Questions on word of mouth

Every brand has a story to tell. But not every business knows how to inspire its customers to re-tell its story. 
Despite the inherent difficulty, word-of-mouth marketing is the sort of self-perpetuating machine that should be the goal of every company to engineer. Rather than overspend on traditional advertising, turn to your best and least expensive marketing asset: your customers. How do you do this? By creating talk triggers — essential elements of your brand experience that customers cannot help but share with others. When done right, you can turn your customers into an army of volunteer marketers.
Rather than overspend on traditional advertising, turn to your best and least expensive marketing asset: your customers. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet
Not all word of mouth is created equal, though. While you should obviously avoid giving your customers gloomy gossip, it can be less clear how to create positive triggers that stand the test of time — or, even better, talk triggers that can be adapted to changing times.

As Timeless as a Compass

Amid ever-changing market dynamics, any brand differentiator is always moments from irrelevance. Much like the products or services you offer, your talk triggers require constant evolution, optimization, refinement, and user feedback. Without adjustments, even the best ideas can grow stale.
Not convinced? Consider the history of the now-ubiquitous Google Maps. When Google Maps first graced our browsers, its clear superiority to MapQuest generated plenty of attention. But that superior design quickly became unremarkably common. Before long, Google pushed things another step forward by adding real-time traffic. Again, it became the talk of the web. When that chatter subsided, Google added street-view images. Lather, rinse, repeat. Today, Google Maps is more common than a compass.
Plenty of brands fail to notice — or choose to ignore — when their buzz begins to fade, however. Hype can wane for many reasons, whether it’s because of copycat competitors, customers growing accustomed to what once felt novel, or changing societal norms. Regardless of the reason, the end result is the same: Chatter about your brand dries up as other companies stir up new conversations.

Asking the Right Questions

Creating your talk triggers isn’t something you put in your business plan and file away for a rainy day. It should be an ongoing marketing project for your business. So how do you continually generate these ideas?

First, you have to ask the right questions. As you ask yourself the following questions, consider them from the perspective of your customers. How do you think they would answer?

• When I buy or use this product/service, I am…
• What I don’t expect from this product is…
• What I’m talking about in my life right now is…
• What I think I want is…
• What I actually want is…

These prompts should unearth a plethora of valuable answers, but they are by no means exhaustive. Add your own to the list to paint a more comprehensive picture. Ultimately, however, this exercise is meaningless unless you seek answers from actual customers. Once you have a list of pressing questions, use these four critical feedback channels to get insight that will ensure your talk triggers stand the test of time:

1. Search through surveys.

While they might not be the most exciting way to engage your customers, surveys are a useful way to gather data on their desires, opinions, behaviors, and much more. Considering that preferences can change in a matter of months, this tool is especially handy for charting customer expectations over time. How quickly have we come to expect a USB port in our cars while forgetting the once-standard cigarette lighters? Surveys are a great way to get a pulse on how new market trends are changing what your customers want before those preferences are outdated.

2. Engage using social media.

Nothing can replace face-to-face stories, but it’s hard to deny the role that social media now plays in consumer chatter. As Engagement Labs Research has shown, roughly 50 percent of these conversations now occur online. While social media dialog often represents only a small subset of your customers, you cannot afford to ignore what that group is telling you.Let the simple question behind Twitter guide you: What’s happening? Follow conversations over time to get a better view of exactly what is going on with your customers. Pay attention to what’s influencing them, what’s popular, and how willing they are to engage with brands that matter to them.

3. Talk to your customers. Literally.

Actual conversations with your customers, whether on the phone or in person, are irreplaceable. There’s no better way to maintain as close a connection, and many successful companies recognize the importance of ongoing dialogue.The founders of acclaimed technology incubator Y Combinator went so far as to make talking to a few customers every week a core objective of the company. Follow that lead and make those conversations a priority. Bring a handful of key questions with you, and you’ll gather valuable data to share with your team.

4. Get in their shoes.

When was the last time you actually experienced your product? Better yet, when did you last experience your competitor’s product? It’s been awhile, right?Lasting talk triggers are not created in the boardroom or the lab. They are built on the ground floor, where customers actually experience your brand. Only by stepping into that space on a regular basis can you maintain a keen eye and a sharpened awareness of any gaps in your user experience. Consider bringing along other people who have varied perspectives as you experience your brand with your own eyes. You might be surprised at the insight you can glean from seeing things through a child’s eyes, for instance. That change in perspective is priceless.

Timeless talk triggers frequently become synonymous with the companies that created them. The gigantic menu, the freshly baked cookies, or the stellar customer service — countless customers associate these differentiators with The Cheesecake Factory, DoubleTree by Hilton, and The Ritz-Carlton, respectively. These brands have endured for decades because people cannot stop gushing about them. They have persisted because their stories have been shared time and time again. What tales will your customers be sharing years from now?
This content was inspired by research and case studies contained in “Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth,” the new book from Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin.

