I wrote recently about how important the medium is when trying to get viral word of mouth. Encouraging customers to talk about our product or service however is something we all aspire to, regardless of the medium they use to do so.
Here are five way to get your customers talking about you and your organization:
- Ask them – Any customer wants to feel valued by you, so why not ask them what it is about your products that they enjoy? Why do they buy your services? There may be some real insights lurking under the surface. With social media you can often get this insight without even having to ask, as customers share their thoughts online. Listening to what customers think however is a great way to get started in creating buzz.
- Educate them – Of course the best word of mouth happens naturally, but if you can create a strong customer community then it helps your customers to become both experts and advocates of your company and its products. So you want to educate them on your product yourself but also help them to educate each other.
- Include them – Part of this customer ecosystem should include you inviting your best customers to help co-create. Focus groups are the traditional manifestation of this, but you can do much better than that by using social media. See this example of how Lego have done this very well.
- Make them feel famous – Customer testimonials are great as they provide you with authentic feedback for other customers, plus they put the person into the spotlight. If you're hosting an event for instance it's very easy to go around with a camera and record some quick Vox Pox with customers on how they love you. Maybe you could ask them to write a blog on how they use your product, or upload photos to Pinterest or something. The web is awash with customers showing off how they use products, use your clout to bring them to the attention of your other customers.
- Surprise them – As with any nice treat, it always works best when the recipient isn't expecting it. Delivering something exceptional is without doubt the best way to garner word of mouth. A nice culture to empower this is by allowing people that interact regularly with customers to act off the cuff. If they have to ask permission to make customers feel special then it'll generally squash their initiative, but if they have the freedom to use their own instincts you'd be amazed what can be achieved.
A few simple things there that can help you generate word of mouth. I'd love to hear your thoughts and what has worked well for you, so leave a comment if you have any other ideas.
Some excellent suggestions! I love the idea of asking (polling) customers to find out what they like best. An educated customer is always the best kind of customer since you are empowering them to make the right choices and know more about your product. Including them to be co-creators is a great idea so they feel a sense of ownership. Thanks for all these ideas – I think even small business consultants such as me can benefit from and use them, which I plan to do. I'm wondering about the testimonials part, because I always hesitate to ask for these even when customers have come and told me how happy they are with my work – I keep wondering if they will be willing to publicly testify? Will keep you posted on how it works out:)
Thanks Gazalla, look forward to hearing how you get on
Great advice, Adi. I was attending a conference yesterday and the speaker talking about LinkedIn stated the obvious, yet highly underestimated "ask for recommandation" tool. We often don't think of asking colleagues or work relations to write up a recommandation about us until we are out of of a job, or searching for a new one! Not to mention that we could and should ask for recommandations for our work as a company: a satisfied customer will usually be happy to oblige and write a line or two as testimonial.
You are right: simply asking is often enough to get a few clients to talk and be brand advocates. And sometimes you simply need to give a little push, and people are often more generous than we think with their time and comments.
Cheers from Quebec City,
Frederic
Really good tips here, thanks for sharing.
I think educating your customers is the most powerful thing you can do especially in email marketing. People are tired of being sold to all the time and are surprised when they are given useful and practical information instead. Just like this blog post =)
Asking customers questions is the key point here, then of course using and acting on the information you find out about them.
And of course listening to them when they talk about you umprompted. The beauty of social media is that this has never been easier.
Yes and listening! Probably the most important of all. People love to be listened to.
Adi,
Brief and to the point. I like that very much!