.png){kind=icon}
Acquiring customers is pretty nice. Retaining customers is viciously pursued. However, turning your customers into brand advocates — that's Pretty Vicious.
Word-of-mouth (#WOMM) has ‘always’ been one of the cheapest and most efficient forms of marketing. Irrespective of size and industry all brands are including this in their #marketingstrategies to grow their business.
Remember consumers today are smart. They no longer just believe or even listen to advertising or promotions by brand. Now their habits center around consumers seeking recommendations from friends/family, checking reviews about the product & company on the company’s business website & review platforms and then even checking a brand’s social channels.
Thanks to technology, information-hungry consumers are getting all the details about products and services they need right at their fingertips; then based on that they make their purchase. This makes it vital for your brands to be in the look good books of its customers. Scott Cook, Director of Intuit famously said
“ A BRAND IS NO LONGER WHAT WE TELL CUSTOMERS IT IS - IT IS WHAT CUSTOMERS TELL EACH OTHER IT IS ”
So, is your brand taking advantage of its hidden wealth and positioning its customers to market the business? If not, it’s time you the untapped value of this important asset. We’ve pinned down some Pretty Vicious tactics for you to use to persuade your customers to do all the talking about your brand:
1. ASK FOR FEEDBACK AND PLACE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS ON YOUR WEBSITE
This is the most common and effective tactic used by marketers for WOMM! Studies show that a website visitor forms an opinion about your company in 8 seconds. This means you get only 8 seconds to win a potential customer. One of the best ways to utilise these 8 seconds is to highlight customer testimonials on your homepage.
Human psychology studies show people trust others' opinions. So, the best way to ensure they gain confidence in your brand is to show them what your customers are saying about you. Reading persuasive testimonials from your customers will persuade visitors to take an action. But make sure you add a customer’s identity to increase trust levels and make testimonials look legitimate. NEVER fabricate customer testimonials.
2. INTEGRATE SOCIAL PROOF WITH OTHER MARKETING CHANNELS
The second best tactic is to integrate customer testimonials with other channels like marketing emails, PPC ads, Facebook and Twitter sponsored ads, etc. Testimonials are considered to be the most powerful “conversion” weapon for your brand's arsenal. Make the best of your #testimonials by reinforcing to prospects how valuable their business is by adding customer feedback in marketing activities.
Pretty Vicious Tip: include video testimonials in email campaigns. This will improve your CTR's.
3. LET YOUR CUSTOMERS SPEAK IN CASE STUDIES
Brands publish case studies to provide interesting insights to prospective customers. Your customers will discuss the initial challenges faced by them or how they felt after purchasing your product or service. The words in your case study come from outside of your business; your customers are more likely to trust them as a reputable reference.
4. TURN YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO CONTENT CREATORS ON SOCIAL
Create #brandadvocacy opportunities by holding contests on social channels. The key is to gently nudge your social followers to contribute content on your social page. Ask your customers to take a selfie with your product and post it on social platforms with a custom hashtag. Ensure you align the prize of this contest with your brand’s image and audience’s interest. Crafting such social campaigns will help boost engagement, increase social followers and help you grab potential buyers’ attention.
5. PROMOTE USER-GENERATED CONTENT ON SOCIAL
There are times when people are talking about your brand on social channels even if you have not crafted a campaign. Monitor your social channels regularly. Endorse tweets or posts related to your brand or product/service on your social channels. Appreciate their efforts which in turn will encourage other social followers to do the same.
6. LEVERAGE REPUTATION SITES RELATED TO YOUR MARKET
People today check Yelp for restaurants, IMDb for movie reviews and TripAdvisor for hotels to gauge the quality of a business as well as reviews and ratings on third-party platforms, which looks more authentic to customers. It is therefore vital your brand has a presence on review platforms related to their niche. You should keep track of the review platforms your competitors have profiles on too.
7. EXCEED CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
Happy and satisfied customers are the key to word-of-mouth marketing. Question is how do you make your customers/social followers happy? Exceed their expectations! Offer them personalized experiences, under-promise and over-deliver as they say, then ask for their opinion about your new product/service or by simply surprising them.
8. LEVERAGING LIVE EVENTS
Social sharing from events is a great social campaign. Brands must leverage concerts, festivals and live events like awards to encourage fans to do their brand talking. Use a dedicated hashtag for the event. Ask social followers to share real-time content from live events and use the hashtag.
Remember if you need support to tap into the immense power of your fan/social follower base and use their authentic content to power your #marketingcampaigns you can always consult a Pretty Vicious expert. The reward will grow your customer base in ways previously unachievable.
Get in touch today and we'll discuss your current strategies, opportunities and ways of ensuring your getting the most from the current customer base. You can also sign up to our newsletter to get cost-effective marketing tips and stay on top of industry trends affecting your brand.
Until next time...