[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]

Word of mouth marketing starts with the very thing people will talk about: your topic. Some come about organically and some are planned — but all word of mouth topics could spread further and faster when you think about these three critical questions about your talkers:

1. What would your talkers say?
2. Who would they tell?
3. How could they tell more people?

1. What would your talkers say?

Think about the actual words your customers would say when they tell someone about you: “They make burritos the size of babies.” “Their employees are great listeners.” “Their products are hand-signed by the people who made them.” This is your word of mouth topic. Keep it short, make it easy to repeat, and most of all, make it worth repeating. Think you’ve got a good one? Test it by telling a few people and asking them to repeat it back.

2. Who would they tell?

Who do your customers and talkers know? Who has a big influence on your potential customers? Hint: They don’t have to be the typical celebrity endorsers to make an impact. For example, to get high-schoolers to drink more milk, the American Dairy Association of Ohio reached out to high-school coaches to tell them about the benefits of drinking milk after working out. Soon after, chocolate milk was flying off the shelves.

3. How could they tell more people?

Help your word of mouth topic spread further. Surprise your clients with a cheesecake they can share with the whole office instead of a cookie made for one — it costs a little extra, but it goes the extra mile to reach a whole bunch of people. Or, go for long-term word of mouth by giving away stuff like calendars, plants, and other stuff with your logo that will stay on someone’s desk longer. Give them five coupons instead of one or a few extra samples to share with a friend.

Tags: American Dairy Association of Ohio, coaches, conversation topic, influencers, talker, topic, wom topic, word of mouth topic

Is word of mouth really the best form of advertising?

          Yes. Without question Word of Mouth IS the best form of advertising. This fact is widely known and accepted. The big question is: How do I capitalize on this fact and use it to expand my business?  

          Just knowing that Word of Mouth is important or telling all of your employees how vital good word of mouth really is to the business will never be enough to create the level of service necessary to WOW your customers.

The purpose of this article is to expand understanding of the basic factors making up great word of mouth and excite you, the business owner, so that your creative juices flow and ideas pop like a huge 4^th of July fireworks display and you get all excited about what can be done in your company to expand through word of mouth!!!

A few basic facts…

          If a business is providing adequate, normal, regular run-of-the-mill service they will get SOME word of mouth referrals. The way this works is that if, for instance, someone asks you where to go for dry cleaning or computer repair you will most likely want to give some recommendation. People generally want to be helpful and we all like to give advice, so we will give some answer, we will often refer someone to a place where we received simply mediocre service. The point is that if you are providing what is considered to be good, or acceptable service you can only expect a few referrals.  

          Really great word of mouth comes from a remarkable or memorable experience. Lets say that you have been in to your local veterinary hospital, or Thai restaurant and the experience was memorable you very possibly will not wait until some asks you for a good vet clinic or Thai place before you tell people about it. Your word of mouth becomes unsolicited. Have you ever done this or seen it done? I have seen people talking up their hair stylist or espresso stand to people who are bald or don’t even like coffee!

          Let there be no mistake, unsolicited word of mouth is what will really drive in more new customers. This is (or should be) the goal of any company. 

          On the other hand, unsolicited word of mouth DEFINITELY applies for bad service as well! Customers who are irate with a business will sometimes tell as many as 20, 30, maybe up to 50 people about their bad experience, with out ever being asked directly about the business.   

          So, when we are speaking about word of mouth, we must understand that what, exactly, we are going for is unsolicited, positive, word of mouth about your business.

Why IS word of mouth the most effective form of advertising?

          Well, the first answer is that word of mouth means that someone, probably someone who you know, is telling you that Olympic Pizza has the best pizza, or that Fred’s Auto Repair does fantastic and reasonable work. You’re hearing it from a person, someone that you know and (probably!) trust.

          Compare this with normal advertising: TV, Radio, news papers, magazines, web, direct mail, etc. Let me ask you this, as a consumer, do you BELIEVE what you see advertised? I mean really, if you get a flyer in the mail offering you a “low cost mortgage”, do you believe it? If you see an ad for a cheap airline ticket toFlorida, are you suspicious that it may be a scam? Do you wonder if the quoted price for the ticket actually includes things like airport fees, taxes and that your baggage actually gets to go with you?

          By far the majority of consumers, when they hear any advertisement, wonder: “What’s the catch?” We look for the fine print. We think, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it is!” We have all heard the pat phrase, “new and improved” so many times that the words don’t have meaning to us. The point is the very few people completely believe ANY regular advertisement. We know that ads all too often contain exaggerations, half truths, gimmicks and sometimes even complete fabrications. In case you haven’t noticed, this trend is getting worse, not better.

          But if someone you know, or better, someone you like, or even better, someone whose taste or opinion you respect, tells you that the Mocha’s Espresso stand on 4^th and Main is awesome, or that theNorthCascadeVeterinaryHospital is the best around you will listen. If you have a connection with the person telling you about a business it becomes much more believable. Another reason for this believability is that the person has no reason to mislead you. The person telling you about the fantastic service atNorthCascadeVeterinaryHospital probably doesn’t work there, or get commissions from them, so we reason that they don’t have any reason to mislead us.

