DISQUS

MizFit · 10 months ago

This was an ah ha! moment for me in a way.

I am influenced by realword 'endorsements' of products by people whom I know to be early adopters (had that experience with my first Flip a few years ago) but tend to read blog posts with a cynical eye at times.

The irony is I do many reviews at MizFit (nothing 'sponsored' or paid & always with the up front clarity to company I will speak my honest thoughts. Though I won't usually take on products I don't at least *anticipate* I'd like) and would be disappointed were other to read MY musings with same jaded perspective.

That said, I created a MizFit Seal of Approval for products which go above & beyond my expectations.

Only given it once.

Thanks for getting my saturday morning head *thinking*

Carla/Miz.

Ron Callari · 10 months ago

Hi Chris, great article,! However did notice in 2nd graph there was some HTML code still in your article that wasn't stripped out when you published: .

As a fellow writer, like to have these types of needed edits brought to my attention.

Best Regards, Ron

ChristineHueber · 10 months ago

Great & valuable information, thanks for sharing! I look forward to more!

Sonja Cassella · 10 months ago

One thing I do to find out where customers "are" at least in their minds is study the Google searches that are leading people to my site. This gives me ideas of what people are searching for, and I customize future blog posts to these search items.

David Gerbino · 10 months ago

Word of Mouth is important. On twitter I follow Andy Sernovitz, http://twitter.com/sernovitz who is author of Word of Mouth Marketing. The books site address is http://www.wordofmouthbook.com/

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is at http://www.womma.org/

Every Direct Marketing Company I worked for in my past had a metric for measuring the new members we got from Word of Mouth. The ones that really got it made it part of the strategic plan and made it part of the marketing mix with a budget goal.

Good economy of bad, every company, regardless of size or industry should be looking at this most basic form of marketing and remember one very important fact. Word of Mouth Marketing is not exclusive to social media, it has been around forever.

@dmgerbino

MaryBeth · 10 months ago

I really appreciate this perspective. Truly, I always learn as much from comments as I do from the blog posts themselves. You have helped me to continue to the next level. Glad to find you !

Cyrus · 10 months ago

Thank you for the post.

I was thinking of giving away an eBook on "Guide to Google WebMaster Tool" to promote my website. So the thing is to use find the right people who will spread the word about the eBook. Thank you for the info, they are great and confirms what I need to do.

Thank you again.

Josh Peters · 10 months ago

Chris, thanks a ton for this opportunity.

I'm glad everyone is finding this information valuable. Finding your audience and their influencers will always take time, but it's always worth it.

Erika Owens · 10 months ago

I am always searching for others opinions when looking for a new product. Yelp, blogs, friends, etc. Your right, we do trust others opinions more than marketing tactics so its great to think of your business in those terms and apply the "WOM" strategy.

Laura · 10 months ago

Josh,

Great post! Good points all around - why can't successful offline tactics work just as well (if not better) online? Both are communities, both thrive when the lines of communication are clear and effective. I don't think human behavior changes from online to offline; everyone still wants a recommendation from an "expert," so it's all about targeting, like you said. Thanks for the insights!

Heidi Richards Mooney · 10 months ago

Chris, I absolutely agree with Josh about word of mouth. I just did a book launch of my new ebook, Quirky Marketing and if it were not for all the efforts of my friends and family sharing it with their lists, I fear the marketing would have been non-existent.

Thank you for a great guest post.

Warmest regards,

Heidi Richards Mooney, Author, Entrepreneur, Business Coach

Robin Fenchel · 10 months ago

I definitely am influenced by online reviews. For tech "tools," I will check with my online friends in the real estate and technology fields. Amazon.com makes great use of consumer's opinions & reviews. When your searching for a product, they suggest other possible products with which to compare. Ultimately, I take all of this into account before making a decision.

Jim Calhoun · 10 months ago

I really loved this post, especially the "offline" example about the restaurant owner and beauty salons. Thanks for sharing with great, clear examples.

In my experience, there is often one critical element that gets overlooked as marketers try to get comfortable with social media. In this brave new world, the job of the brand is to give people an excuse to talk about your products or services with their friends, connections, neighbors -- what have you.

This post points out this simple but critical factor brilliantly. People engage in conversations around brands, products, and services every day. Marketers, big and small, can get great results when they simply provide "the excuse" that gets people talking. The best part? Simple works, just as in the great examples you shared above.

Thanks, and glad I stumbled across this!

Jodi Kaplan · 10 months ago

I posted a review of my hairdresser on a site for women with curly hair. Someone saw it, visited the salon, and my hairdresser got a new customer. Great stuff. Though, come to think of it, she ought to encourage more of that/have a referral marketing system... hmmmm...

Patrick Smith · 10 months ago

Thanks Chris,

Has me thinking. I am a musician with a solo guitar cd/download. Difficult to generate WOM even with a couple quotes from respected guitarists. Ready to do a Valentines' Day promo to see if some WOM begins.

Patrick
http://www.PatrickSmithMusic.com

Ricky. C · 10 months ago

Well a guest post is really necessary to see how's your blog are doing great and how many responses to your blog post. And yes it can add the credibility to your product if you giving very much detailed explanation about it within your blog post. Well i could be wrong but that's just my point of view and sorry i'm not as pro as you chris

williamarruda · 10 months ago

Hello 'Shua,'

This works for personal branding as well. If you want to use WOM to help advance your personal brand - it's necessary for people to experience what makes you exceptional. That means demonstrating your value by giving to those around you. If you're creative, use that creativity to help out a colleague. If you are the thought-leader in social marketing, offer a free web seminar and invite key influencers.

WOM for Personal branding: First, know what your brand is, then find ways to expand your brand by letting others experience it.

Best.
William
www.williamarruda.com

Marc Mandt · 10 months ago

"Shua",

We started a website in Florida a little over a year ago that takes the concept of WOM and puts it online. The site is called WOMbeat! and it's a way for friends to share trusted recommendations about their favorite local business, and also a way for businesses to reward their most loyal fans.

You're right about WOM being so powerful, and we do trust recommendations from friends over marketing; so we decided to put that online for people.

Marc Mandt
Co-Founder
WOMbeat!

Michaela DeRoche · 10 months ago

I really enjoyed this post, especially being a marketing major and interested in how to target customers effectively. I liked your example of giving gift certificates to the hair salon and in turn they talked to their customers about how much they loved the restaurant. This is very true because I always find myself trying restaurants people have referred me to. Thanks for your insight!

Josh Peters · 10 months ago

I'm glad everyone liked this post, the whole point of the GSMM (Guerrilla Social Media Marketing) series is to show that correlation of offline to online. Thank you everyone who talked about how they were influenced or used the influence of others to promote something they created.

From personal brands (Chris Brigan's) to Large companies (like Comcast and the Comcast cares success) having people talk about you matters. In the end we as humans trust other humans far more than a static picture and some text. It's the companies / brands that understand and cultivate WOM who come out on top, and the ones who remember it stay on top.

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

Ask Matt · 10 months ago

I wrote about something Chris shared recently. Important topic. Thanks Chris.

http://www.askmattonline.com/?p=146

AlternativeNation · 9 months ago

Thanks for the info. Blogs are a great way to advertise posts but one thing i would like to include is - it's a free place to link to your site however don't just add a random post to your blog. If you're going to respond to a post, it's no big deal to go for the cheap plug but, if you going to reply (for demonstrational purposes)

21st Century Breakdown! Coming 2009

And leave - it's not relative to the posts and the admins can very easily remove your post, and for good reason.

Try to at least reply with some informational material relative to the blog.

Thanks, great information.