An Easy Way to Boost Social Media Word-of-Mouth

Customers are lazy people; there are not many of them who will go out of their way to aid your brand, unless there is a large enough incentive to do so. We've taken care of the incentive in previous posts about making customers proud to support your brand and creating experiences that translate into good stories. So let's move onto the easier portion: removing the part where the customer has to go out of their way to support you.

Clearly, more people will share if you make it convenient for them. For example, Nike+ GPS, Nike's latest running app, allows users to automatically share the details of their latest run. So users feel the pride of publicizing their fitness and it's easy for them to do so.

On the other hand, while automated sharing can be convenient, status updates or tweets that sound canned do not resonate. Allow users to customize their sharing, in order to let their own authenticity shine through. If this is not practical, add a little bit of flair or personality to the automatic sharing.

Once you integrate some programming that makes sharing easy, you'll be well on your way to achieving the buzz that you've been looking for.

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

Creating Social Media Buzz with Tangible Rewards for Sharing

Tangible motivators are popular amongst today's "social media experts" for a few reasons.

First of all, there is a clear and definite correlation between the value of your reward and number of "likes" or "follows" your brand gets. If you guarantee users who "like" your page, a coupon or voucher, naturally, more people will "like" your page. Don't get too excited though because with these extrinsic motivators, you zap the element of engagement from the "like". You do not forge an emotional connection with the person, robbing you of precious brand loyalty and advocacy. In fact, if the customer is actually captivated by your brand, an extrinsic reward downplays the value of this relationship. It's almost like your friend paying you to do a good deed- it takes away all of the intrinsic value.

Also, tangible rewards require little creativity; it's just coupons, a "chance to win an iPad", or access to content. I'm not saying that innovation cannot exist in tangible rewards; it's very possible. However, it's not very abundant in today's social media situation.

Despite all this criticism that I have, tangible benefits do have a place in social media marketing plans. Tangible rewards are effective if they are given to loyal customers unexpectedly. This unexpectedness does not render the customer relationship meaningless; if they are unexpected, they are more like gifts of thanks for being loyal, rather than benefits to remain loyal. Also, these unexpected gifts can be combined with exclusive closed groups to maximize their power.

Moreover, a short-term campaign based on tangible rewards, can be viable for small brands that need a period of viral buzz. If executed correctly, this can explode brand recognition. On the other hand, be careful with this sort of campaign because customers may become "addicted" to your reward and flock away quickly if it is withdrawn. To combat this, ensure that your rewards are short-term or offered on an infrequent basis. As well, during and after you withdraw the rewards, present another meaningful way for the customer to connect and reap benefits from your brand (some sort of an engagement campaign).

Last but not least, occasionally, businesses need to boost the number of "likes" their page has, in order to "legitimize" the page. A tangible reward can do this very quickly.

All in all, it is generally a good idea to stay away from tangible rewards but every once in awhile, they may be able to supplement more meaningful marketing.

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

How to Ignite Word-of-Mouth for Your Brand on Facebook and Oher Social Media

One of the most attractive facets of Facebook marketing campaigns is the massive word-of-mouth potential. However, a vast majority of promotion on Facebook does not take advantage of the most efficient platform for sharing, in the world.

To figure out how to spur sharing, we can go back to the roots of why Facebook is so addicting. We love Facebook because it is an opportunity to show our true colors to a network of people who are interested in them. If you have Facebook, you know what you share: status updates often detail your accomplishments of the day, you might post your child's graduation photos, and you may put your political or religious views in your information section.

The common denominator of all these items is that you are proud to showcase them to the world. Why do people spend time filling out their favorite bands, movies, and athletes on their profiles? Because they're proud to show how unique and special their preferences are.

Clearly, the best way to trigger word-of-mouth on Facebook, is to position your product in a way that your customers can be proud to use it.

Nike + iPod (a device that tracks and shares running statistics) users are proud to share the fact that they are avid users because it gives them the image of being fit and determined.

Meanwhile, charity donors love to flaunt their generosity and restaurant-goers like to show off their good tastes.

All of these people would take pride in sharing their love of a specific brand on Facebook. How can your brand make customers feel the same way?

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

Creating Funny Experiences to Generate Social Media Buzz

Facebook users love to entertain their friends. We'll share jokes, funny stories, and odd things that we notice with life. Why not make your brand one of these interesting or amusing status updates, that are the lifeblood of Facebook and Twitter?

Use either your product or your marketing to create experiences that don't happen every day. There are no boundaries on what you do, as long as it's unique enough to solicit an emotional reaction. This reaction can be surprise, laughter, the classic "awwww... that's so cute," or anything else that resonates with your target audience.

Burger King made people laugh with the interactive "Subservient Chicken" marketing campaign. Basically, this campaign was a website where users would see a video of a man dressed as a chicken; they could type in commands to get him to do things like "peck ground" or "walk like an Egyptian" (all pre-recorded, of course).

The entertainment value of this website triggered sharing and word-of-mouth like no traditional advertisement could ever dream of doing. Meanwhile, it furthered Burger King's brand of "having it your way" and drove up profits by 30%.

Stores should use the intimate environment that they create to form these interesting experiences. Imagine how many teenage girls would scream their heads off on Facebook and Twitter if, at Abercrombie or Hollister, the models (or even just the attractive-enough employees) started talking to them.

Take these examples and adapt them to your business, to generate the buzz your revolutionary idea needs.

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

Cultivating Brand Advocates Through Social Media: Involving the Customer

Customers truly enjoy engaging with brands that include them in their operations. Generally, companies subject even their most loyal customers to sitting on the sidelines, as mere spectators. Why waste these valuable brand advocates that you've likely spent years building relationships with?

Social media is a tool that can make customer involvement much easier.

Free the Children, a charity group whose goal is to eradicate child poverty, demonstrates this perfectly. They've partnered with various sponsors who have agreed to contribute $1 for every "like" they get on Facebook. This allowed supporters to be a part of the giving process, with a simple but meaningful gesture that they could feel good about.

Several brands have also created "name this product" contests on Facebook, as well as YouTube-based contests to make advertisements.

These sorts of engaging campaigns can create lifelong brand loyalty with winners and fun memories for other participants. Once you make a customer feel like a part of your organization, she feels sincerely good about supporting your brand.