          There is also a common statement that not only is word of mouth the best form of advertising, but it’s the cheapest. This brings up the question of how to determine how much it costs to attract a new customer, client or patient. Most businesses I see are sorely lacking in any effective method to track where their new customers come from, but at least they can say how many new clients they had in a month. Calculating the “cost of each new customer” is not too difficult, simply add up your entire expenses for advertising and marketing for a month and divide this by the number of new customers, and there you have it, you can now see how much you “paid” for each new customer. This is a great exercise, by the way and I highly recommend not only doing the calculations but sharing the results withALLof your staff.

          Of course if you are really on the ball and can track not only how many new clients you got in a month but HOW each new client heard of you, it is possible to calculate the cost-effectiveness of each form of marketing you use. (Look for a new blog entry coming soon on tracking new clients.) For example you can see how much your yellow page ad cost, and how many new clients it brought you and do the math. This is a very enlightening exercise and the most intelligent way to make decisions about where you spend your advertising dollars. 

          In either case I bet you will be surprised to see how much one new client “costs”.

          Word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing because it is more believable and the less expensive than any other form of advertising. 

Great word of mouth about your company makes all of your other marketing efforts much more effective.

          The above statement should be in huge bold CAPS. This is one of most important and grossly overlooked laws in all of advertising and marketing.

Let’s say that you have a spa. You are sending out all sorts of marketing messages; yellow page ads, a web site with search engine marketing, you’re in lots of travel guides, you attend chamber meetings, maybe you use billboards, you are using a whole host of avenues to get your name out there.

          Now let’s look at this from two possibilities, let’s say first that the overall word of mouth about your spa is awesome. If someone has already heard from a friend that the spa is great and then they see one of your ads, or maybe a special offer you are currently running, they are much more likely to respond. Positive word of mouth makes your other marketing more believable, more effective, more productive. A business will get a MUCH bigger bang for their advertising buck when they have great word of mouth.

          Once in a while I have heard people talking positively about an ad they saw or heard for a business or product. Your friend tells you about the great experience she had at a clothing store recently. A little later your with a different friend and you see or hear an advertisement for that same store, and you say: “Hey, isn’t that’s the place Sally went last week where she bought those cute new dresses?!”

The effect of great word of mouth on your other marketing efforts cannot be overstated! 

          A person may hear some good word of mouth about a company and at that time not need the service or product, but later when the need arises and they are searching or when they get exposure to an ad, they willTRYto remember what they heard and will respond.

          On the other hand, if the word of mouth about your spa is poor, then the money you spend on marketing will get LESS response. If a potential new customer has already heard some negative feedback from someone about the Bayside Spa and then they see an ad somewhere promoting the Spa, their tendency will be to discount it, or ignore it. They won’t listen to your message, their mind is already turned away from the business.

          Have you ever experienced this? If you have heard bad word of mouth about a company and THEN hear an advertisement for the company, what’s the first thing that flashes in your mind? The negative story you heard before, that’s what!

          How about this example, lets say you yourself had a very bad experience with a company (think telephone service provider, or maybe bank…). Now you’re sitting with a friend watching TV and an ad comes on for the company that you feel wronged you. What happens? In many cases just seeing the ad will elicit a negative comment from you to your friend! “That’s the bank that ripped me off!” “I used to have that cell phone service and I’ll NEVER go back to them!!!” Have you ever seen this, or done this yourself?

What can be done to improve your word of mouth?

          Here are two of the most effective (and rarely done!) things to do:

Follow up.

          Calling a client, customer, patient, back to see how they are doing is an AWESOME way to improve word of mouth. Has your doctor ever called you back to see how you were feeling? If they did, did it impress you? Have you ever been to a restaurant where the chef (or cook) came out into the dining area and asked the customers how they liked the food? This can be done in auto repair, chiropractic clinics, schools, nail salons, cleaning companies; really, the list of businesses that can make use of follow up contacts is endless. It does take some basic communication skills so that your follow up doesn’t make the customer angry, but it’s pretty simple. And the higher up the person doing the follow ups is, the more wow factor it imparts. Anyone who is doing follow up calls MUST be interested in what ever the customer has to say, positive or negative. I think that one reason that follow up calls are NOT done is because there is trepidation that the response will be less than positive. Who ever makes the calls has to be equally happy to receive positive or negative response, and be prepared with what to say and do if the response is negative. 

• “Did your shipment arrive on time, did you receive what you expected?”
• “How was your adjustment with the doctor last night? How is your neck feeling today?”
• “How was your chicken cordon bleu? Did you like the green beans?”
• “I know that yesterday was your first visit to see us, did things so as smoothly as you hoped?”

There’s an infinity of questions that you can ask.

          Follow up calls, done correctly; show the customer that you genuinely care about the product or service that was provided, that you care about the customer and that their complete satisfaction is important.

          Follow up calls can give you valuable feed back from your customers that you can use right now to make your product or service better.

          Remember that statistics show that only 1 in 25 unsatisfied customer will ever say anything to you about what they don’t like. (Although they may tell 25 other people what they didn’t like about you!) Asking them in a way that shows that you WANT them to tell what they liked or didn’t like REALLY works.

Compensation when things go wrong.

