Archive of tag "word of mouth"

This gym. ZombieFit puts an insane spin on standard fitness classes:

What if you woke up tomorrow to find your city overridden with zombies, would you survive? This may seem childish, but by preparing for the impossible, you’ll be ready for the improbable.

The keys to surviving Z-day are simple: Be able to lift and throw heavy things, run fast and for long distances, and be able to navigate obstacles and urban environments in an efficient manner. By following the ZombieFit WODs (workout of the day) and practicing parkour, you will achieve increased fitness through the performance of functional movements at high intensity and find within yourself the internal discipline and mental fortitude necessary to become a traceur.

This is GOOD MARKETING. Differentiate. Be remarkable. Be worth talking about.

More about ZombieFit.

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That question may be the most important question you can ask — and the business innovation of the decade. It comes from Fred Reichheld‘s Net Promoter Score concept and his book The Ultimate Question. You should read the book and start using it immediately.

Of course, I love it because it’s a word of mouth question. Measuring your success in terms of working for the referral takes a lot of complicated business goals and boils it down to one simple idea — is the customer so happy that they will refer us?

It’s a question that works for every department. The CEO knows that referrals are important, but so does the delivery guy. Each employee can succeed by defining their job in terms of the did I earn the referral today? objective.

You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to start asking this question and how quickly it aligns your company around what really matters: customers that love you so much that they sing your praises to their friends.

Here’s a great email I got from Rackspace:

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Learn more from NetPromoter.com.

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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.]

Focus is what builds brands and earns fans. The less distractions for you and your customers, the better for everyone. A few ways to do it:

1> With your selection
2> With your menu
3> With your talent
4> Check it out: Simply Noise

1> With your selection

Too much variety can confuse customers and cost you the sale. When Walmart Canada cut two of its five lines of peanut butter to free up shelf space, they actually sold more peanut butter. The results mirror a 2007 study by Bain & Co. which found that reducing the number of products you offer can increase sales by as much as 40 percent — all while reducing costs 10 to 35 percent. Take a look at what’s on your store shelves, you might find you can cut the selection (and some inventory headaches) and increase sales at the same time.

The lesson: When you focus your selection, your best products get more attention.

Learn more: Globe and Mail

2> With your menu

Restaurants are notorious for over-complicating their menus and featuring items they don’t do well. At New York’s I Trulli restaurant, owner Nicola Marzovilla keeps his menu focused — so much so that he refuses to offer a children’s menu, even though diners frequently request it. More than stubbornness, it’s out of his restaurant’s focus on family and nutrition. He’s more than willing to offer a smaller portion of something from the menu, but you won’t see chicken fingers, grilled cheese, or PB&J being served.

The lesson: Customers don’t always know what they’re looking for. Sometimes, it requires ignoring them to give them what they really want.

Learn more: New York Times

3> With your talent

The riches are in the niches. UK-based Red Photography will shoot a wide range of stuff, but they’re especially talented with cans and bottles. Instead of adding this to their offerings alongside location photography, food, and people, they created separate micro businesses “We Shoot Bottles” and “We Shoot Cans.” In terms of both branding and SEO, the specific focus gives them a big advantage over competitors who try to do everything.

The lesson: Focus on what you’re absolutely, fantastically, undeniably amazing at — and cut the rest.

Learn more: We Shoot Bottles and We Shoot Cans

4> Check it out: Simply Noise

If you need some noise to drown out your co-worker’s hacking cough — but can’t work to music — try Simply Noise. It’s no Pandora or Grooveshark, but it’s great at what it promises: All static, all the time.

Check it out: Simply Noise

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Reviews on your website build customer trust and increase sales. We’d all rather buy from companies and products that are well-recommended.

How do you get more reviews? Just ask.

Send a reminder email asking for reviews after each order. Take a look at this great example that Costco sent me:

  1. Give a clear call to action: “Write a review!”
  2. Show the benefit: “Reviews help us provide you and all Costco members with better products and service.”
  3. Make it easy: Instructions are right in the email.

(Disclosure: Costco is a client and their reviews are powered by Bazaarvoice, where I’m an advisor.)

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I called a cab in a new town, which is a do-it-and-forget-it experience for most people.

So how does the cab company get me to remember them?

They didn’t just email the order confirmation. They focused on earning the next sale.

The email had coupons and an invitation to install their app on my phone. Great move — once I install it, they are likely to be the only cab company that I have handy for the next order.

How can you change your post-sale follow-up to get a customer to remember your name?

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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.]

