Word on the street

Back in the day, word of mouth was one of the best ways to get know a business. How do you find the best bakery? Ask your friends! Best Butcher? Ask the Baker!

Well, surprise! This is still relevant, and plausible. People walk around with their phones in their hands at all times. We are a 100% connected society, and where some may argue that's a bad thing, it's actually great for your brand. If someone wants to know about a business or a service, they post about it. They Google it, they research, and can do it all while walking to their car. This is where Influence Marketing comes in. People trust testimonials, always have always will. We KNOW that companies are trying to sell to us and no one likes to be sold. This gives a perfect opportunity to get that word on the street buzz.

Many large brands are already leveraging this in the way of native content (sponsored "news" articles that discuss a topic or service while casually mentioning the sponsor), supplying content and product to bloggers, and more recently YouTube and Social Media Influencers. As an example, Kendall Jenner is currently valued at $125,000 - $300,000 per social media post with your product/brand. As of today, she currently has ~72 Million followers, that is a lot of eyes. Even though it's technically an advertisement people see this, a person they look up to, using the product in what they perceive as a real-life testimonial (even though they are required to be tagged as #ad or #Sponsored). What great word of mouth!

Unless you have that budget of $125K+ (if so, hi, let's talk) you probably aren't calling Kendall Jenner anytime soon to have her pose with your brand. But, this can be done in a much smaller scale and contained in your community or vertical. There are tons of influencers in your own backyard that would be more than willing to talk about you. (Just a quick aside, having been both the marketer and the influencer PLEASE be prepared to pay these people for their time and promotion. They went through a lot of time and effort building their community and respect. It deserves to be compensated and recognized.)

Outside of finding those with an established community, there is YET AGAIN, another simpler solution to getting that word on the street that's so coveted. The big secret is...wait for it....TALK TO PEOPLE. I know, wild, but it works. This can be done in so many easy ways, ways in which you're probably already doing! Responding to social media posts is probably the most standard. The faster you respond, the more "human" you seem. When people feel emotionally connected they tend to be more loyal. There are many articles on timeline for responding based on platform (my quickie guide Facebook/Instagram - under 3hrs, Twitter - under 2hrs) so I won't go into theory on that. The whole point of responding is to show that you are there and are real not just a faceless corporation.

But this isn't just responding to comments on that neat article you posted. It's about responding to other peoples posts as well. Find brands that align with you, but don't directly compete, follow their threads, contribute. Don't just post articles either. Your customers, and potential customers want to know WHO you are, not just what you sell. According to Bright Local 84% of people trust an online review as much as a friends testimonial. They'll find those reviews by going to your Facebook page, or checking you out on Twitter. Your voice on there determines how you are perceived.

If Wendy's Twitter has taught us anything, having a personality is key to attracting customers and converting them to loyal ones. Find out what your voice is. Are you playful like Wendy's and Taco Bell? Are you caring? Are you informative? Discovering this will be paramount in creating a brand that has a persona, one that will create that "Word on the street". Until then, see you online!