          Every company has things go wrong with clients from time to time. Customers get shipped the wrong thing, or someone’s steak is cooked wrong, or there is WAY too little chocolate in their mocha. How you handle it when things go wrong is HUGE. If a customer has to wait, or client came in to pick up a product (which you forgot to order for them), or what ever you did wrong, be sure to have on hand some form of compensation ready. I recommend buying $100 worth of $5 coffee cards, and also movie tickets, or restaurant gift cards and have them on hand to give out. I say have three types and values for the various levels of how badly you may have messed up (or how irate the customer is!) 

          Your company should have a set system for compensating irate customers. Create “tiers” of compensation, start with the coffee card, then the movie tickets, then the restaurant gift card. If the client has to wait more than a short time, use the coffee card: “Mr. Thompson, we are very sorry you had to wait so long today, here is a gift card for the “Mochas” espresso stand over on Fir Street,  thanks for hanging in there with us today!”

          You may not think that a $5 coffee card is going to make any impact, but it DOES. Your customers will feel appreciated, acknowledged, validated and recognized.

           I have gone over this idea with many businesses and everyone thinks it a great idea, but implementing it is not always a snap. From my experience the hardest thing is to get the staff to hand them out as much as I would like! Sometimes employees will get a little stingy with them, “Well, she only had to wait half an hour, and it wasn’t our fault she had to wait, so no card for her”. “I don’t want to waste the card on that person, or why give away five dollars…” are some of the things I have heard. Some times you get busy and just forget to hand them out…

          Let’s go back to an earlier article: Why IS word of mouth the most effective form of advertising?

          This was where we discussed the cost of a new customer, and if you did the calculations in that article you probably saw that a new customer may “cost” $50, $80, $100 or possibly a lot more.

          Well, how many people will your customer talk to about you if they receive a coffee card or movie tickets? Do you think that they’ll tell anyone? If you give out a $5 coffee card and the customer tells 7 people about it, how does that work out? You get the idea, giving out a $5 coffee card that results in even one new client is easily the “cheapest” form of advertisement ever! So, give the cards out when there is any even slight problem. 

          Back to our tiered system of compensation, the coffee card is for a small upset or inconvenience, the movie tickets for a bigger screw up on your part, the restaurant gift certificate is used for…you get the idea, figure out your own system and tiers. If you don’t like coffee cards you can use discounts for future services at your business, you can credit money to the clients account, give out free items, the list is endless. The stuff you give out does not need to be expensive to create a powerful effect. 

This is NOT only for irate customers!

          Do you have awesome customers or clients who you love? Give them coffee cards or what ever you decide for “compensation” once in a while! “Julia, I just wanted to say that you are the most awesome customer! Here, have a coffee card (or movie tickets, or what ever).” There doesn’t have to be any set system for this (like giving a gift card on a special holiday, etc), in fact random and unexpected tends to create more of a memorable experience.

Two more short footnotes:

• Employees who are encouraged to liberally compensate customers are happier employees! They feel empowered and will also give your business good word of mouth to THEIR friends.
• The better your word of mouth the higher employee morale will be and the easier it will be to hire great employees and retain them!!!

Word of Mouth Round-up!

          Well, are your creative juices popping like pop corn? Are you excited to implement some of your new ideas about improving your company’s word of mouth?

           I certainly hope so! I am always happy to receive any feed back, so if you have any great ideas on improving word of mouth, please send them in!

          And lastly if after reading this article you are thinking that you would certainly LOVE to implement some of these ideas, but it would be difficult because of a lack of time, or that some (or all!) of your employees may not embrace your enthusiasm, then with out question you are in need of a little help!

            If you call me directly I may be able to assist you in handling these barriers. There is no charge for calling, I am available to give advice anytime! I am located inWestern Washington, Pacific Time zone! My number is: 360-809-0661.

         Best of luck!

         Andy Porter  

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The explosion of social media channels has heightened the need for companies to build and manage their online reputation. It also has created opportunities to spread word of mouth messaging through mobile and social channels. We sat down with Idil Cakim to discuss tips and tricks for building online advocacy and how this might change in the future.

What is online advocacy and why should companies care about it? The second part of your question made me think there are two types of online advocacy: 1. Organic—where people start posting about a common topic such as a product recommendation, their political view, or a local event, creating a discussion thread across sites and platforms. 2. Engineered—where companies rally targeted audiences around a topic such as a brand or a related theme with ad creatives or PR initiatives. In either case, opinions posted online can affect purchasing decisions, brand favorability, and recommendations. That’s why companies should care about it. 

What are best ways to identify online brand advocates?

First, study your customers’ behaviors. Who are the highest spenders, who is loyal? Next, find those who are most likely to refer the brand to friends and family and are also a value customer (e.g., high spender or loyal customer.) This is easier said than done. Most sophisticated way is to conduct CRM analytics. For bootstrapped organizations, it may be best to start by figuring out just who’s most likely to refer them.  

How do you measure online influence?

It should be a combination of reach, relevance, and the ability to direct others’ choices. For instance, a person who has a large following, with expertise on a topic and who has been able to convert shoppers to buyers with recommendations.  

