHY

33. Bring your most loyal customers on the inside by involving them in your product development or marketing initiatives. WORTHY

34. Poll your sales force for good closing stories, then edit and distribute to use as testimonials. WORTHLESS as far as WOM goes, but a good idea.

35. Create a customer community of your most loyal customers. - WORTHY

36. If you’re going to give something away for free, focus on quality merchandise that influencers value and seed it in the places they naturally frequent. Barely WORTHY

37. Set the table for WOM to occur by giving your customers tools to initiate it. – WORTHY

38. Join in the conversation (and start one if needed). – WORTHY

39. Tap into people’s sociability to propel WOM. – WORTHY, but how?

40. Identify “portable conversations” to give your advocates something to talk about. – WORTHLESS

41. Use the Buddy System and partner with your evangelists to work together on bigger projects. – WORTHY, but I think this same idea is listed above?!?

42. Partner with evangelists and create opportunities for them to sing your praises - WORTHY

43. Print referral cards which customers can give to their friends. Borderline WORTHLESS June 26th, 2006 at 11:53 am