Last week, I was in California and presented a four-hour Buzz Camp to massage therapists and alternative health care providers at the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville. I was impressed with the enthusiasm and interest that people had for using social media and other Web 2.0 tools to create buzz for their practices.
It's exciting to see that social media is generating real business results for small business as an excellent article in today's New York Times indicates. Another piece worth reading in the Wall Street Journal points out that sustaining buzz in social media requires creativity and strategic thinking.
A couple of days ago, I heard a great interview on NPR's Talk of the Nation with Emily Yellin, author of Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us. Emily spoke about the history and future of customer service and discussed some fascinating research that she did at customer service centers around the world. One comment that I found particularly striking and true: "Customer service is the future of marketing."
Too many companies are preoccupied with trying to stir up interest in their products and services with word of mouth marketing. Yet, once they get a prospect to call them, visit their websitie, or come into their showroom, poor service prevents them from making the sale. Or, even worse, the customer makes a purchase and then has a problem that the company fails to resolve in a quick and satsifactory manner.
Positive word of mouth will grow when a company delivers upon its promises with stellar customer service. Many businesses would be much better served getting their customer service practices in order so that purchases create happy customers willing to come back and refer their friends.
Many businesses are struggling to attract customers with reduced
marketing dollars. Even companies that have kept their marketing
budgets intact are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their
sales objectives since consumers are buying less and not responding to
traditional advertising. That's why I'm launching Buzz Camp which is a
results-producing, idea-generating half-day workshop designed to help
businesses of all sizes break through the commercial clutter and get
people buzzing and buying in spite of a challenging economic
environment. The first Buzz Camp will take place on 4/23/09 in Berkeley, CA in association with the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.
The latest trends in buzz marketing and what they mean for your business.
How to build a cohesive brand message that drives business growth.
Buzz secrets from America’s most successful companies.
How
to create buzz through online newsletters, seminars, special events,
blogs, networking (both face-to-face and online including Facebook and
LinkedIn), consumer review websites (Angie’s List, CitySearch, Yelp,
etc.), and viral videos.
The
inside scoop on what the media and bloggers want and how to generate
free publicity that greatly exceeds what you could afford to purchase
in advertising.
How
to obtain free and prominent media and blogger coverage using a simple
three-step process that Patrick developed to land his clients in The
Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Forbes, Boston
Globe, InStyle, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, San Francisco
Chronicle, San Francisco Business Times, San Jose Mercury News, Contra
Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, The View from the Bay (KGO TV), NBC News, Evening Magazine (KPIX TV) , KTVU News, Home & Garden Television, etc.
Techniques to increase the loyalty and enthusiasm of your customers and prospects that drive repeat sales and referrals.
How
to get to the top of Google and other leading search engines through
search engine optimization (SEO) without wasting money on pay-per-click
(PPC) advertising.
Check out details and registration information for Buzz Camp here.
What a year it has been for the economy! Barring an extraordinary recovery today, it looks like major US stock indexes will close nearly 40% lower than they were on 1/1/08 - the biggest yearly decline since the 1930s.
If you're like me, you might be wondering what to do with your dwindling 401(k) or other funds tied up in the stock market. While it's tempting to pull out of the stock market entirely based on all the bad news you're hearing from the media and your friends, Bill Bernstein, neurologist and famous economic theorist, would likely suggest that you don't fall victim to the herd mentality of stock naysers. In fact, in this brilliant interview on NPR's Planet Money podcast series, he eloquently articulates why the best time to invest is oftentimes when things look the most grim and word of mouth suggests that you should pull your money out of the stock market.
May 2009 bring your success in your all your business and personal endeavors! And, regardless of how down you may feel, remember to laugh a lot in the coming year since it will likely help you live longer and happier.