In your book Implementing Word of Mouth Marketing, you give recommendations on how to engage with influencers online. What are the five steps every company should take to engage with their online influentials?

1. Continuously listen, even if trends do not change.
2. Prepare an editorial calendar with room for spontaneous, ad-hoc commentary.
3. Respond to questions, fast.
4. Monitor, but let them take the stage .
5. Prepare an issue/crisis plan. 

What type and level of engagement is needed to turn online influentials into brand advocate?
Best thing is to put the product in their hands and let them experience how good it is.  

It is every marketer’s dream, to launch a word of mouth campaign that spreads rapidly around the globe. But only a few campaigns have the magic touch to go viral. How can marketers set realistic goals for their online campaigns?

It’s important to distinguish between informative content, which will be appreciated but not necessarily go viral versus universally entertaining content that tugs emotional strings. So, review the social landscape, target audience characteristics, and message test results to manage expectations. 

Will new social media apps that have a time stamp on content and emphasize privacy, like Snapchat, change the dynamic of word of mouth campaigns?

Yes, companies will need to get a lot more creative to create sustainable content. But smart players will be able to weave the inherent characteristics of these emerging platforms into their campaigns. For instance, if an organization is about helping people reach their dreams, it can have a campaign on Snapchat where people are posting their dreams. Once these posts expire, they then go into a ‘real world’ platform to make them happen.

Some companies started using crowd-sourced content from their fans for their campaigns, such as the Dorito’s Crash the Super Bowl campaign. Is crowdsourcing content from fans an easy way to apt the engagement? What drawbacks and opportunities do you see for building brand advocacy  via crowdsourced content?

I think the crowds speak the truth—if the idea is not appealing or the ask is too difficult, then crowdsourcing will not generate much excitement. But if the idea is catchy, addresses a big need and is presented with a compelling story, it can create engagement. 

What was your favorite Super Bowl campaign this year?

The M&M campaign.  

What else is on the horizon for building online brand advocacy?

I think we’ll learn about new apps that organize people and information in more efficient ways. We’ll also move from desktops to mobile devices and then to other pieces with Internet capabilities which will increase the flow of information and mobilize people quickly.

The views expressed in the interview are Idil Cakim’s and do not reflect those of her employer. For more information on social media trends, visit Idil Cakim’s blog dotWOM and subscribe to her monthly newsletter Info-Currents.

Idil Cakim is a VP of Media Analytics Consulting, working with technology and telecom clients. Previously, she was the VP of Client Development at NM Incite, leading agency relations, media and emerging verticals. Cakim joined Nielsen with more than a decade of experience in online communications. She is a frequent speaker and writer on media trends. She is the author of the book Implementing Word of Mouth Marketing: Online Strategies to Identify Influencers, Craft Stories and Draw Customers (Wiley, 2010). Cakim holds an M.A. in Communication from the Annenberg School at University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Sociology from Bryn Mawr College. 

1. Pre-reading Task:
In this article Bethan Hutton tells how companies stay one step ahead of Japan’s materialistic youth. But before you read, think about what sorts of products or services you would talk about with friends, looking for a recommendation? Feel free to add to the list.
– cars;
– hi-fi equipment;
– holidays;
– language courses;
– clothes;
– hair designer;
– a builder or painter to do work on your house or flat.

2. Read the article:
The natural habitat of Japanese teenagers is a small area in central Tokyo between Shibuya and Harajuku stations which is full of boutiques and music shops. At weekends, teenagers from the city and the surrounding provinces go there to spot the latest street fashions.
The area is also a magnet for anyone researching or selling to the teenage market: fashion and cosmetic companies, record producers, editors of young fashion magazines, soft drink and snack promoters, and makers of games and gadgets.
One such company was Bandai, the toy company responsible for Tamagotchi, the egg-shaped, pocket-sized virtual pet which swept the world in the late 1990s. Tamagotchi’s first public appearance was in a test marketing exercise on the streets of Shibuya.
The schoolgirls who saw it were so impressed they told all their friends, and the first few batches of Tamagotchi to hit the shops sold out immediately. Such is the power of “kuchikomi”, or word of mouth.
Advertisers everywhere know that personal recommendation carries great weight. Normally, word-of-mouth promotion is free, but impossible to arrange. In Japan it can be arranged – at a price.
There are agencies with hundreds of teenagers on their books who receive their products and tell their friends about them; others are paid to queue up for the launch of a new product or opening of a new store, creating an artificial “buzz” about it.
Halfway between Shibuya and Harajuku is the office of Hiroaki Morita, who set up Teens Network Ship on leaving school nine years ago. The agency is the longest-established specialist in the teenage market, and often uses informal, “kuchikomi” style marketing methods. It has a register of 2,000 senior high school pupils in the Tokyo area, and is now expanding nationally.
As Mr. Morita describes it, the logic is simple: selected teenagers are given information or samples of a new product. Feeling superior for knowing about something ahead of the crowd, they tell on average 50 of their friends and classmates about their “discovery”, so that with a core group of 1,000, word can spread to 50,000 and more.
Information spreads more rapidly among the 15 to 18 age groups than at any other life stage, Mr. Morita says. For the three years at senior high school, they spend eight hours a day with the same 50 classmates, creating an exceptionally tight social network.

