Andy’s Answers: How to kill your word of mouth
With all the work it takes to build an army of loyal fans, it may be surprising how easily a few bad decisions can tear it all down.
When the buzz is great, it can seem like your word of mouth is unstoppable or that you don’t need to do much. But the best word-of-mouth marketers are always working to nurture and grow their fan base, and they know how to avoid the common mistakes that can kill the conversation.
How word of mouth dies:
- You mix love and money. People engage in word of mouth because they love you and your stuff and it makes them feel good to talk about it. When you pay them for it, it suddenly feels dirty and awkward.
- Too much talk. The unfortunate demise of both Crocs and Krispy Kreme donuts were largely the result of overexposure. When everyone had them — when they could be bought in every convenience store and shopping mall — there was no longer a reason to show them off.
- You get lazy. Brands kill their word of mouth when stop introducing new topics, when they stop putting in the hard work it takes to connect fans, and when they slack on the product quality and customer service that earned them all the love in the first place.
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Tags: andy sernovitz, mistakes, Word of Mouth
Categories: Andy's Answers, Word of Mouth
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Posted by Tweets that mention SmartBlog On Social Media » Andy’s Answers: How to kill your word of mouth -- Topsy.com on December 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SmartBrief on SocMed, SmartBrief. SmartBrief said: How to kill your word of mouth, from @sernovitz http://ow.ly/Oz6R [...]
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by SmartBrief: How to kill your word of mouth, from @sernovitz http://ow.ly/Oz6R...
Posted by Francisco Rosales on December 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
Loving your content Andy, thanks for sharing it.
I agree, specially with your #3 point, it’s very easy to fall into not seeking new connections when a brand or a personality feels overwhelmed with existing ones, it is usually too late when you realize that.
Trust Agents makes that point, always making new connections…
Posted by Kaila S | Vertical Measures on December 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Great point about brands getting lazy. Sometimes I think that big brands put too much emphasis on one good idea. Great, you had a good marketing plan and one good idea…..but now what? Unfortunately, the average consumer’s attention span is 3.5 seconds
. Continually providing great ideas and concepts is something that keeps a brand from being just a one-hit wonder.
Posted by Insight on Business with Michael Libbie | Des Moines Local Live! on December 23rd, 2009 at 10:22 am
[...] you want to KILL your “Word of Mouth? Super! Here are three examples from Andy Sernovitz on how to get that done…by the end of the first quarter 2010 if you are [...]
Posted by 3 ways to kill your social buzz « FCEdge Powerful Marketing Communications on January 8th, 2010 at 6:53 am
[...] know how to avoid the common mistakes that can kill the conversation,” Sernovitz adds. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Small shops build buzz using social mediaWhat [...]