Word of Mouth Marketing: It's the Product, Stupid.
How often have you had this experience?
Person A tells you that you SIMPLY have to try something he (or she) loves…it could be watching a TV show, eating at a restaurant, reading a favorite book, or shopping at a particular store. (Or many other such permutations.)
So, you listen, and you take this advice. You read that book, or watch that show…or go out for a meal at the restaurant in question, or peruse the store (online or off).
And you are not impressed. Read more below...
Here are a few of the examples I’ve had in recent months and years.
Enders Game. I know this book is hugely popular – and I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t LOVE it either. I was told by the friend who recommended it that I should read the next book in the series, as I’d definitely like that more. I have hundreds of unread books that I bought because I found them interesting. Why would I read a sequel to a book I found to be just okay?
Extras This series is very good – but in my opinion, it’s not great. The friend who insisted I hadn’t given it a chance had me watch several episodes (all of which I’d seen before) and demanded that I watch the two-hour series finale – which I did. And my new, revised opinion? It’s very good – but it’s not great. (Yeah, that’s the same opinion.)
In San Francisco, or the Bay Area in general, restaurants that don’t impress me the first time don’t get the courtesy of a second trip, because there’s no point. There are so many great restaurants that if I have a bad experience, I’m simply not giving them a second chance.
I think of this because of the keynote speech at shop.org by Andy Sernovitz was all about Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing, and it’s quite the buzz these days. The basic theory being…if you get people excited about your product, they’ll not only do free marketing for you – but it’s more effective than traditional marketing.
In as much as Sernovitz detailed this, it’s hard to argue. (I’ll let you know more once I read his book, which I got at the conference.) But my point here is…that product you are having folks talk about?
It better be good.
Word of mouth marketing – or any type of marketing, for that matter – will only do so much if the product isn’t great. Getting them to your site is a huge part of the battle, but if you disappoint them, getting them back is even harder.
Normally, I wouldn't encourage anyone to waste time on Orson Scott Card sequels. His best work is by far his single-volume works (Pastwatch, The Lost Boys); his sequels are God-awful tedious. Read all the Ender sequels, most of the Bean sequels, before I finally threw my hands up in frustation. They suck. And that other really long series he has, about the space voyage, whatever-it-is, sucks rocks. Really sharp, gritty rocks.
ReplyDeleteBut you, you're a Niners fan, and a SF Giants fan, and you write about how the President is a moron over and over again, so if you want to read Orson Scott Card sequels, I endorse the project happily, as the least destructive possible use of your time.
:)
Glad to hear that I'm correct in assuming I'm not missing anything by reading more of a series I didn't like much to begin with. I'll read something else while rooting for Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. (Hey, even woeful teams have some great players.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning my speech! I think you got it right in the title of the post - it's all about the product. Word of mouth only works for great products that make people happy. Without that, it stops cold.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the reasons why I like WOM better than traditional advertising. You can advertise a cruddy product forever, as long as you have cash. WOM stops if the quality isn't there ... self limiting.
Now on to scifi ....
I was absolutely in love with OSC's books ... in high school. They don't do it for me any more. Try Vernor Vinge, China Mieville, or Ken MacLeod.
Cheers,
Andy Sernovitz
Author, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (http://tinyurl.com/2twm77)