From The Financial Times

3. True or False.
Decide whether these statements are true or false and correct the false ones.
1. Mr. Morita paid to teenagers for telling their classmates about a new product.
2. Information usually spreads rather slowly among teenagers.
3. At first, virtual pets did not have a great success.
4. Central Tokyo is a place to spot the latest street fashions.
5. At first schoolchildren were not so enthusiastic about Tamagotchi.
6. The longest-established specialist in the teenage market frequently uses formal methods.
7. Teenagers do not have a special natural habitat in Tokyo.
8. Tamagotchi’s immediate success was due to the word-of-mouth policy.
9. Tamagotchi was produced by a high-tech computer company.
10. Personal recommendations are of utmost importance in the world of business.

4. What do these figures refer to?
1. 2000;      4. 50 000;
2. 1990;      5. 1000;
3. 50;         6. 15-18.

5. Give three forms of the following verbs from the text and compose sentences of your own using them. Mind that some verbs are regular and some are not.
1. to go – ________ – ________
2. to hit – ________ – ________
3. to tell – ________ – ________
4. to know – ________ – ________
5. to receive – ________ – ________
6. to fee – ________ – ________
7. to sweep – ________ – ________
8. to pay – ________ – ________
9. to spend – ________ – ________
10. to have – ________ – ________

6. Build word-combinations:
a) Put these words together;
b) Make no more than 3 sentences incorporating all of these word-combinations:

7. Give an English definition to the following words and word combinations from the text:
1. Teenager – ___________
2. Rapid – ___________
3. High school – ___________
4. Classmate – ___________
5. Sample – ___________
6. Network – ___________
7. To be impressed – ___________
8. Public appearance – ___________
9. Promotion – ___________
10. Fashion – ___________

8. Jumbled words – make them real!
a. TOONIMORP
b. GARAVEE
c. NISAFOH
d. SEEXRICE
e. LISASTEPCI

9. Debates!
TOPIC: Tamagotchi is the best friend for everybody.

RULES:
1. To start debates you need to be divided in 2 groups. Choose the jury/judge.
2. Each group should defend one viewpoint: either you state that there are certain business sectors that are “ethically unsound” or you support the opposite point of view.
3. People in the group may personally be of different opinions, but as a group they have to defend one point for all.
4. Spend some 15 minutes to find arguments to support your statement.
5. Choose 3 speakers in each group who will present the group opinion.
6. Each speaker should talk for 2 minutes.
7. After every speaker finishes his part of speech, the opposite team has the right to ask one question.
8. After all the speakers have expressed their points the two groups can exchange questions.
9. Finally the judge announces the winner, basing his decision on:
– how convincing the speakers were;
– whether the questions were smart;
– whether they fit in time limits (not more or less);
– whether they respected the opposite team.

10. Make a written table of advantages and disadvantages of having a Tamagotchi as a pet.

11. Write an acrostic on TAMAGOTCHI, giving characteristics to it.
(every letter of the word “tamagotchi” is the first letter of the line in your acrostic)

Key:
3. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. F; 6. F; 7. F; 8. T; 9. F; 10. T
6. 1. j; 2. f; 3. a; 4. g; 5. c; 6. i; 7. b; 8. e; 9. d; 10. h
8. 1. promotion; 2. average; 3. fashion; 4. exercise; 5. specialist

Alyona Pavlova ,
Moscow State University of Printing Arts

Companies – SaaS or otherwise – tell me all the time that Word of Mouth (WOM) is one of, if not the top, method for acquiring new users and customers.

While that’s great, what can you really do with that information?

Here’s an idea…

First though, I wrote an 11-minutes-to-read mega-post over on Medium called A Meditation on Word of Mouth Marketing and Growth Hacking that goes into a ton of interesting detail on how to orchestrate WOM. You should read it sometime.

This, however, is not a mega-post… it’s a short post that details one thing, and one thing only…

THE GREATEST WORD OF MOUTH FOLLOW-UP QUESTION…. EVER!

Okay, here’s how it plays out.

You: How’d you hear about us?

Them: A friend told me.

You: Awesome, I want to know who your friend is so I can send them a thank you gift, but first… what’d they tell you?

Now shut up and listen.

That’s it.

WHAT’D THEY TELL YOU?

Or some version of that… make sure it works in the context of your conversation, use your own voice, etc.

Don’t feel like talking to anyone? Well, I suppose you could include this as a free-form follow-up question if someone selects “A friend told me” as an answer to your “how did you hear about us?” question in your Qualaroo or Intercom (or whatever) workflow… it’s something to try at least.

Though I suspect an IRL or even real-time chat conversation may yield better results.

Anyway…

So why is this the greatest follow-up question to someone telling you that they heard about you from a friend or colleague?

Simple… it’s visibility into the secret, hidden world of your customers talking to each other.

You get to know the catalyst for them reaching out to you, signing up, etc.

It’s the why. The real why.

