Category Archive: Newsletter
Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
None of your customers wake up saying, “Man, I wish things were more complicated.” Great marketers remember this before adding new features, rules, and complications. A few examples here:
1> Your product line
2> Your shopping cart
3> Your membership program
4> Check it out: I Write Like…
1> Your product line
Selling a million different versions of the same product will confuse and frustrate your customers. Think ink cartridges — every printer ever made comes with its own specific cartridge, identified only by some cryptic code of letters and numbers you can never remember when you’re in the store. But Kodak on the other hand sells just three ink cartridges, and they each work in any Kodak printer. Their focus on simplicity is really setting them apart, especially against competitors with 40 to 50 different cartridges in their product line.
The lesson: What can you trim, cut, and remove that can make life simpler for your customers?
Learn more: Rohit Bhargava
2> Your shopping cart
Never make it hard for a customer to give you money. Simple purchase processes will always beat complicated ones. For example, in an A/B test of the Official Vancouver 2010 Olympics Store, a simple single-page shopping cart increased overall conversion rates 250% over a two-page shopping cart. Look at your check-out lines, your invoices, and your online order forms for opportunities to make them more frustration-free.
The lesson: Even the tiniest of simplifications to your purchase process can lead to dramatic increases in conversion rates.
Learn more: GetElastic
3> Your membership program
If the rewards of your membership or loyalty program are difficult to redeem, why would anyone sign up? InterContinental Hotels Group lets you use your points anywhere — even competitors’ hotels. By removing all the layers of rules, regulations, and fine print in their rewards program, they’ve made it much easier for travelers (and a whole lot more desirable to sign up).
The lesson: Nobody wants to sign up for more hassles.
Learn more: InterContinental Hotels Group
4> Check it out: I Write Like…
Using their “statistical analysis tool,” I Write Like will analyze your latest blog post, journal entry, or book chapter and tell you which famous writer your style is most like. This newsletter issue, for example, has a very Cory Doctorow feel to it according to I Write Like.
Check it out: I Write Like
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Word of mouth is more than a marketing technique, it’s a powerful way for important messages to spread. We were so amazed by the work of charity: water, we’re making them the official cause of our upcoming Word of Mouth Supergenius event on July 20 in New York.
You can show the world what word of mouth can do. In about two minutes, your $20 can bring clean water to one person for 20 years: http://mycharitywater.org/wom
And if you’re looking to build word of mouth around an important cause, take a few notes from the brilliant folks at charity: water:
1> Create a shareable URL
2> Recognize the organizer
3> Recognize the donors
4> Simplify the story
5> Make it easy to share
6> Give them stuff to share
7> Let them share in familiar ways
8> Tie it to a social event
9> Turn givers into fundraisers
10> Build a well
1> Create a shareable URL
Your URL is how people will share your event online. Big clunky ones make it hard to forward, so keep yours short and simple. Charity: water makes it easy to create your own short, descriptive URL (for example, ours is http://mycharitywater.org/wom).
2> Recognize the organizer
The people organizing events to raise you money are everything — make them feel special. Charity: water helps organizers by giving them their own page to send friends to. When you’re recruiting donors, you’re not sending them to the Red Cross home page, it’s your goal, your name, and your logo. It’s your cause.
3> Recognize the donor
Make donors feel like rock stars. Let them know how much their contribution means to your cause and let the world know how much they helped. Donors to charity: water get a big thank you message after contributing and their name is added to a scoreboard that includes their own personal message.
4> Simplify the story
Your story is your topic — and like all word of mouth topics they should be simple, portable, and repeatable. With charity: water, your goal is tied to specific numbers (10 wells, 10 villages, $20 equals 20 years worth of water, etc.). It makes it easy to talk about and easy to see what a difference even a tiny donation can make.
5> Make it easy to share
Fewer steps between your donors and their social networks means your cause is more likely to go viral. Charity: water uses simple one-click buttons to share with Twitter, Facebook, and to email friends.