A few months ago, my friend and client Anthony Sandberg at OCSC Sailing let me use his beatiful club room in the Berkeley Marina overlooking San Francisco Bay to give a two-hour seminar on "Galvanizing Your Business with Buzz." Max Fancher, the owner of Maximize Video Productions, shot and edited the below clip using two high definition cameras. If you're looking for somebody to shoot your corporate video, I highly recommend Max for his creativity, professionalism, and reasonable pricing. You can check out his work here.
If you have a high-speed connection to the Internent, you'll note that the image quality of the below is much better than what you've typically seen on YouTube. Although it has not been widely announced, YouTube now allows the uploading of high quality video. If you're interested in seeing the difference between standard and high quality video as well as how to watch or upload high quality video on YouTube's website, check out this excellent post on Jimmy Ruska's blog.
Small companies, which can't afford television advertising, now have a tremendous opportunity to create buzz for their businesses posting high quality videos to YouTube. Blendtec, a small commercial blender company based in Utah received more millions of views of its YouTube videos (all in low definition) and increased sales 43% in less than a year (see this article in The Wall Street Journal for details). I'm sure that the advent of high quality video on YouTube means that there will be a lot more success stories like Blendtec since YouTube's already huge audience is bound to increase now that watching online videos doesn't mean putting up with grainy images.
Thanks to the outstanding free newsletter that I receive from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, I learned that according to a new study from PQ Media, spending on alternative media, which word of mouth marketing is a part of, is expected to continue to grow in 2008, in spite of a slowing economy. Alternative media spending grew 22.0% to $73.43 billion in 2007, according to PQ Media's research. Spending is projected to grow 20.2% to $88.24 billion in 2008.
In May 2005, BusinessWeek Magazine did one of the first cover stories on the blogging phenomenon. Last week, they published an interesting update of that piece in a blogging style with lots of active links. It's worth reading to see an important media outlet's take on on the future of blogging. BusinessWeek is bullish on blogging and social media as a tool for business. In fact, in the piece, they announced a BusinessWeek blog called Blogspotting which provides an interesting take on how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society.
I've been blogging since January 2005 and my blog visitors now far exceeds my website audience since Google ranks blog posts much higher than website content. For instance, you'll find this blog in the top ten search results in Google under "publicity stunts" while my website is invisible in this search even thought I talk about publicity stunts.
While I've only landed one client who came to the blog first, the blog has proven to be an excellent way to show prospects how I think. And, I know that a few clients have chosen my services over competitors since they identify with my creative word of mouth marketing approach over traditional advertising. If you're a blogger, I would be curious to know how blogging has helped grow your business. What have you done to make blogging an effective business building tool?
According to a recent article in the excellent online newsletter of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Horowitz Associates released a report on "Broadband Content and Services 2007" stating that six out of ten internet users download or watch video content on a weekly basis, and 86% say they view video at least once per month. News and user-generated videos top the lists of what internet users are watching.
In 2007, we helped three of our clients (Barbara Llewellyn Catering & Event Planning, STORViNO, and Bavarian Professionals) create welcome videos to meeting the growing demand for online video. The video portion of their websites have become quite popular and confirm the popularity of video that the Horowitz Associates report found.
Here are six keys for a successful welcome video:
Highlight the video prominently on the home page.
Tell a compelling story.
Focus on the entrepreneur and his or her values since people like buying from people they like.
Use interesting footage of the business in action while the business owner speaks.
Include customers talking about why they buy.
Be brief (effective welcome videos are usually one to three minutes long).
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're lucky to have a great company that specializes in online video. For all the aforementioned videos we created for our clients in 2007, we partnered with Max Fancher of Maximize Video Productions. Max is one of the most creative and conscientious professionals with whom I've worked and enjoys my highest recommendation. His other customers are equally enthusiastic.
Eric Newman at Brandweek has an interesting article about the growth of word of mouth marketing. In 2007, he noted that companies will spend $1.3 billion on WOM marketing, up almost 33% from $981 million in 2006. He quotes various pundits who anticipate that spending will continue growing at a rapid pace in 2008.
