Buzz Builder

Heartfelt Referral Rewards Work Wonders

Today, I was thrilled and surprised to receive a box of delicious chocolates and a lovely decorative plate as a thank you from my friend Christine Richards, an outstanding sales training guru and professional speaker.  Inside was a nice card thanking me for recommending her services. Honestly, I had forgotten that I had done this. I can't remember the last time I received a referral reward as nice as Christine's.

Christine's generosity made me reflect on what I do for the people who refer business to me. Sometimes, I'll thank them in person. Other times, I'll email them or drop  a thank you card in the mail. But I'm sure that nothing I do has the impact that I felt when I opened the package today.

As a small business owner, I don't have a huge marketing budget. But, as I consider where to invest marketing dollars, I learned a valuable lesson from Christine. If there are people enthusiastically spreading buzz about my business, rewarding them is not only the right thing to do but it's an excellent to gain future referrals.

Do gifts you receive for referring business make an impact on you? How do you reward people who recommend your services?

Zagat Survey's New Owner Will Have Much Catching Up to Do Online

In The New York Times Deal Book Blog on 1/14/08, there's a post  that Zagat is trying to sell its travel guide book and website business. They might be disappointed with the price that they fetch since online only travel and restaurant websites seem to be growing rapidly as this article indicates. In contrast, the Zagat website has a relative sparse number of reviews and appears to get relatively little traffic. It seemed like Zagat had a lot of buzz about five years ago before the importance of online reviews soared. The company should have jumped aboard the Internet bandwagon earlier since it had such a prestigious name.  The new owner of Zagat will have a lot of catching up to do online.

Brilliant Johnnie Moore Podcast on the New Social Media, the Death of Advertising, Bananas, and The Grateful Dead

While working out at the gym this morning, I enjoyed listening to Johnnie Moore's brilliant 47-minute podcast  with Hugh Macleod and Mark Earls (author of Welcome to the Creative Age and Herd). If you're interested in learning why the new social media is so promising for businesses with quality products and services, don't miss this wide ranging conversation. I almost fell off the treadmill when I heard Mark's hilarious tale about buying a real banana in a convenience store that had been shrunk-wrapped and labeled with an eye-catching sticker. The "branding" of a banana encompasses all that's wrong with traditional marketing. In contrast, the panelists expound upon how smart companies and The Grateful Dead have found that letting their authentic voices ring loud is the best way to break through commercial clutter. 

Why I'm Willing to Pay for Angie's List & Reliable Word of Mouth Recommendations

I'm willing to pay for quality word of mouth recommendations. I just received a note from Angie's List, one of the country's leading customer review websites of service providers with approximately 600,000 members across 124 U.S. cities, informing me that the free subscription that I've enjoyed for more than a year is ending. If I want to continue using the service, it'll cost me $27/year if I use the promo code LTRPROMO when I signup online or by phone.

I blogged positively about Angie's List last year while I had a free subscription. However, I'm  frugal when it comes for paying for online subscriptions since there is so much free information available. Yet, I have been unable to find a free or paid service like Angie's List with such comprehensive listings. More importantly, I've used Angie's List to find a variety of service providers such as electricians, handymen, painters, chimney sweeps, HVAC experts, plumbers, etc. Every single highly-rated service provider that I discovered on Angie's List provided quality service at a fair price. This leads me to believe that Angie's List invests a lot effort in making sure that reviewers are non-biased "real people." I would be curious to know how they do this since I imagine that is tempting for service providers to "stuff the ballot box."

Angie's List has also given me the means to obtain an informed second opinion when friends recommend service providers. It's not like I don't trust people but I enjoy getting an opinion beyond a sample size of one.

What customer review websites with paid or unpaid access do you like? I'm always open to new services and curious to see what else is out there. 

Why You Should Place a Welcome Video Link on Your Company's Home Page in 2008

According to a recent article in the excellent online newsletter of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Horowitz Associates released a report on "Broadband Content and Services 2007"  stating that six out of ten internet users download or watch video content on a weekly basis, and 86% say they view video at least once per month. News and user-generated videos top the lists of what internet users are watching.

In 2007, we helped three of our clients (Barbara Llewellyn Catering & Event Planning, STORViNO, and Bavarian Professionals) create welcome videos to meeting the growing demand for online video. The video portion of their websites have become quite popular and confirm the popularity of video that the Horowitz Associates report found.

Here are six keys for a successful welcome video:

1. Highlight the video prominently on the home page.
2. Tell a compelling story.
3. Focus on the entrepreneur and his or her values since people like buying from people they like.
4. Use interesting footage of the business in action while the business owner speaks.
5. Include customers talking about why they buy.
6. Be brief  (effective welcome videos are usually one to three minutes long).

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're lucky to have a great company that specializes in online video. For all the aforementioned videos we created for our clients in 2007, we partnered with Max Fancher of Maximize Video Productions. Max is one of the most creative and conscientious professionals with whom I've worked and enjoys my highest recommendation. His other customers are equally enthusiastic.