6> Give them stuff to share
Make it easy on your talkers by giving them everything they need to talk about you. Charity: water has videos fans can embed, sample stories, banners, posters, T-shirts, wristbands — everything a talker needs to spread the word.
7> Let them share in familiar ways
Post your shareable content in ways that talkers are familiar with. Host your videos on Vimeo and YouTube, put your photos on Flickr, and create web banners in standard sizes.
8> Tie it to a social event
Use every opportunity for your cause to piggyback existing events and topics. Charity: water lets you donate your birthday — a naturally social event — to invite friends to contribute to a water project rather than give gifts.
9> Turn givers into fundraisers
Donors to your cause are a likely crowd to start their own fundraising project. After you donate to a charity: water page, you’re immediately offered the chance to start your own fundraiser. In less than two minutes and in about two clicks, someone can go from donor to fundraiser.
10> Build a well
Help us show the world what word of mouth can do. $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years. And every person you tell about our project helps bring a well to some fantastic communities on the other side of the world that really need our help.
Build a well: http://mycharitywater.org/wom
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Would anybody tell a friend?
It’s an important question.
It’s a question that raises the bar, that makes you better, that changes your company forever.
You only have two choices: Be so special that people want to talk about you — or buy advertising.
Be interesting — or be invisible.
Because being good is different than being worth talking about. Making a good product isn’t good enough anymore. Everyone does that these days.
Change the game.
Push yourself to ask: Are we being remarkable? Is this a purple cow? Are we awesome yet?
Challenge yourself to be worth talking about. Would someone look at your stuff, drop what they are doing, and say, “You’ve got to see this?” Are they inspired to tweet, share, like, friend, forward, or run down the hall and stick it in the face of a co-worker or family member?
If not — I compel you to make it WONDERFUL, OUTRAGEOUS, PURPLE, DELICIOUS, SMELLY, GOOFY, LIFE-SAVING, AMAZING, OR DEEPLY MEANINGFUL.
Put this on the wall.
This question should be taped to your computer monitor, stuck in your wallet, and hung in your conference room. And thanks to the amazing Hugh MacLeod — one of our brilliant authors speaking at Word of Mouth Supergenius — you can make it look awesome when you post it.
Get a fancy, fine art print by visiting Hugh’s art gallery. Show off your WOM pride by getting a shirt, hat, or poster at our WOM store.
Meet Hugh.
Hugh’s remarkable custom creation is the rally flag for our Word of Mouth Supergenius conference. Meet Hugh (and 30 other amazing marketers) live at July 20 in New York.
Our promise: Inspiring advice you can actually use to get people talking about you. This is a practical, you-can-do-it, blow-your-mind-with-results kind of day. Find out how.
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If you’re getting stressed about all the elaborate, expensive, shiny social tools out there — take a deep breath. Social media can be easy (and fun) and still profitable. A few examples here:
1> To share insider stuff
2> To offer simple deals
3> To thank your fans
4> Check it out: Convert YouTube videos to MP3 files
1> To share insider stuff
So many marketers are on the hunt for “viral” content, they overlook the great stuff they already have. At our last BlogWell event, ExOffico’s Kenny Rowe showed us that their most popular content is when they simply take fans behind the scenes to show off their company’s culture and personality. Their Facebook album alone featuring photos from their Halloween party drove more comments, “likes”, and overall engagement than any expensive or gimmicky viral campaign could have.
The lesson: Before you go looking outside for great social media content, remember to take a look at the great stuff you’re already doing.
Learn more: Vimeo
2> To offer simple deals
Online and off, people love a sale or discount — especially if it feels exclusive. Domino’s Ramon De Leon is the king of clever deals for his social media followers. In one simple example, he posted a Facebook offer of two pizzas for the price of however long it took fans to respond to the message. Sure, he loses money on the first couple of quick respondents. But he makes up for it by being able to follow up with all the people who later comment about missing the deal with further offers. And he does this sort of stuff all the time. It rewards the most loyal and attentive followers and helps him make connections with new ones.
