I just
came across an advance review copy of the latest edition of Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz. It’s worth
your time.
The
author founded the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (www.WordofMouth.org). His book and organization is geared to
serving companies and helping them to generate customers for free. But his book is certainly applicable to
authors who seek to build a brand and sell more books.
Word of
Mouth Marketing is what it sounds like – getting others to talk about you and
endorse enthusiastically what you do.
It’s not a paid advertisement, it’s not telemarketing, and it’s not
pushing stuff in an unsolicited way.
There
are five principles to Word of Mouth Marketing, according to the book.
1. Talkers
Find
people who will talk about you. They may
be fans, customers, bloggers, volunteers, influencers, friends, and family. Find people who influence others, such as a teacher vs. a parent, a company manager vs. an employee, or a coach instead of one player.
2. Topics
Give
people a reason to talk about you. What
will do this? Having a great book,
giving a special offer, or exhibiting a cool, unique or quirky style – voice –
character.
3. Tools
Help the
message spread faster and farther. Help
things by blogging, sending viral emails, asking others to tell others, using
coupons, and holding online discussions.
4. Taking Part
Join the
conversation. Reply to feedback or
comments. Participate in social media
and join discussions.
5. Tracking
Measure
and understand what people are saying.
Search blogs, read online discussions, listen to feedback, and use
advanced measurement tools.
Sernovitz
narrows it down to these three reasons as to why people will talk about you and
they are as follows:
·
It’s
about you – they love you, love the book.
·
They
feel smart and important when expressing themselves about you.
·
They
feel part of a group or team that is aligned with you.
So what
happens when people talk about you but not to praise you? They trash you, rip your book apart, attack
you personally, and treat you like a plague!
“People
will say bad things about you,” writes the author. “In fact, it’s already happening. So what do you do? The worst thing you can do is nothing. If you’ve got a negative word of mouth
problem, it’s not going away by itself.
People will keep talking; negative stories will keep spreading, and it
will forever damage your reputation. If
you don’t get involved, It’s going to get worse.”
But the
answer is not to necessarily get revenge on the naysayers or to confront the
critics. “The solution to negative word
of mouth is more word of mouth marketing,” writes Sernovitz.
He
suggests a number of defenses.
First,
let your fans defend you. Second, build
credibility and good will before you need to cash it in. Third, don’t be caught by surprise. Anticipate what could be your perceived weak
spots and address them in advance.
If you
respond to an attack, he offers these six strategies:
1.
Respond
calmly and offer to help.
2.
Do
not get into a fight.
3.
Be
human and don’t sound canned.
4.
Correct
the record – tell people what you did to address a concern.
5.
Follow
up and deliver on your promises.
6.
Do
something wonderful and surprise your critic with a gift or personal apology.
Word of
Mouth Marketing shows us that in addition to – not instead of – advertising,
publicity, and marketing -- one must go out there and talk things up and hope
that others will do the same.
READ UP!
Writers, please never
violate these three rules!
How much longer should
outdated phrases last?
The new book
reading experience: 1915 vs. 2015
Great quotations
to lift your writing
Amazing New
Photography Book Culls 4 Million Images Into 1,100
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in
this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on
Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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