Word Of Mouth: What’s It Worth and What Is A Conversation Anyway?
Lots of people want to talk about Word of Mouth Marketing these days and inevitably, we’ll talk about how the percentages are up for spending in the Word of Mouth area. This means brands are now spending big bucks to have conversations with its audience. In fact, according to new research from PQ Media, spending on word-of-mouth marketing was around $1.54 billion in 2008. Not bad for a serious economic downturn.
A simple question I like to ask is: What is a conversation to you? You’d be surprised how many people think that putting an ad on a social networking site means that a conversation is occurring. Really though, what constitutes a conversation? Is it someone following you on Twitter? Is it asking a question in your static banner ad? Is it making a really cool video that garners some comments? It seems we have some confusion as to what a conversation is composed of these days.
Wordnetweb says it’s “the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.” Of course, online we don’t use speech but you get the idea, it’s a back and forth of information. This doesn’t really describe a lot of what’s happening with brands online right now.
Audiences, however, want to talk to brands online so the quest for conversation by brands continues and the whole thing poses a bit of a problem in the ROI department since your customers want to talk to you online and you want to get them to do something that may not have anything to do with the conversation. It’s interesting because people are, as a species, used to conversations. You go back and forth and during the engagement and you will draw some conclusions or get some information that you find useful or entertaining. Brands trying to determine ROI on a conversation will have trouble because they probably see value in telling you about their product or service but not much in whatever you say back to them. So they have started translating it into a numbers game. 100 comments = good 2 comments = bad.
Once we get into ROI and “direct sale” and “lift” we aren’t even talking about conversations anymore. This can only mean one thing: audiences are valuing the online conversations but the brands really aren’t. This is understandable considering these are businesses and are there primarily to make money. Non-profits are a natural fit for social media but that’s another post altogether.
So how do you measure a conversation so that both the audience and the brand is getting something of value from it?
1) It’s Not Really A Numbers Game. Change your reports from “number of conversations” to “conversation types” or “value of engagement”. Your reports that reflect the number of comments or followers or friends don’t mean anything to your CEO. They might not mean anything to anyone in your whole company which makes your reports useless. Change them to reflect what you really want to know – are your followers mainly spammers? Are the conversations junk or are they people asking you questions? Reports will have to tear themselves away from just the number of engagements as a whole in order for them to become more useful to your brand. This simple change internally will allow conversations to mean more and therefore be worth more.
Your reports should have sections for:
How many total posts, followers, friends, etc., how many of those are actual people, and how many of those are posting or engaging frequently.
What are people bringing up a lot? Are people mainly asking questions, complaining, suggesting new ideas?
2) You Don’t Have To Participate In Everything As An Expert. If you find out your audience is really interested in movies but your brand doesn’t have an expert opinion then ask. You don’t have to release a Top 5 Movies to See post if you don’t really know what those top 5 might be, spend some time having a dialogue to find out.
3) You’re Allowed To Bring Up Your Brand. Know anyone who is constantly pushing their own agenda every time you talk to them? Don’t be that brand. Know anyone who deftly places a bit of self promotion here and there in a conversation? Take note next time you talk to them and remember the wording, tone, or context of how they are speaking.
Seth Godin On Social Networking For Business
Amen to this… I haven’t heard the term “fake networking” much before this video but I think it’s an important concept. Lots of companies really, really want Facebook fans or Twitter followers. I always ask them “why do you want that?” It’s a throwback to the mass advertising idea that if you reach a billion people, some will buy. The problem with this and social networking is that if someone “follows” you “friends” you or otherwise decides to engage, you have to then work to keep that relationship going. What good is Twitter follower number 428 if you still have no idea who that person is and have never talked to them?
Is Starbucks Rebranding By Not Branding?
I have been reading a lot about Starbucks lately. That they are trying social media, that they are giving away ice cream on Facebook, and that they are serving drinks now but they really piqued my interest with their new idea to call their new stores anything but “Starbucks”.
The one in Seattle is called 15th Street Coffee and Tea.
A company distancing itself from the branding that made it famous? Is that crazy? No, here’s why:
The New York Times is interviewing restaurants and bars that say their expensive bottle service is down so much that they are closing and re-opening as bars that can bring a keg to your table. Speakeasies are back. Homemade is in and Etsy is booming. Doughnuts are suddenly cuisine to contend with everywhere from the street to Top Chef. Starbucks built their name on being a fancy cup of coffee and represents the idea of the same exact atmosphere in every store no matter what the city or even country. It was comforting right up until unique and creative got a big boost in popularity.
It’s rather brilliant actually. Anyone seen the “Starbucks” in Seattle that’s not called a Starbucks?
Big Fun In A Small Space – Germany
This is a German ad campaign for those tiny little Smart Cars! I think it’s slightly gimmicky as you can’t really play a tiny retro game within an icon but it still gets points for creativity.
Pillows Go Geeky
Now we can even put the icons on our couches!! Is it geeky that I want these? From Etsy, all are roughly $20
Dunkin’ Donuts Gets Innovative
Some brands are really getting into the social game these days and it’s been really fun to watch. Vans has their model lounge, Puma and their traveling stores, and now Dunkin’ Donuts has been on my radar for the last few months as they appear to be pulling out all the stops. Ask A Copywriter passed by this example:
Dunkin’ has also created a website that coordinates Dunkin’ Runs. You create a list of friends and coworkers and it tells your whole list when anyone is getting ready to make a Dunkin’ Run. I love it!
They’ve also been praised for their Twitter account if you want to check that out. They’ve got about 23,000 followers.
Clay Shirky – Social Media “We’re All In This Together”
Clay Shirky is the author of “Here Comes Everybody” and has some cool views on social media.