Unless they go around doing everything their friend tells them about – which is just creepy/sad – they must have had a reason for taking action this time.

And it probably had something to do with what their friend said to them, how they said it, etc.

You need to know what that is.

Once you know how others talk about you, what they say, the words they use, the emotion behind it, etc. then you can start to use that in your marketing, sales copy, conversations, pitches, etc.

WHAT’D THEY TELL YOU?

WOM can be powerful… with four(ish) simple words you just unlocked that power!

Use it wisely.

Are your customers talking about your brand with friends and family? If so, what are they saying and where are they spreading the news? These are just a few of the important questions to ask when thinking about a word-of-mouth marketing strategy.

When your customers say things like, this product is the next big thing or they have awesome customer service on social, are you listening?

What we do know is pretty much everyone else is tuning into peer recommendations. An Investp infographic stated word-of-mouth marketing impressions drive 5 times the impressions than paid media marketing.

And consumers simply trust each other for product recommendations (88%) more than brands or other advertising methods. Whether or not people discuss your brand might seem like something that’s out of your hands. But it’s not.

In fact, that’s what word-of-mouth marketing is all about. First, let’s define word-of-mouth marketing for the modern age:

Word-of-mouth marketing is the process of generating conversations and buzz about your brand online in a way that attracts new customers. In many ways, it relies heavily on user-generated content, which is content related to your brand, but created and posted by consumers.

For the most part, a word-of-mouth marketing strategy can be done with little-to-no budget, and the results it produces are completely organic (and incredible).

Unlike other advertising strategies, word-of-mouth marketing is a constant process. It means more than just sending out content on social media and hoping for a response. Instead, this strategy is all about creating a community and engaging with the people in it.

But if this is going to take so much time, is it really worth it?

Consider these facts from a Hubspot infographic stating 75% of people don’t believe advertising, but 62% have trust in online customer reviews.

While advertising may get your brand the attention of those who see it, wouldn’t you rather work with the audience who will tell their friends and family about you?

Since word-of-mouth marketing lets your fans do most of the work for you, this method draws in more traffic to your website. But more than that, when your fans are bringing their friends to your store, they’re already primed to purchase.

This means you’re not just getting more traffic, you’re getting quality views from consumers much further down the path to purchase. So, now that we know how valuable word of mouth marketing is, how can you implement your own strategy? Follow these six tips to create your own word-of-mouth marketing strategy:

1. Create a Memorable & Digestible Hashtag

Creating a viral hashtag may seem a bit daunting as a first step toward word-of-mouth marketing. Getting a hashtag to be successful at all isn’t an easy task. But following the best practices to get your hashtag seen will only help your efforts.

We know the success of #shareacoke, but we’re not all Coca Cola. Instead, brands have to get creative, but keep it simple at the same time. So, how can you actually create a hashtag that sticks in people’s minds? Here are some quick tips to follow when crafting a hashtag meant to be spread by word of mouth:

• Simple and Clear: The more letters, words and complexity to a hashtag means it will be difficult to share and remember. Keep it short and sweet and simple–even if it’s weird or out of the box.
• Capitalize Your Words: The first letter of each word in your hashtag needs to be capitalized. This helps avoid confusion or possible double entendres.
• Unique and Distinctive to You: Make sure your hashtag is unique by checking for all versions across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
• Try to Add Branded Keywords: It’s smart to Include branded keywords whenever possible. This helps people associate your brand with your products and vice-versa.
• Start a Contest: Encourage your followers to actually use the hashtag by sharing prizes or product giveaways. The more buzz, the better.

2. Give Your Audience a Chance to Make Their Friends Jealous

Like we just mentioned, giving away a unique experience is a great way to generate buzz. A share-worthy story is just the thing that pushes people to talk about your brand to their friends.

So, how can you give them that unique experience? Whether it’s a day at the amusement park or a discount on their next purchase, giveaways help encourage people to talk about your brand.

Because who doesn’t love to brag to their friends about the cool stuff they got for free?

This is why post-purchase emails are absolutely essential for both brands and retailers. By sending your customers a recap of the products they bought, you can ask for reviews, tips and general thoughts on their purchasing decisions.

This method uncovers so much about your customers and their overall wants and needs. And if you’re struggling to get customers to fill out review forms, try to incentivize. When you offer a future discount, you encourage shoppers to return and to provide content.

A real win-win for both sides!

Don’t Forget About Social Promotions

Giving something to get something is not a new idea. But it doesn’t have to cost you a future to implement. Check out how West Elm promotes their Instagram with their own a rewards system:

With an offer so simple (yet so tantalizing) as a regram, West Elm has sparked a ton of user-generated content, and has grown to almost 2 million followers. Your brand can try something similar. By rewarding your audience, you’ll give them something they can’t help but brag about to their friends. And if it makes their friends jealous, they’re more likely to become your new fans.

3. Steal Their Hearts With Video Content

If you create video content that your audience enjoys watching, Hubspot says 83% of people would consider sharing it with their friends.

It’s true, people love watching and sharing video content online. It doesn’t matter if it’s branded content: if it’s entertaining or moving, people will watch and share.