As a word of mouth marketing practitioner, I'm satisfied that my field is doing well. However, I have some concerns that the power of word of mouth marketing might be negatively impacted if marketers try to control it so closely that consumers doubt the credibility of the messages that they hear. Rather than obsessing about messages to communicate, all companies should realize that their best way to manage buzz is to ensure that their products and services are of the highest quality. Then, it makes sense to reach out to existing customers creatively to let them know that their buzz is both appreciated and necessary for the company's continued success.
Recently, a friend sent me me a few interesting stats regarding word of mouth marketing that I found quite enlightening. According to PQ Media, word of mouth marketing jumped 35.9% in 2006 to $981 million, and its expected to climb at a compound annual rate of 30.4% in the 2006-2011 period to $3.7 billion. Keller Fay Group found that Americans engage in nearly 3.5 billion (!) brand-related conversations (that is, people talking about specific companies, products or services) per day, and 80% of all people trust recommendations from family, friends, and "influential" persons over all other forms of marketing and advertising.
In other words, you can be certain that people are talking about your company and what they have to say has a huge impact on your success. What are you doing to make sure that that customer buzz is positive?
Galvin Communications The website for my word of mouth marketing and PR firm. Sign up for The Buzz Bulletin, a free monthly eNewsletter.
WOMMA: Word of Mouth Marketing Association An outstanding resource for word of mouth marketing information. This respected organization also puts on a variety of well-organized and information-rich events and conferences which are worth attending.
Speaking
Looking for a Creative Marketing Expert & Dynamic Speaker? Learn more about my customized keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and half or full day seminars on word of mouth marketing and other topics that galvanize business success.
Books
Bella the Boxer: Secrets of a Working Dog: Unleash Your Potential and Create Success Bella, a boxer dog and my company's director of goodwill (D.O.G.), teaches overworked and overstressed humans how to live successful and meaningful lives by thinking like a dog. Bella has improved our family's life so much since we brought her home five years ago. Read this book and you'll wonder why it has taken you so long to listen to the wisdom of dogs.
Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz: Go for No! A great parable about a salesman who learns that every "no" brings him closer to "yes" - an important lesson for anybody who wants to create buzz.
Chip Heath: Made to Stick This is the best business book that I've read since The Tipping Point since it provides a new way at looking at how you try to tell people about your products or services. You'll have lots of new ideas for promoting your business when you've finished reading this book. And, you'll discover that the best way to promote yourself doesn't involve spending money on marketing rather its all about learning how to tell your business stories better.
T. J. Walker: Media Training A-Z Walker, an accomplished media trainer, provides great practical insight into maximizing the value of the media spotlight. By following his simple suggestions, you'll go into interviews much more confident and come out of them with much better results for your business.
Andy Sernovitz: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking This is the perfect book for an entrepreneur looking for a "how-to" on word of mouth marketing rather than a theoretical or academic overview. Andy Sernovitz built the Word of Mouth Marketing Association using many of the intriguing word of mouth marketing tactics he describes. His strategies are practical for both small and large businesses as his interesting case studies demonstrate. You may put this book down a few times while reading it so you can start implementing some of its excellent ideas.
Fred Reichheld: The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth Too many companies are addicted to bad profits. These corporate steroids boost short-term earnings but burn out employees and alienate customers. Learn why the answer to one simple question can determine your company's future: Would you recommend us to a friend?
Mark Hughes: Buzzmarketing This book contains some great stories from an experienced buzz marketer that illustrate the importance of finding angles that make you stand apart from the competition. I loved the story of how getting the town of Halfway, Oregon to change its name to Half.com generated a flood of publicity. You'll learn some great practical tips from this book.
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Why do major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly? Ideas, behaviour, messages, and products often spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. This book will help you understand how social epidemics take off and reach critical mass.
Al Ries: The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR Credibility is the crucial ingredient in brand building. This book explains why PR should be used to launch a brand while advertising should be used only once major PR opportunities have been realized.