The lesson: Old fashioned stuff — coupons, discounts, and exclusive offers — work just fine at starting conversations in new media.
Learn more: Vimeo
3> To thank your fans
How do you thank your biggest talkers? Do you even know who they are? Adagio Teas is clever in their social media outreach, but they earn a ton of word of mouth with something simpler: They thank bloggers when they talk about them. We blogged about them because we liked how easy they made it for people to follow them on Twitter and Facebook throughout their order process. We were surprised when a few days later we received a little thank you note with some freebies. It’s not just us — they do it for lots of talkers, both big and small. And each thank you doubles their word of mouth because we all talk about the friendly gesture.
The lesson: It doesn’t take a social media expert to figure out how to thrill your best talkers with a simple thank you.
Learn more: Computerworld
4> Check it out: Convert YouTube videos to MP3 files
Whether it’s tunes, audio interviews, or Justin Bieber’s latest release, Dirpy can convert the video to an MP3 file so you can jam to it during your next commute.
Check it out: Dirpy
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Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Smart, resourceful marketers know they’ve already got everything they need. But sometimes, it may just need a little repackaging, rearranging, and updating. A few smart examples here:
1> Your restaurant
2> Your parking lot
3> Your albums
4> Check it out: Learn something every day
1> Your restaurant
With a little repackaging of what they have to offer, restaurants and bars can pitch more than a menu. Lots of people liked going to Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar and Grill in Boston to watch Redsox games, so they saw an opportunity to repackage the experience. For $500, fans can buy “season passes” to the bar to watch Redsox games (on TV). The package includes a reserved table for each game, no waiting in lines, and a $25 food credit and a free beer per visit. Now in the first year of the pass, they’ve already sold out and are taking names for their 2011 wait list.
The lesson: Look beyond your menu (or product line, existing services, etc.) to find opportunities to offer something more to loyal customers.
Learn more: JerryRemys.com
2> Your parking lot
Turns out, there’s more opportunity in your parking lot than the usual office politics of reserved spaces. Sam’s Club repackaged and retrofitted their existing light poles with small wind turbines. Though early in the experiment, they’re already producing more than enough energy to annually power six average American homes. And every green organization, blogger, and journalist is thrilled to talk about it (and rightfully so).
The lesson: There’s more to marketing than your website and sales brochures. It’s everywhere you’ve got a chance to get people talking (including the parking lot).
Learn more: TreeHugger
3> Your albums
Lots of artists, musicians, and businesses alike focus on selling one-off creations. But for big fans, that may not be enough. Funky rockers I Fight Dragons repackaged their offerings and created 100 Lifetime Membership USB drives for $100. The package included lifetime admission to any IFD show, free digital content for life, and some other special bonuses. They quickly sold out, giving the band a handy $10,000 and an opportunity to do something special for their biggest talkers.
The lesson: Sometimes, the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts. What can you rearrange, remix, and repackage to create something bigger than your individual offerings?
Learn more: Music Think Tank
4> Check it out: Learn something every day
Did you know bees can detect explosives? That only 3% of us get the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night? That scientists have found alcohol in space? Well, you do now.
Check it out: Learn Something Every Day
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Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
As a preview for Word of Mouth Supergenius on July 20 in New York, I’m sharing a big list of all the reasons why we love to talk about Zappos.
CEO Tony Hsieh is our keynote speaker for the “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” conference, and he’ll be talking about how to build a culture around happiness that creates passion, purpose, and profits.
Why we talk about Zappos:
1> They forgive you when you make a mistake
2> They talk to you at night about your weird feet
3> They humor your shoe fetish
4> They’ll send you flowers
5> They’ll get you a pizza
6> They stop for lunch
7> They have a big family
8> They pay people to quit
9> They surprise and delight you
10> They remind us that marketing is about brains, not budgets
1> They forgive you when you make a mistake
No matter what you order, no matter how much (or little) you order, or even if you ordered over eight months ago — Zappos will take it back. If you picked the wrong color, if you change your mind, or if your feet are a little wider than you remembered, Zappos will take care of you. When it’s impossible to make a mistake, there’s no reason for customers to hesitate during the buying process.
