[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Word of mouth isn’t another tactic for the marketing team — it’s a fundamental way of doing business that works best when everyone is involved. Three teams you should be earning buy-in from:
1. Customer service
2. Product development
3. Leadership
1. Customer service
Get your front-line employees dedicated to earning the respect and recommendation of your customers. Give them the tools and the authority to thrill them, and the incentive to do it. No department has as much opportunity to earn the company tons of buzz and new, raving fans.
2. Product development
Word of mouth is as much about product features as it is about marketing. You’ll find some of the most sustainable word of mouth topics will come from your product development teams. For inspiration, point them to the flower vase in VW Bugs, Apple’s pink and purple computers, and White Castle’s miniature burgers.
3. Leadership
Getting your leadership involved in word of mouth is how you take it from side projects and skunkworks to a fundamental part of your company. You can help this happen by teaching them that word of mouth is more than goofy stunts and viral videos. Show them the numbers, the case studies, and the potential of what word of mouth can do for your company.