Fark — a site where members comment on news stories — has quietly become one of the most successful and longest-running online communities. With 4 million unique visitors a month and nearly 500,000 members, Fark is among the top 100 English language websites. A few lessons they can teach us:

1> Headlines should be great previews
2> Protect the community by delaying membership
3> Offer an upgrade for big fans
4> Check it out: Fark

1> Headlines should be great previews

Fark creates their own headlines for the stories they feature and then send visitors on to news sites to read the full text. They only have a few words to get a reader’s attention — their headlines are everything. A handy trick they use is great previews (without giving the full story away). For example, recent Fark headlines include “A lake is draining unexpectedly in your city and fish left behind are dead or dying. What do you do? Bring in a hungry alligator, of course (w/ pics)” and “Under the laws of American Samoa, police aren’t allowed to carry guns. Since you’re reading this on Fark, you know it won’t end well.”

The lesson: Great headlines make people curious and want to learn more — without giving away the full story.

2> Protect the community by delaying membership

Every community — online and off — has people who show up only to criticize, insult other members, and tear things down. Fark is able to avoid most of these insulting comments from passing visitors by simply delaying membership and commenting abilities by a few hours. This short delay is enough to weed out 99% of the people who are only there to leave drive-by insults.

The lesson: Giving your community a barrier to entry ensures only the people who really care can get in.

3> Offer an upgrade for big fans

There is no cost to join the Fark community, but it became clear early on that the biggest fans wanted more. So in 2002 they introduced a subscription membership. For $5 a month, TotalFarkers have the privilege of seeing and commenting on all links submitted to the site (as opposed to only those included on the main page) — and they’re eligible to receive an @ultrafark.com email address. These seemingly small bonuses mean a lot to Fark’s biggest fans, and in just five years more than 2,000 of their readers have opted for the paid subscription.

The lesson: Small perks can mean big things to your passionate fans.

4> Check it out: Fark

Fark’s not only a good source of marketing ideas, it’s also a great place to find out what’s happening in the world of bizarre news on any given day.

Check it out: Fark

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Big basket of thanks

August 17, 2010

Zappos NoteThere is a big basket of blank thank-you notes at the end of every row of cubicles at Zappos.

Guess what? The employees send a lot of thank you notes to customers.

How easy can you make it for your employees to make customers happy?

(Start reading Switch by Chip & Dan Heath for the science/logic of this sort of thing. It’s a must-read book.)

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Guaranteed. Period.

August 16, 2010

Lands’ End has always said it, plain and simple:

Guaranteed. Period.

If you’re not satisfied with any item, simply return it to us at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price.

No BS. Honest and clean.

Get up right now and strip one line of jargon out of your business writing. Every company has some. You’ll be better for it.

lands' end bag cropped

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Send a birthday card to a customer

August 15, 2010

On her birthday, my wife received a card and a coupon from Anthropologie, one of her favorite stores. The necklace got you to engage with the offer, to play with it, and to think about it. (A regular flyer would have been tossed.) The coupon was for a discount the entire month of your birthday, [...]

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Do you have a social object? If not, how are people going to talk about you?

August 12, 2010

Hugh MacLeod designed these two prints based on my favorite WOM lines. Do read Hugh’s social object post to understand one of the biggest ideas in word of mouth: 1. Would anybody tell a friend? If it’s a social object, yes. 2. Advertising is the cost of not being a social object. And then … [...]

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Newsletter #796: The “Special Things for Special Customers” Issue

August 12, 2010

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.] Small gestures for special groups of customers can do amazing things. A few opportunities to do it: 1> Your menu [...]

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Our friends at EyeCare 20/20 just gave 55 people clean water for 20 years — you too can help

August 11, 2010

Wow! Cary Silverman and the amazing team at EyeCare 20/20 just donated $1,100 to our WOM for Water project through charity: water. They simply asked their fans to get involved with this amazing cause — and in doing so, just brought fresh water to 55 people for 20 years. And they’re not done. For every [...]

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I'm Andy Sernovitz, a fairly helpful marketing guy. I write about word of mouth marketing, ethics, common-sense business, and entrepreneurship.

I'm an author, professional speaker, consultant, and teacher.

I look like this. I'm a Sagittarius. These are my turn-ons. The greatest album in the world. Full bio here...

I Teach Word of Mouth Marketing

GasPedal LogoYou can have amazing word of mouth.

Word of mouth marketing is something you can do very well. My company GasPedal will help you get started quickly, with simple-but-intense training, honest answers, and eye-opening ideas. GasPedal's fast, how-to marketing strategies are affordable, easy to execute, and deliver measurable ROI in 60 days.

Learn more: http://gaspedal.com

Social Media Business CouncilJoin the Social Media Business Council, a brands-only community that helps large organizations build successful social media programs.

Learn more: http://www.socialmedia.org

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