(Word of Mouth) "Marketing is Easy"

Excerpted from " Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog": MarketingProfs Conference Coverage: Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog

MarketingProfs Conference Coverage: Marketing Is Easy

Word-of-mouth guru Andy Sernovitz's presentation yesterday at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum was a double whammy: A high-energy, humorous speaker delivering insightful content.

Among the many ideas I took home with me is this simple framework. Andy explained there are three basic reasons why other people talk about your company:

• It's about YOU - they think your company is great (or not-so-great)
• It's about ME - it makes the talker feel good
• It's about US - it's about being part of a group

To maximize your advantage your company should simply be more remarkable. Employ tactics that make you more forward-able, more worth talking about.

To capitalize on ME, you should give folks whatever they need to make themselves feel smart or helpful when they offer advice to others.

And to leverage US, you could invite people to participate in group activities.

Word of Mouth Marketing Manifesto

1. Happy customers are your best advertising. Make people happy.
2. Marketing is easy: Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers. They will do your marketing for you, for free.
3. Ethics and good service come first.
4. UR the UE: You are the user experience (not what your ads say you are).
5. Negative word of mouth is an opportunity. Listen and learn.
6. People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation.
7. Be interesting or be invisible.
8. If it's not worth talking about, it's not worth doing.
9. Make the story of your company a good one.
10. It is more fun to work at a company that people want to talk about.
11. Use the power of word of mouth to make business treat people better.
12. Honest marketing makes more money.

My Take

If you are a local business that's been around a while, you are already doing at least some of these things - intentionally or unintentionally.

YouGottaCall.com will soon be able to power your company's word-of-mouth sales leads. Capture more of the leads that your customers WANT to give to you. Improve your customer relationships and benefit the community.

If you are interested in being a beta test site, let me know!

- - Tim

Friday October 5, 2007 - 11:51am (EDT)

Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool

Nielsen Global Survey - Press Release: Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool:

Traditional Media Advertising Still More Credible Worldwide Than Ads on Search Engines, Web Site Banners and Mobile Phones

New York, October 1, 2007 - Despite an ever-expanding array of advertising platforms and sources, consumers around the world still place their highest levels of trust in other consumers, according to a recent global Nielsen Internet survey.

Conducted twice-a-year among 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East, Nielsen most recently surveyed consumers on their attitudes toward thirteen types of advertising - from conventional newspaper and television ads to branded web sites and consumer-generated content.

"Advertisers around the world are able to reach consumers across an increasingly diverse range of media platforms," said David McCallum, the global managing director for Nielsen's Customized Research Services. "Even so, the recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted sources of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy. And even though new media technologies are playing a role in ‘globalizing' society, many purchasing decisions are still based on firmly held national and cultural attitudes. Furthermore, given that nothing travels faster than bad news - with estimates that reports of bad experiences outnumber good service reports by as many as 5:1 - the importance of responsive, high quality customer service is yet again highlighted."

Wednesday October 3, 2007 - 06:26am (EDT)

Menu For Local Search Success

Excerpted from The Frager Factor - Local Search Poised For Marketing Success

"People in the US tend to spend 80 percent of their budgets within 50 miles of their homes, and the Kelsey Group thinks that bodes well for local advertising's $110 billion market to shift more into local search ads. Only about four percent of local ad dollars are currently being spent on local search advertising. The Kelsey Group expects that to grow, and fast. They forecast a 50 percent annual growth rate for local search spending.

"Enjoying that growth and more means facing down the yellow pages companies for the attention of local people seeking information. It's a challenge for Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, all highly desirous of more of the local search market.

"The yellow pages publishers have an advantage today. The Kelsey Group refers to local ad service selling as a "high-touch" occupation, and salespeople can be expensive."

My Take

In other words, with their current advantage, and assuming that the nature of local advertising stays static, the Yellow Pages will do just fine. Kind of like the 2007 New York Mets in August.

Nothing personal, Mets fans. But your team is a timely example of how rapid change can occur. And isn't everyone in agreement on rapid change in local search?

Monday October 1, 2007 - 08:46pm (EDT)

Speaking of mainstream...

