One way to do word of mouth marketing is to get heavy talkers to talk about you.  By heavy talker, I mean those people that already have an audience.  This is a good way to build buzz, and anyone can do it with consistent effort and a good product.

Another way to do Word of Mouth Marketing is to give people who are advocates for you the proper training and tools to broadcast their love of your product or service.  Like what, you ask?

1. Employee Blogs – Getting employees to blog is a great way to create more content that will generate interest in what your organization is doing.  The key is to carefully set guidelines and expectations for each blogger.  Choose employees that want an opportunity to shine and advance their career, because these people will be more committed to writing well and writing to promote the organization.
2. Testimonial Pages – Asking people for testimonials is a good way to get stories from your customers.  What would happen if you shot the testimonial on video and posted it on your website?  People would tell their friends about the video they “Stared” in and drive more people to your site.
3. Refer a Friend Tools - There are lots of tools available on the web that make it easy to “Tell a Friend“.  The simpler this tool is the better as it is easier for a casual way someone can create buzz for you.  This is helpful because people do not spend their day thinking about how to promote you, but they may let a friend know about something of value if they can do it in 30 seconds.
4. Affiliate Programs - If someone is taking the time to create valuable content, they may pay much more attention to you if you offer an affiliate opportunity.  Some people will say that financial rewards should not be put under the word of mouth strategy.  I agree that it is not for every product or service, but it can be a useful tool to spread your message.  And what if your product is in a crowded marketplace?  Maybe the buzz would be about your great affiliate program along with your good (but not remarkable) product.
5. Viral Emails – Build resources that your existing advocates can share with people they know, such as eBooks and other resources that can be easily sent to people.  If your topic is not a topic that can go viral, put together something that people will want to chare, and slip in some branding and information about you.  An example would be “The 10 Best Things for Families to do this Summer in your city.
6. Contests – Create a contest that is compelling enough that your advocates will encourage the people they know to participate.  Again, make it easy to spread.

These are just some ways you can get your existing fans to have a more focused reason and way to talk about you.

Years ago, we all knew which people were influential.  Which people could talk about us and generate buzz for us.  It was the reporter, the TV anchor, the country club president or the dynamic speaker.  If these people talked highly about you, it was gold.

Then something changed.  These people were still important, but new avenues of communication were opening up and influence was no longer in the hands of the few.  Now, many people are influential.  Yes, it is diluted and each person does not pack the same influence as influentials in the past, but more people have marginal levels of influence in a more targeted niches.

Influence is measured by the number and quality of relationships you have and the extent that those people respect and listen to your message.  You can leverage technology to have more relationships and more contact with those relationships.  If you think of a blog post as the same as an email out to 50 people, it makes more sense.  Either one is a message reaching people that want to communicate with you. (Or at least hear what you have to say.)

So if you are trying to meet influential people that will be interested in what you have to say, consider some of these options and build relationships with people who have an audience in your particular niche.

• Bloggers
• Website Authors
• Podcasters
• Speakers
• Reporters, Anchors
• Online Community Moderators
• eNewsletter Publishers
• Editors
• Successful Business Leaders/Networkers
• Club Presidents
• People that serve on boards and in the community
• Active Online Social Network Participants
• Professors and Educators (I frequently guest lecture and know it will give me the opportunity to influence students in their future jobs.)

Feel free to use the comments below to let me know which ones I missed.

The Success of an Organization is the Responsibility of Every Member

That is what you will see at the top of the cover of my book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing.  The book is about how to get more people involved in creating buzz for the organization.  I am in this field not because of the interest in Buzz and Word of Mouth, but because I am passionate about making a difference in people’s lives.  Helping them be a better part of the place they call work and finding more success and fulfillment. 

There are a few things that I would argue most employees do not do, but if they did they would be happier and they would help the organization be more successful.  Here is my list of critical things employees must know and do.

Health and Fitness

In the US, we have a real problem with obesity and poor health, despite knowing better.  Studies show that productivity is higher and costs are lower with more physically fit people.  If an employee is healthy, they will be more productive, lower healthcare costs and be happier.  This will also spill over to their family, further lowering healthcare costs and increasing happiness.

There is a great book on employee and family health called Move It. Loose It. Live Healthy.  The author, Dr. Gilliam is a client of mine and he also puts together workplace health plans and tracking.

Read More

Every employee should work to keep their mind sharp.  Reading is critical, and a dangerously low number of Americans ever read a book after they finish school.  Read some books for fun, and read some books to understand your organization and world better.

Employers may consider starting a book club that reads one book per quarter.  Employees that participate get the book free and they get a catered book club meetings after work or at lunch.  Well read employees will create more buzz and contribute to the organization’s success.

Be Conscious of your Attitude

Attitude, like a relationship, rarely falls apart overnight.  Instead, it can slip over time slowly down from exuberant optimism to regret and pessimism.  Attitude takes effort.  You have to be conscious of your attitude and combat things that begin to chisel away at its foundation.

One of my favorite blogs about attitude is Make It Great.  Phil Gerbyshak is an excellent blogger and has a simple book about transforming your day and making it great.  The book is something that any employee can read and digest in a few hours.  It also has plenty of work space so you can analyze yourself while you read it.

Word of Mouth

No matter who you are, you impact the word of mouth that your organization gets.  Every employee can create buzz and word of mouth via telling people about the organization, as well as by doing a remarkable job that gets noticed (and talked about).

Being remarkable is not only good for the organization, but also good for the employee.  Remarkable gets notices, and it could get notices internally resulting in a raise or promotion, and it can be noticed externally resulting in job offers, testimonials, demand for employees particular skills, speaking opportunities, etc.

