Rebekah Mackay Miller is the Managing Director of international marketing agency Trnd UK. Here she talks about how to tackle the disconnect between the way consumers and brands talk about products.
"Get the language right and you can marshal the power of thousands of consumers to market your product.
When have you told a friend that your lipstick ‘created luscious, plump lips’, or that a skin cream ‘reduced wrinkles the eye can’t see’? Probably never.
You’re more likely to have said that a particular lipstick brand has a great colour, and lasted all night (even after a bottle of wine and a pizza), or that a BB cream makes your skin feel really soft (maybe even glowy).
There’s a gap between what brand marketing says in adverts and what real people say to each other. If you want your customers to recommend your product, they won’t use your carefully crafted messages. They’ll use their own words.
Effective word-of-mouth marketing closes the gap between what brands say to consumers, and what consumers say to each other. It creates messages that inspire consumers to talk about your brand.
Get it right, and you’ll expand your marketing team to the power of thousands (a study by Lithium found that 1,000 customers can generate up to 500,000 conversations about a brand).
Great word-of-mouth campaigns will follow five basic principles. The words consumers use to talk about your product won’t have been written by an ad agency, but they’ll be more effective.
1. Identify the influential consumers
The hand raisers who stay current on trends and who their friends turn to for recommendations.
2. Build your word of mouth campaign.
Build your campaign around what they want from you, not the other way around. Motivation is driven intrinsically, not by incentive.
3. Give them the tools they need to spread the word.
People talk about themselves; providing samples or insider information means their experience with your brand is worth sharing.
4. Listen to and reward them.
Demonstrate that you value and will act on their opinion. A simple ‘thank you’ can be enough.
5. Finally, trust them with your message.
You can’t control it, so don’t try! 81% of people in the UK trust personal recommendations above all other forms of advertising."
