This is a guest post from Spike Jones — Group Director of Engagement at WCG and co-author of the book Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements. See the original post this is adapted from and more like it on his blog.
We all have it. That “thing” that people know us by. Think about that circle of friends you know so well. You usually describe them by that “thing” that’s all theirs.
Like my friend Justin, whose thing is collecting and blogging about odd, ugly, and neglected toys. Or Matt, whose thing is building amazingly detailed models. And check out Andy, who loves finding pocket squares in the wild. There are other friends you have who are WAY into style. Or cars. Or movies. Or comics. Or CrossFit. You get the idea.
Everybody has a “thing,” and that makes putting together ambassador programs a lot easier.
Gathering these kindred spirits together around that thing they are known for has a certain magic about it. It’s like a structured love-fest.
But when you get a group of people together whose “thing” is the same, how do you then make them feel special? Because if everyone is special, then nobody is special. The truth is, when you get like-minded people together, you begin to see that even though there’s one common thing that bonds them, they each have their own “thing” within the “thing.” This could include a different perspective or specialty, different skill levels, backgrounds, etc. And when they’re in the midst of people who speak their same language and have that same passion, these “things” emerge and are celebrated on a higher level.
It’s up to us to make sure we create opportunities for these celebrations.
It’s advocacy on another plane. Because when you give people the opportunity to love what they love even more, you’re a natural part of that conversation. It’s word of mouth in action.
About Spike Jones
Spike Jones is a results-proven communications professional, specializing in digital and offline word of mouth marketing. With more than 15 years of experience, the career path goes something like this: Baylor University; a decade at Brains on Fire; SVP of the Customer Experience team at Fleishman-Hillard; Group Director, Engagement at WCG; and now SVP, Managing Director SW Region at Edelman Digital. Spike is also a co-author of the book Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements.
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