2> They talk to you at night about your weird feet
At Zappos, their customer service reps are trained to take the time to make sure customers get the help they need — no matter how long it takes. There are no scripts or time limits. In one amazing example, one of their reps spoke with a customer for more than four hours to help them find the perfect pair of shoes.
3> They humor your shoe fetish
Zappos will let you order as many pairs of shoes as you want. You can touch them, smell them, try them on, and then return them all at no cost. Zappos shows love to shoe lovers — and they in turn love Zappos. And as any teenager knows, love is fun to talk about.
4> They’ll send you flowers
Any Zappos employee can send flowers to a customer. Because shoes are often bought for special occasions — weddings, birthdays, baby showers, etc. — Zappos takes advantage of the opportunity to help customers celebrate. And few things in this world start more conversations than a giant bouquet of fresh flowers.
5> They’ll get you a pizza
Zappos will help you get whatever you need — even if they don’t sell it. In perhaps their most legendary customer service story, CEO Tony Hsieh (half jokingly) suggested a vendor call Zappos when they were having trouble tracking down a late night pizza while on a business trip. They did, and the rep ended up putting them in touch with three different local pizza places offering after-hours delivery.
6> They stop for lunch
When we toured Zappos’ amazing distribution facility in Louisville, the entire place was quiet. It was lunchtime, and everyone had stopped to eat together. Later in our tour, we discovered they were in the process of actually replacing machines with real people in their distribution facility. Zappos’ commitment to their employees is real, and they return the favor with real loyalty and real love.
7> They have a big family
Zappos is like one big, remarkable family. And it’s not just a family of employees and customers — vendors are part of it too. Vendors can log in to Zappos’ system, track inventory, and figure out what’s selling and what isn’t. By working alongside their suppliers instead of against them, they’re able to create better deals, plan better, and help everyone’s businesses grow.
8> They pay people to quit
Negative word of mouth is extremely expensive. It’s much cheaper to have a fantastic crew of employees who love making customers happy — and it’s more fun, too. After their intense training program, Zappos offers employees a $1,000 bonus to quit on the spot. It’s a fantastic final filter: The people who are there for the right reasons stay, and the ones who were going to cost them 10 times that in poor customer service go home.
9> They surprise and delight you
Zappos doesn’t do much in terms of up-front stunts and promotions. Instead, they invest in surprising, delightful experiences for their customers. Both strategies can pay off, but at Zappos, they’ve found that surprises — like instant upgrades to overnight shipping — create instant, long lasting conversations. And even loyal customers who have ordered dozens of shoes from Zappos still feel special each time they get a note saying they’re getting super-fast shipping, even though they didn’t order it.
10> They remind us that marketing is about brains, not budgets
Word of mouth marketing is about brains, vision, energy, and giving people a compelling reason to talk. Zappos doesn’t do anything you couldn’t do. The hand-written notes, the special surprises, the friendly service — it doesn’t take big money, it just takes commitment and hustle. It’s hard work, but Zappos has a billion reasons to prove it’s worth it.
11> Special bonus reason: Tony Hsieh’s speaking at Word of Mouth Supergenius!
See Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh live. He’ll be speaking at Word of Mouth Supergenius and everyone will get a copy of his new book. For a preview, check out our live interview.
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Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Sure, extra cash lying around might seem like a distant, nice-to-have problem. But in reality, you probably have more opportunities for creative uses of extra funds than you may realize. What to do:
1> Give it to charity
2> Save it for the next sale
3> Start a movement
4> Check it out: Third graders on why Pluto is a planet
1> Give it to charity
Everybody hates ATM fees. Few things are more frustrating than paying some anonymous entity a gouging fee for accessing your own money. But New York’s Choose Change ATM venture is changing the experience. They still charge a fee, but in doing so, they also let customers instantly donate a dollar of the fee to a charity of their choice. It’s a small tweak to the process that changes everything: Instead of an annoying fee, customers get to tell their friends how they helped a worthy cause. The lesson: Change the story about your buying experience by giving customers the chance to help a great nonprofit.
