Association Buzz

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Association Buzz
Using Word of Mouth To Market Associations
Association WeekJune 21, 2005
Andy Sernovitz Chief Executive Officer Word of
Mouth Marketing Association
Sheri Jacobs, CAE Director of Membership and
Marketing Association Forum of Chicagoland
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There is only one thing worse than being talked
about,and that is not being talked about.
- Oscar Wilde
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Part 1 What is Word of Mouth Marketing?
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Marketing isnt just direct mailIts every
contact with a constituent

• There is no better promotion than a happy
  customer

Nothing will cost you more than an angry kid with
a blog
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People talk!

• Consumer-Created Media (CCM) is becoming bigger
  than controlled media
• Everything lives forever in Google
• Organizations cant use advertising/ marketing to
  force a message that is counter to reality

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What is word of mouth?

• Word of Mouth The act of one person sharing
  information with another
• Word of Mouth Marketing Motivating people to
  talk about your products and services, and making
  it easier for that conversation to take place.

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Types of word of mouth marketing

• Creating and working with blogs
• Activating evangelists, street teams, and
  enthusiastic volunteers
• Viral marketing
• Community Marketing
• Grassroots Marketing
• Evangelist Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Track issues trends before they go public

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A unique opportunity for non-profits

• Challenge To combine traditional media, online
  marketing, and social networks to motivate
  enable your members and interested public to
  carry your message forward.
• OpportunityNon-profits are uniquely qualified
  youve been listening to people for years.
  Corporations are having a hard time, but your
  entire culture is an advantage.

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Why do people talk?

• Yes
• Status
• Feeling like an insider
• They care

• No
• Incentives and rewards
• Love, not money
• Response to promotion
• You dont talk about things that everyone knows
  about

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You need to join the conversation

• The basic steps in creating word of mouth
• Find the right people to talk about you
• Give them something to talk about
• Provide the tools to make it easier
• Get involved in that conversation
• Track and measure the results

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3 Easy Ways To Start

• Simple Blog
• Create everyday involvement
• Tell-a-Friend on every page
• Make it too easy to resist
• Insider Information
• Being in-the-know energizes evangelists. They
  cant spread the word if they have nothing to say.

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2 Hard Questions You Need to Ask

• Are you buzzworthy?
• At the end of the day why would anyone bother
  telling a friend about you?
• Find something!
• Where does negative WOM start?
• Grouchy receptionist? Slow response times?
• Overly aggressive telemarketing? Does a refusal
  become a future detractor with 5-to-1 impact?

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5 Ways To Make This Work In Your Organization

• Put someone in charge
• High-level interdepartmental working group tasked
  with responsibility and oversight
• Evaluate WOM impact for every program and
  activity
• Spread the excitement evangelize internally
• Dont try to go it alone. Learn and work with
  others

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Part 2 Great Examples of WOM by Associations
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Get Them, Keep Them Thank Them

• Increase Recruitment Retention through Buzz
  Marketing

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If you always dowhat youve always done youll
always getwhat youve always gotten.
The truth.
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Word-of-Mouth Marketing

• Why does it matter?One American in ten tells the
  other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to
  buy. They are the influentials.
• Why do it?
• WOM is effective at cutting through the
  advertising clutter. Its honest and genuine.

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Where do you begin?

• Consider this
• Does the product lend itself to WOM?
• Are you reinforcing the concept and the message
  behind the product?
• Can you release information gradually?
• Are you making it easy to spread the word?

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Five reasons why it works.

• The volunteer is a trusted friend or advisor.
• The advice is coming from an independent source,
  not the manufacturer
• The message is usually genuine and free of hype.
• The value of the product or service is
  personalized for the recipient.
• The referrer explains the value until its fully
  understood by the recipient.

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Positive Word of Mouth Strategies.

• Grassroots Marketing
• Evangelist Marketing Give people something to
  talk about
• Create communities and connect people
• Work with influential individuals
• Product Seeding
• Research and listen to feedback
• Conversation Creation
• Blogging
• Referral Programs

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Forums Bobblehead Campaign

• Limited edition
• No scripts, requirements, honest buzz
• Created an experience

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Forums Bobblehead Campaign

• Determine why someone should join your
  organization (Asset audit, LVM)
• Identify, design and create ways to communicate.

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Forums Bobblehead Campaign

• Create an experience
• Give your members the tools they need to spread
  the word.

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Free Prize Inside

• Soft innovation Solve a members problem that
  is peripheral to what your organization is about.
  
• Give a second reason to join your organization
  and perhaps a first reason to talk about it.
• Seth Godin, Free Prize Inside

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Free Prize Inside Convenient

• Create an experience or product worth talking
  about. Soft innovation.

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Free Prize Inside Unexpected
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Free Prize Inside Unexpected
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Marketing from the Inside Out
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The tools you need to get started

• Asset Audit
• Lifetime Value of a Member
• Marketing Brief Market Research
• Testimonials
• Know Your Competition

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Part 3 Other Examples
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Examples of Great WOM Campaigns

• WOMMAs Conference
• LLSs Fundraising Sites
• DCCCs Survivor Emails
• Discoverys Teacher Evangelists
• LEGO Communities

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The job search youre seeing right now

• WOMMA is hiring three AMAZING Vice Presidents
• Were exciting
• Fastest growing marketing association
• Amazingly interesting and important topic
• 1000 new member leads (companies) we havent even
  called
• You are
• Ready to do the work of 10 people, by yourself
• An association superstar
• Knowledgeable the marketing field
• Ready for your big break
• Jobs
• VP Event, VP Recruiting, VP Membership

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Thank You
Contact me any time Andy Sernovitz 312-335-0035 a
ndy_at_womma.org