Brilliant - this is great stuff, lots of things that I have been mulling over myself, but never really put into writing, or even proper thinking. Thank you very much for this post. Particularly the thought that participants might become so invested in the community they belong to (BzzAgent, as an example) was one that has kept me wondering about the actual "truthfulness" of the buzz they generate. And I also believe that some of the evangelism that is being "preached" does indeed appear a bit odd, when compared to the issues that require (?) - deserve (?) - should have (?) true evangelism, such as religion maybe, or beliefs about where mankind as a whole is headed. Isn't it odd that companies dream about evangelism on behalf of their brands, when there are other issues (poverty, famine...) that would need evangelism much more dearly? I work with WOM marketing, so some of this might seem counter-productive to my work, yet these are things that I do think about. Thanks again for the post.
Thanks for the post. I recently ran a WOM promotion for a client opening a new fitness facility (zero ad budget). I focused the campaign on "connectors" - Malcolm Gladwell's term in his book Tipping Point.
The word of mouth strategy included local non-profit fitness clubs, free clinics at the facility for two-weeks prior to the opening, charity (youth groups), and email newsletters. All of the above created WOM buzz.
We also sent handouts/fliers and press releases to a list of connectors we identified in the community. Then, we asked them to spread the word - create some WOM - and they did.
The key to the promotion was honesty and well-written, consistent communications across the board. Everything had to flow - emails, handouts, PR, website, clinic presentations, etc. I find several small and mid- size business owners fail here; it's worth paying a pro if you don't have an inhouse communication specialist. It's difficult, if not impossible, to create WOM without consistent communications.
Over 300 people attended the Grand Opening and numerous others talked about the new facility, a major success for my client given his budget.
Thanks for your comment Martin. There is some interesting discussion about the differences between a) "social marketing" (where the goal is for the marketing effort to directly benefit the participants or society as a whole, such as a public health campaign) rather than the (commercial) marketer or the marketer's company, and b) "social network marketing" (other terms might be consumer-generated media, peer-to-peer, "connected" marketing, etc.). The following two posts comment on the downside of blurring the usage of the two terms but how the blurring of what the two terms represent might be ultimately productive:
Spare Change's "An Open Letter to the New 'Social Marketers'"
Influential Interactive Marketing's "The Evolution of Marketing"
Commenting by HaloScan