Learn more: PSFK
2> Save it for the next sale
If you help your customers save some cash, odds are they’ll have more to spend the next time they need what you offer. James Ready Beer’s recent billboard campaign is based on this idea. The billboards offer special coupons at local businesses — and with the money they save, James Ready lets them know how much they’ve got left for beer. There’s nothing fancy about the program, but it’s a simple way to get other businesses involved and talking about James Ready with their mutual customers.
The lesson: If you can help your customers save a little extra cash, there’s a good chance they’ll have more of it the next time they’re shopping with you.
Learn more: Adfreak
3> Start a movement
It might surprise you how little it can take to do something big. In 2001, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard along with friend Craig Matthews started the 1% For The Planet program — where companies pledge 1% of their sales to earth-friendly preservation and restoration projects. In less than a decade, more than 700 businesses around the world have signed up. And not only do they donate, they also collaborate, forge business relationships, and share ideas and resources amongst their fellow members.
The lesson: When you bring a bunch of smart, generous thinkers together, a little contribution from everyone can add up to significant results
Learn more: OnePercentForThePlanet.or
4> Check it out: Third graders on why Pluto is a planet
Pluto’s demotion from its planet status upset loyal third-grade fans. A bunch of them sent passionate (and often hilarious) letters arguing for the reinstatement of Pluto, and in a recent post Discover Magazine featured some of the best.
Check it out: Discover Magazine
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[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Too often, billing is unnecessarily boring. It doesn’t have to be, and to prove it, a few examples of clever ways to ring up the tab:
1> In bonds
2> In tickets
3> In donations
4> Check it out: Fiverr
1> In bonds
If you’re looking to raise money, you’ve got other options beyond banks and IPOs. When high-end British chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat was looking to expand, they sold bonds to their customers — bonds that paid out in chocolate. Each month, their “investors” receive Tasting Boxes of their best chocolate. And in three years, customers can then either opt to continue receiving their monthly boxes or redeem their bonds for a full return of their investment.
The lesson: You don’t always have to turn to outside lenders for capital. With a little creativity, you can get your biggest fans involved in a long-term investment relationship that benefits everyone.
Learn more: Springwise
2> In tickets
At most restaurants, you’re billed based on what you order. It’s how everyone does it, so most marketers forget it’s an opportunity to be different. But at superstar chef Grant Achatz’s new Chicago restaurant, he’s creating something of an event for diners — and so instead of traditional reservations, customers buy tickets in advance, in full, like they would for a concert or sporting event. It’s a subtle shift that changes the customers’ expectations from the get-go. Before even entering the restaurant, they know this isn’t going to be just another dinner.
The lesson: The less you do like everyone else, the more remarkable you are.
Learn more: Fast Company
3> In donations
People are naturally good and when asked politely, are often happy to help. Panera’s latest restaurant experiment is working to prove this: They’re asking customers to pay what they can afford. Their new nonprofit restaurant in St. Louis kindly preaches, “Take what you need, leave your fair share.” Their cashiers provide receipts that include suggested donations based on what customers have ordered and then direct them to donation boxes throughout the restaurant. And for those who can’t pay, they’re invited to volunteer their time. While still early in the experiment, the location’s revenues were up 20 percent on opening day.
The lesson: If you give your customers the chance to show their altruistic side, they’re likely to thank you with surprising generosity.
Learn more: St. Louis Business Journal
4> Check it out: Fiverr
Just when you thought five dollars couldn’t buy anything anymore, Fiverr shows up and brings us a whole community of people willing to do all sorts of tasks for five bucks. Train your dog, get a new logo, hire someone to listen to your life story — all for five bucks.
Check it out: Fiverr
PepsiCo: Recruiting talent with social media
Radian6: An exclusive chat with CEO Marcel LeBrun
BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media
