In today's marketing scenario,
building a loyal and passionate
consumer ambassador who supports the product and
evangelizes everyone who listens to him creates magic. "Word-of-mouth
marketing is more effective and leads to higher revenue growth," emphasize
Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell in their book, Citizen Marketers: When
People are the Message. The book continues. "It is a driver of business.
However, it also means you have to think differently. Traditionally,
marketing has been all about controlling the message. Now you don't
have control—you can't just go and make an ad, you have to embrace
these folks." Marketers are banking
on the fact that people give more importance to suggestions from
their friends, relatives and associates than an anonymous marketer. So,
the involvement of customers as a part of ad campaigns can be more
fruitful than just thrusting the information on them.
Customers are fanatical about the brand. Fanning the flame of
the customers' love for the brand will actually reduce the
advertisers' effort. "You've always been able
to find customers who love a brand so much they want to tell others
and recruit," say Jackie Huba and Ben McConell in their book. The
book adds "In the past few years, these evangelists have become
more powerful and measurable. There has been a democratization
of technology, the availability of broadband, and the development
of social media. Ordinary people will now create content about
brands—videos, websites, blogs—for all the world to see. The Internet is the
new vehicle for word-of-mouth
marketing." |