Of course I recommend Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing for this.  I wrote the book specifically to address this issue that gets lost so easily. 

Employees in an organization cannot sit back and just do their job.  To be successful and help the organization be successful, employees have to invest in themselves and not take their job for granted.  Create a work culture like that, and you will have more buzz than you can probably handle.

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Testimonials are a great way to create a little buzz for yourself.  One will not do it. You are going to have to have a testimonial mindset.  This means you offer to give people testimonials even if they do not ask.

For example, I recently had someone blog about my book.  Here is how it generated more buzz for him.

• I did a one page sheet promoting his blog and what he said to hand out as part of my book marketing package.
• I passed that sheet out at a networking group.
• I linked to it from my blog.
• As I get more testimonials, his comments will be part of the testimonial page.
• I may highlight it in an eNewsletter.
• I will email links to his blog post when I email people about the book.
• I will point his blog out as evidence of our target market embracing the book’s message in reports.
• I will ask him for an advance testimonial the next time I publish.

All of these add up to a lot of buzz for his blog.  I am marketing him because what he says because he is a neutral 3rd party and it will carry more weight.  Can you start giving people testimonials for products and services you like and inviting them to use them?  Absolutely.  And you should.

Systems can greatly enhance the long term buzz and word of mouth you develop.  Having systems in your business means being consistent and dependable. I am not talking about technology, necessarily.  In fact, overly intrusive technology can often be a hindrance to Buzz. 

For example, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can be very beneficial in helping you connect with more people and the right people more frequently.  However, CRM Installs often fail because they are too burdensome to employees that have to put in too much data.

So what processes and systems can be helpful for creating long term buzz and word of mouth?

• Certainly a CRM that is easy to use and does not require unrealistic data entry.
• A buzz tracking system to measure the ROI on employee buzz.  This could be a simple online form where they can put data.
• A good voicemail system that gets people to people with minimal effort and does not loose voice mails.
• A follow up process for measuring customer satisfaction and likelihood of word of mouth.
• eNewsletter that keeps you top of mind.
• News creation and distribution through a press release service.
• Customer Complaint Process – Handling customer complaints in the best possible way is a top concern.
• Promise Tracking System – Nothing frustrates me more than people making promises on the companies behalf if they cannot be sure they get done.  Are your sales people or support people promising stuff they do not get delivered?  How about training and a say to record every promise that is made to a client, and an assurance that it gets done.

These are just some of the processes and systems you should have worked out to ensure your customers are buzzing in a good way, and not creating bad buzz.

Sometimes timing just does not let your plans go smoothly. My book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing, just launched and I am knee deep in fixing technical issues with another product we have.

Good thing there is a long tail!

While my buzz effort will be limited this week, please go to Amazon and get yourself a copy. If you have a copy coming from me from advance copies, they should be in shortly and I will get them out to you.

The book is much the same theme as this blog, but more organized and with many more actionable items. It is written for non-marketing people. Marketers and business owners can use it to get more people involved in creating buzz and increase their visibility.

If you buy a copy and send me a testimonial, I will post it on this blog. Be sure to let me know your biggest successes from the book.

I was reading an article on CNN about Organic Chocolate.  One portion of the article talks about a guy selling chocolate from the trunk of his car.  Yuck!  I would not buy chocolate from someone that opened up his trunk and was selling home made stuff.  Of course, it may be a metaphore for selling in farmers markets and such.  I am not sure.

That got me thinking though.  The Internet is the new trunk of your car.  I do not know if you are storing your products in a warehouse or under your bed.  If your Internet Trunk looks good, your price is good and your product is good, I am going to be happy and tell other people.  The Internet helps you take the shady out of very small businesses.  That means global buzz is possible for everyone.?

Sometimes during speaking engagements, people ask me to define buzz.  So here is a post to let you know how I think of it.

Buzz is word of mouth, online and offline, that has caught on and is spreading faster than is normal for such a message.  I often call it word of mouth with the volume turned up.

You cannot force it to happen.  You can only create better messages and more messages to increase the odds that it will happen.

I did not have any big clients this time in the elections.  It is not something we advertise, but we do help people create positive buzz and win elections.  Several weeks ago we got 4 leads for people that wanted to use Buzz Marketing to win.  Guess what…. it was too late.

So how do you start today and create a relationship with your constituency so when a new election comes up, it is not something to worry about?  Dave Ruller is the city manager where I live and he uses a software package our company owns to create buzz.  It is a blog/website combo where he constantly publishes his thoughts and work.

Does it open him up to criticism?  Absolutely.  Can you accuse him of not communicating with people?  Absolutely not.

His post today lists how he prioritizes his day and what things he is working on.  Get what is in the top quadrant?  Blogging!  His blog is as important as downtown revitalization because he understands the importance of letting the community know what he does.

Is the world talking about him?  Maybe not.  But he is the most accessible city manager the people in this city have seen.

Who Creates Buzz?
There are three primary kinds of people that will create word of mouth about your company.

• Influentials – They may not actively talk about you often, but when they do it carries a lot of weight.
• Advocates – Your customers and friends that love your company and what it represents.
• Employees – Most employees do not think to create buzz, but they can with guidance and encouragement.

If your goal is to create word of mouth and buzz, you must have different strategies for these different groups. Influencers must be enticed to create some buzz, Advocates must be encouraged to create buzz, and employees must be educated on the importance of creating buzz and how to do it. If you understand your goal and approach, you will be very successful.