Quick. What’s the most powerful marketing force known to mankind?

That’s right – Word of Mouth.

Fortunately for all of us alive and marketing today, word-of-mouth is now easier to generate and more powerful than anytime in human history. And, best of all… it’s frick’n cheap!

So, how can you wield the raw power of the WOM? (It’s an inelegant acronym, I know, but it works)

Let’s start with the fundamentals.

1. People talk about what they love and what they hate. They do not talk about the bland middle ground (the space occupied by 99% of businesses.)

Corollary: If people love your business, they ARE talking, but talk alone in no way guarantees clients. This is what’s known (by me) as the Referral Paradox.

2. People share WOM with those they believe are likely to become your client. And not only that, if they really love it they will share the WOM over and over and over until the target caves, tries it and falls in love with it too.

3. They’ll talk about you on their own terms, not yours. If people are going to spread the word about you, they’re going to do it when and how they want to. So, figure out how they would want to talk about you and make it easy for them to do it and help them do it well. For some people you’d want to create an email they can forward. For others you’d want to create an event to which they can invite their friends. The options are endless, but the details are critical.

4. They’ll find you on their own terms, NOT yours. Ignore this principle at your peril! These days it takes just minutes to find credible information on pretty much anything you want. This puts the consumer in control and the empowered consumer doesn’t want to hear from you until they’ve given you permission to speak.

For that kind of permission, look for the contexts in which your target market would be SEARCHING for what you got. For example, if you’re marketing to Luddites, go ahead and advertise in the newspaper. For non-Luddite markets, look a little deeper. Do they rely on blogs? Their massage therapist? Their company newsletter? A trade magazine? The office manager?

5. If it’s not obscenely easy, it’s not going to happen. Attention (of the individual and the group) flows like water. The slightest obstacle can send it flowing somewhere else. BUT if you build yourself a steep, smooth trough, all you have to do is tap into it and it’s gonna head right to you.

That, my friends, is WOM in a nutshell.

Is there any reason you can’t get your WOM on? Absolutely not! I’ll tell you this though. If you insist on trying to appeal to everyone and your target market is “anyone who can afford it,” the WOM is going to end up anemic if not stillborn.

Here’s an assignment. For the moment, forget all of your presumptions and beliefs about what a business should be. Be open to the idea of changing the rules of the game and doing it all differently. Now ask yourself, “Why not be great?” With that in mind, think about who your ideal clients would be? What do they want? And what would make them fall in love with your business?

Do that simple exercise and you’re well on your way to becoming a WOM-machine.

Alright then! Thanks for reading all the way to the end.

As always, if you have any marketing questions, send me an email. Consider me your marketing advice columnist, or marketing therapist. Ask anything you like. Go ahead, try and stump me.

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FAQ #3

Q. “My god, you’re BRILLIANT! Can you help me with my business? Please.”

A. Oh pshaw. Now I’m blushing. I’d be happy to help you with your business. For the smaller indie-business I developed a program called Marketing Therapy. We’d start by developing a plan – typically beginning with a short-term plan. Then we’d meet weekly (or monthly, if needed) to go over the nitty-gritty of executing the plan. AND after each session, you’d walk away with a list of assignments which you must complete.

AND, for bigger projects I can design a plan with you then assemble and manage the team to make it happen.

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