Brandweek Says Future of Word of Mouth Marketing Is Bright But Watch Out for Excess

Eric Newman at Brandweek has an interesting article about the growth of word of mouth marketing. In 2007, he noted that companies will spend $1.3 billion on WOM marketing, up almost 33% from $981 million in 2006. He quotes various pundits who anticipate that spending will continue growing at a rapid pace in 2008.

As a word of mouth marketing practitioner, I'm satisfied that my field is doing well. However, I  have some concerns that the power of word of mouth marketing might be negatively impacted if marketers try to control it so closely that consumers doubt the credibility of the messages that they hear.  Rather than obsessing about messages to communicate, all companies should realize that their best way to manage buzz is to ensure that their products and services are of the highest quality. Then, it makes sense to reach out to existing customers creatively to let them know that their buzz is both appreciated and necessary for the company's continued success.

What All Restaurants Should Learn from the Japanese

On Saturday, my wife and I went to an expensive restaurant that reviewers have buzzed about a lot. In fact, the stellar reviews convinced us that it would be worth shelling out nearly $100 for the meal. The food was tasty and the service was efficient during the meal. When we left, we walked past our waitress and the hostess, who weren't busy, yet we didn't hear them say "thank you" or "come again." They just looked at us as we walked out the door. We've had similar experiences at other high-priced restaurants when we were ignored after paying the large bill (and tip).

In contrast, over the past few months, I've been to three different Japanese restaurants from budget to high-end. Leaving each one, the guys behind the sushi bar, the waitresses, and the hostess all shouted "thank you" or "goodbye" as I left. This always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel valued. I look forward to going back to all three restaurants someday.

Why should the enthusiastic goodbye and thank you be unique to Japanese restaurants? Any restaurant that provides a warm farewell will leave a lasting impression that will get diners to return and recommend their friends.

Word of Mouth Wins Iowa Caucus

One of the biggest winners in yesterday's Iowa Caucus was word of mouth marketing. On the Republican side, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who was virtually unknown just a few months ago, surged to a resounding victory over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney who spent nearly 20 times more money on advertising in Iowa than Huckabee. Huckabee won with the overwhelming support of Christian conservatives who turned out to caucus in record numbers. The biggest reason behind the large turnout had nothing to do with traditional advertising. Rather, it was the enthusiasm of Huckabee's supporters who worked to get their friends and family to support their candidate.

For the Democrats, the surprisingly strong performance of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton defied the expectations of many pundits. Obama focused on a message of change while Hillary emphasized her experience. Exit polls seemed to vindicate Obama's change message. But, the real story was the huge turnout of young voters who voted overwhelmingly for Obama. The huge number of young Obama supporters going door-to-door to get out the vote in the general populace and inspire their peers to vote was the tipping point.

Before Election Day in November,billions will be spent on traditional advertising. But, I would bet that the victor will not be the one who buys the most advertising. Rather, it'll be the candidate who gets the masses buzzing.

Powerful Publicity with Polar Bear Plunge

First off, here's wishing you and all Buzz Builder blog readers a peaceful and prosperous 2008! Yesterday, I heard an NPR  about New Year's resolutions, and I was intrigued to learn that men are more apt to keep their resolutions if they make them as specific as possible whereas women who want to keep  their resolutions going throughout the year should make them known to friends who can hold them accountable. Looking back at my blog posting history over the past few months and resolving to do better in 2008, I'm now making a pledge to post at least three times a week.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about what makes publicity stunts succeed as well as some of my favorite ones (mine and others). Yesterday, the Oregon Zoo pulled off a great one with their Polar Bear Plunge that other zoos around the country should consider as an excellent way to generate publicity and contributions. One of the best ways to find an effective publicity stunt is to discover what works in one part of the country and copy it. 

For a donation of $500, Plunge participants got to dip into the Oregon Zoo's polar bear pool to raise funds for Polar Bears International through The Oregon Zoo Foundation's Future for Wildlife Fund. Besides helping a species in peril, plungers received a behind the scenes tour of the polar bear exhibit with three Portland TV weathercasters Mark Nelsen (KPTV),  Bruce Sussman (KOIN) and Dave Salesky (KGW) who also participated in the plunge.

The stunt was great because it highlighted a perfect message for the zoo - the danger that global warming poises for polar bears and other species. It generated coverage in many Portland media outlets. Last night, the event was covered on most local TV stations. Today, I read about in The Oregonian and heard a story on KOPB, the state's largest NPR station.

Also, kudos to Sorel, an outdoor footwear manufacturer which has a polar bear in its logo, for being the co-sponsor of the Oregon Zoo's event. The company is also doing a clever job at getting people to subscribe to its newsletter by offering to increase its donation to  Polar Bears International for every new newsletter subscriber.  This message would be even more powerful if Sorel let potential subscribers know how much money goes to Polar Bears International when they subscribed.