Have You Heard? Your B2B Marketing Strategy Isn’t Complete Without WOMM
It works more now more than ever because there are now more online and offline conversations among your customers.
I’ve been in marketing for decades and word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) was something I considered valuable but somewhat beyond the control of marketing. Customer referrals and endorsements had to be earned and efforts by marketing to influence advocacy could spoil what hopefully happens naturally.
What was missing from my marketing perception was a clear appreciation for the influencers in the marketplace and the power they add to the mix. I learned a lot about this in recent years from leading expert Ted Wright of FIZZ, an Atlanta-based WOMM agency.
According to Ted:
For WOMM to work, you need influencers.
- Influencers try new things because they are new
- They like to share new things with their friends
- They are intrinsically motivated
So how do you work WOMM into your B2B marketing strategy? Start with your story.
How do you find and engage the influencers in your marketplace? You don’t. If you have your story right, the influencers will find you.
As simple as that sounds, it takes great effort to distill your brand’s story to the point it will attract influencers. It must be worth sharing.
Stories that get shared must be three things:
- Interesting
- Relevant
- Authentic
Needless to say, if your story meets those three criteria, all of your marketing is more effective, including social media and inbound marketing.
“There must be more to it.” you say. Well there is.
And I know just the time and place where you can learn more from national experts from WOMMA during WOMMFEST 2013.
February 19, 2013 is the first ever National Word of Mouth Marketing Day.
WOMMA is celebrating with WOMMfest – an all day experience of all things happening in the world of WOMM – in three cities across the country, Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle.
I plan on attending WOMMFEST 2013 in Atlanta and hope to “see you there” at any one of the three host cities. And please help spread the word. Thanks!
