I'm a newbie when it comes to word of mouth marketing, so reading Sernovitz's book was pretty enlightening. I took away several lessons from this read, but the following were the key points:
1. Consumers are Now in Control
If I were a traditional advertiser relying on buying large media blocks to make money, I would be terrified for my job after reading this book. The comment Sernovitz makes, that a single consumer voice has a greater impact than any advertisement, was particularly insightful. A consumer talking to the masses via social networks, blogging, or other media can either be a company's best friend, or their worst enemy, depending on the message. It is truly amazing to think that one person can affect the perceptions of a company in ways that few traditional ads could ever think about. Companies would be wise to focus their attentions on communicating with their customers rather than on spending on media.
2. Questions to ask About Customers
This is the section that really stood out to me. Sernovitz suggests that companies ask themselves four questions about their customers: When they leave, what has the company given the customer to talk about to others? How will the customer remember to talk about the business to his or her friends? Could the business have made it easier for that conversation to happen? And was any part of the customer's experience remarkable? I hadn't thought about engaging with the psyche of a customer in this way until reading the book, but I think about customers differently now. Rather than just thinking about whether a customer is happy in general or not with my product or service, it is important to question how to get them talking about the company.
3. Become Buzzworthy
This was an interesting section, but I took a different perspective. Sernovitz says a company's brand becomes talkworthy after relationships with customers change. But this got me thinking about word of mouth marketing focused on non-customers. Meaning companies can use word of mouth to their advantage in ways other than to grow or service their customer base. Employees, shareholders, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the community can also be subjects of this strategy, and are often as important to focus on as customers. The techniques in this book can all be used to build better relationships with these other groups, as many of the questions mentioned above can be asked of them as well as of customers. Employees are a key example - these people are often the best ambassador, or the worst marketer of a company. They have the power to tell the real truth about a product or service to customers, and can greatly impact whether others choose to come work at a company or not. Suppliers who are treated well or poorly will also have an impact on a company's ability to work with vendors. Being buzzworthy is bigger than just customers, and companies can apply the lessons from Sernovitz to other groups as well.
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