Just look at what companies like Dollar Shave Club or Warby Parker have done with video marketing. Brands are seeing the impact of video content without even relying on sound. Instead, it’s all about catching shoppers’ attention and providing a clear explanation and benefit to what you do.

Video content can still be branded content and even blatantly promote your products. Video is also known to help product descriptions on purchase pages as well. However, you want to do so in a way that produces plenty of engagement and entertainment from your audience. Be authentic and personable, and people will connect with your brand as its own personality.

Many brands use Instagram Stories to help increase word-of-mouth marketing efforts because it’s short, to the point and often visually pleasing. The best part is you don’t need an entire video design crew to post some of the catchiest content.

Marshalls does a wonderful job at using simple videos of the in-store shopping experience and by highlighting new products and deals. It’s not over the top, but still fun to quickly look through each post to see the products and follow the story.

4. May the Most Engaged Customer Win

What is it about contests that draws in new fans? Maybe it’s the competition or possibly the award you’re offering. Whatever the case, social media contests can be a great way to generate more word of mouth conversations.

For instance, Southwest teamed up with Dr. Pepper to run a contest of #12DaysofLOVE over the holidays. This got hundreds of people entering to get their content on Southwest’s Instagram and a $1,000 gift card to use toward flights.

This is just one example of the hundreds of successful contests that many brands have done online, with fantastic results. If you’re looking to run a contest, just make sure to follow these quick tips:

• Get Legal: Make the requirements are short and clear, but ultimately follow your state’s or country’s specific contest laws. Do your research before you start the contest.
• Have Clear Rules: Decide in advance what criteria will define the winner and make sure it’s not overly confusing.
• Offer Cool Prizes: If you’re a tax company, it might not super fun to get 20% off your taxes. Instead, try to offer a cool prize that people want (giveaway, experience, recognition, etc.)
• Get Branded: Use a branded hashtag that’s specific to the contest or a product launch. Southwest’s #12DaysofLOVE is a perfect example to follow.

5. Get More (and Better) Reviews

Reviews mean so much to today’s consumers. In fact, the PowerReviews Power of Reviews report found 89% of shoppers look for reviews prior to purchasing. Even more so, is 70% said they wouldn’t make a purchase online without at least consulting product reviews first.

Reviews give you social proof, and help people to see just how great your products work for others just like them. Authenticity is crucial toward product purchases and your shoppers want to know what others think.

But how do you get more reviews?

One of the best ways is just to ask.

For example, you could set up an autoresponder that gets sent some time after a customer makes a purchase on your website, thanking them for their purchase and giving them a quick link to review the product when they’re ready. But what if you’re trying to launch a new product with zero reviews?

With the added boost of our Influencer and Product Suite, you can connect to our massive everyday influencer list to help gain authentic product insights and reviews through sampling campaigns. A smart Instagram influencer marketing campaign could truly help your new product gain the social proof it needs to drive more sales.

In fact, data from PowerReviews, gathered from Northwestern with other partners, shows just five reviews can increase the likelihood of purchase by 270%. This is a significant advantage to brands increasing the number of reviews and the overall quality.

6. Be the Human Connection Your Audience Needs

Sometimes, the best word-of-mouth marketing strategy is better connecting to your customers, whether it be on social media, email or in person. Brands are trying harder each day to be more “real” with their viewers, and while it can get you some likes, authenticity drives actual product confidence.

Even though the centennials are the new craze for marketers to target, you don’t want to come off fake to your audience. Try to avoid getting swept up in the Twitter beef world, but instead, be true to your company mission and products.

A Centennial Shopper Report from PowerReviews found 44% of this age demographic said they wouldn’t trust the quality of the product if there’s no negative reviews. That’s the sort of connection you want to build with your shoppers.

By monitoring branded keywords and conversations where your brand has been tagged, you can be ready to jump in and respond to your online community. Sometimes having that authentic marketing touch is all that people need to fall in love with your brand.

Stand Behind Your Causes

Several brands have made it clearer about the causes they stand behind. While we’re not touting brands to get extremely political, it is smart to show people the causes you stand with.

Shoppers have their concerns and by simply providing some insights into your stand on organic only, locally resourced or equal pay for your staff, you generate conversations with your shoppers. People like to trust brands that have beliefs in specific causes.

Just make sure you’re not hopping on anything you think is a fad. If your brand truly believes in ditching plastic straws, make sure you’re covering your bases on all environmentally harmful plastics and items used.

TOMS has become well known for its one-for-one campaign by giving a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair bought. The company also frequently gets involved in other causes and events to help things like gun violence.

These causes are close to the company’s heart, and have resulted in incredible growth for this brand. So, reach out to a cause that is close to your brand and invest in your stances.

Take Your Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy to the Next Level

Whether or not your brand has a presence on social media, it’s always a good time to start working on a solid word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

Focus on the content you create and your shoppers will appreciate your efforts. All of these tips will help your brand build a loyal community that has no problems spreading the word. Want help on your campaign? Talk to the PowerReviews team to see how we can help you with product launches, build engagement and connect with your customers.