Is social media getting more mainstream?

Vertical Leap Blog Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:38 GMT +0000 by Kerry Dye

Those of us in the internet industry are very aware of social media. We use Facebook, StumbleUpon and Delicious. We know what Digg is and how it affects traffic. But how about the rest of the country? Outside of the technical professions and the universities, how is social media actually seen or used?

If you are a member of the so-called "Millennial Generation" you probably can't live without your messenger, social networking and internet connection. But if you are not, if you are Generation X or a Baby Boomer, then all of this is quite likely to be a foreign language. The adoption in these demographics is much slower, and the penetration of even the names of these high traffic, high volume sites is actually very low (try asking your Mum or Gran to join you on Facebook!).

Therefore it is interesting that the BBC news website has added social media icons to the bottom of its news stories. As one of the most widely read websites in the UK, this could make a real difference in the visibility of these sites to a different group of people.

My Take

This is what the beginning of a major trend looks like.

Wednesday September 26, 2007 - 06:15pm (EDT)

Social Networking For Business Goes (More) Mainstream

Social Networking For Business Goes (More) Mainstream With Microsoft, Google Moves From: Best Small Business Marketing Blog

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is eying a 5% investment in Facebook for...hold your seat... close to $500 million, valuing Facebook at close to $10 billion. Writes WSJ:

Some industry executives believe the Internet today is facing the sort of turning point that the computer-operating-system sector confronted two decades ago: Whoever controls the technology platform for buying and selling online ads could hold tremendous power over the Internet industry for years to come -- much as Microsoft was able to use its Windows operating system to shape the personal computer.

For small businesses, advertising into social network sites could soon become a key marketing strategy. Social network sites not only have large numbers of users, but they have groups and hubs of users or "friends" making them potentially a perfect venue for the type of viral, word-of-mouth marketing that small businesses crave.

Google is not to be outdone in the social network market, however. Rumors have it the search giant is planning its own major move within weeks, basically aggregating all of its Internet properties -- including search, email, photos and social network site Orkut -- into a new social networking hub.

That's just one more reason for small businesses to keep their eye on the marketing opportunities in the social network area.

My Take

Small business benefiting from social networking... What a concept. And what a great fit - allowing them to exploit their strong local relationships and to cut the high cost of their ineffective, mass media advertising.

It is just a matter of time before a creative combination of business processes is employed in a non-obvious way

Wednesday September 26, 2007 - 12:12pm (EDT)

Ask Poodle - Find local businesses, products, & services

Here's a local search site with "live' researchers to facilitate connections with local businesses:

Ask Poodle

Get personalized local search results with recommendations & reviews, price quotes, and
answers from local merchants that compete for your business within seconds, not hours or days.

My Take

Lots of questions ...
Isn't this labor intensive?

• If they hit it big, who'll they find to conduct the research?

What is their monetization model?

• Who pays?
• How do they arrange for payment?

Monday September 24, 2007 - 09:32am (EDT)

The internet yellow pages advantage over local search

Excerpts from PCM International’s Integrated Marketing Blog:

"In an age when search—particularly local search—is increasingly becoming the preferred solution by which consumers can find a specific product or service, it’s good to know that the Internet Yellow Pages still hold the advantage."

1. They already possess an outstanding sales force

2. They continually improve their IYP offerings

3. They offer both White and Yellow Pages

4. They enhance their IYP products so people can search either through the traditional Yellow Pages classifications or using a more local search-like approach.

5. Their tremendous opportunity for growth in the mobile devices

My Take

Are these advantages? Or vestiges?

1. The sales force is impressive in number. But in my opinion it won't be able to compete with the power of consumer involvement in an incentivized, word-of-mouth model. Plus, don't you think that the sales reps have rather "high negative" ratings for cashing in on the large ad fees they've charged small businesses over the years?
2. The Web is all about continual improvement. It is a key benefit to a decentralized structure.
3. White Pages? I have not used them since I found Yahoo.
4. See #2 above
5. See #'s 2 & 4 above.

Yikes! Do I smell desperation?

Friday September 21, 2007 - 07:54pm (EDT)