Word of Mouth - Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is a really cool thing. Just think about it... instead of spending a huge amount of money on newspapers ads, TV commercials or banner ads, you spent nothing - and let your fans do all the work for you. With Word of Mouth marketing, your campaigns will suddenly get a life of its own - and start to spread like a virus. Everyone want to see it, and when they do, they all want to share it.It is immensely powerful, usually having 500-1000 times greater impact than what you get from regular advertisements.But how?
Make people feel something - The most important is to create a very strong emotion. You need to have an opinion, to express an idea with commitment and dedication. You want people to be filled with love or hate, be very happy or angry, be an idiot or a genius, there will br surely a reaction. But the aim we want is that people's blood to be pumping of excitement & enthusiam.Forget philosophy and being neutral, trying to please everyone, showing added features , targeting or segmenting people or any of the many ways. Word of Mouth marketing is 100% about emotions.
Do something unexpected - If you want people to notice your campaign, you have to do something different - something unexpected. Forget about trying to promote your products as just being great - everybody does that. Forget about trying to make it look cool - everyone else has been there & done that.Remember the Lion and Lioness dancing in front of the Photographer? That was unexpected or Remember the chloromint messege of telling Kyon khatein hai or Dubara mat puchna, or the Heinz Sauce - Take a while to come out ad , or the Fevicol ads it is one the most effective Word of Mouth advertisements ever....and above all - never be a copycat.
Do not try to make advertisements - One of the biggest mistake companies make is when they think Word of mouth is just advertisements that people share - it is not. Traditional marketing is about promoting your product, showing how good it is, giving it center stage - and generally being highly selfish and possibly using supermodels or movie stars. But guess what, nobody cares about you!Word of mouth marketing is all about a good story. When HAPPYDENT put out HAPPYDENT WHITE COMMERCIAL , the main ingredient was not the girl, but the story of the people hanging everywhere and waiting for dark. Replace the girl with a begger, and it would still be great same story of people waiting for dark. When Sony made their Bravia TV ads, the product was not even seen - yet everyone remembers it. Forget about you, your product or your company. Focus exclusively in creating a good and interesting story. Sure, you can add your product into the mix.
Sequence the advertisement- People have just seen your campaign. They think it was interesting, unexpected and their emotions has reached a high level - you have their complete attention. Now what do you do?If you do like most companies you will simply do nothing... and that is a big mistake. When you got people's attention you need to act, and one of the best ways of doing that is to give them more - make sequence.It can be extra movies similar in concept to the first one - like Vodafone did.It can be a behind the scenes look,(Like how the ad was picturised) , etc.Never leave people give them something or the other.By the Way (BTW): It can be Negative also because people don't remember for long . Give them everything now!
Allow People to participate - Participating is what Word of Mouth marketing is all about. That means that you need allow people to Download the content, in a usable format (videos in MPG, pictures in JPG etc.) Allowing them to easily take the content on their own sites,Sending it to friends, either using a link or by sending the content directly, Publishing it on varies social networks - YouTube etc,Allow people to add it the bookmarking sites.
Ask for comments - Another important element is to connect with your audience. Remember you got their attention, they are excited and now they want talk.Comments is one of the most effective ways to do this.Keep in mind that the best Word of Mouth marketing campaign is one that creates a strong emotion. This means some people will really like it - while others will not. You have to accept both in your comments, and you have to welcome both opinions. And, most importantly. Connecting with people through comments means talking back. Do not add comments if you do not want to participate yourself.
Free Access anything, anywhere and anytime - Word of Mouth marketing is also about your campaign getting a life on its own - spreading like virus. In order to do that, in order to become "virus", it needs to be free.And remember that don't even ever add restrictions to the mix.Do not require people to register, to become members, to download special software, to enter "unlock" codes ..or to do something in order to get the right link.Word of Mouth marketing is never about exclusivity. It is about getting it out there for everyone to see.

THERE IS A COMMOM MESSAGE IN ALL OF THESE METHODS OR TRICKS.IT IS THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IT RIGHT - OR NOT DO IT AT ALL.ONLY THE BEST WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING CAMPAIGNS MAKE IT - THE REST CAMPAIGNS LITERALLY SUCKS.GIVE QUALITY & DO RIGHT MARKETING - YOU WILL GET EVERYTHING.

******* I am a Banker and I know the power of Word of mouth Marketing ********
Sandeep Panda
IDBI BANK LTD