A recent study by The Keller Fay Group (www.kellerfay.com) titled “The Steak is in the Sizzle” provides new insights for Word of Mouth marketers. The report is available on their website and it’s a great read for any company looking to gain more insight into Word of Mouth marketing. Here are my comments as it relates to one insight gleamed by the report show in quotations. Firstly, Word of Mouth is not necessarily motivated by the “latest and greatest”, but rather it’s about “providing solutions that people want to share with others… providing answers that consumers want to pass along to others, find easy to talk about, and feel good about sharing.”
This insight is key to understanding successful Word of Mouth marketing activities. It’s no different than the stories we share with friends over a cup of non-fat latte - no foam [which is a great story in itself - Howard Shultz (CEO) of Starbucks changed the paradigm of how we experience coffee.]
Word of Mouth relies on great stories, stories that are true, authentic, and appeal to our senses. It’s the experience of our products and services that will determine how powerful a personal interaction is, and whether or not an interaction is worthy of a Word of Mouth referral (positive or negative).
The marketing challenge many tourism venues face is not the result of uninteresting, flat, and unworthy stories, but rather, in many cases, poor sales and marketing results are created by the contradictions that are created by inconsistent, fragmented marketing activities and messages that tell another story - you can’t be trusted.
By telling honest, authentic stories, that appeal to the senses of our target markets - we are one step closer to generating Word of Mouth referrals. The next step is to deliver one or two key messages consistently through all channels [internal and external] to begin building the buzz. So what’s the catch?
Your story will be told by more people, more often, only if you are doing something truly remarkable. It’s about creating meaningful interactions with your products and services with consumers [and every other aspect of your business] -”providing solutions that people want to share with others.” What’s your story?
