Talk Is Cheap But Its Worth Gold

People are doing more talking then ever before.  You can thank the internet and cell phones for this.  They are not just talking with their mouths.  They are writing, blogging, and social networking.  These words and conversations are what is influencing decisions and moving product. 

As event and entertainment marketers we should not only use these marketing methods, we should also listen and read what they are saying.  A lot of our marketing decisions can be made based on what our customers tell us.  So often we forget to listen to our customers.  It reminds me of the Verizon fios TV commercial where the cable guy asks “why are we listening to customers, seems dumb”.  Customers tell us everything we need to know to be successful.  So many times we just tell them what they want and need.

One the best and cheapest marketing methods: strike up a conversation.  This is really easy to do.  You know who your target market is, so go to them.  On the internet find out where they hang.  What social sites do they use?  What blogs do they read?  Read what they are saying.  Ask them questions. Don’t be scared of the negative.  Use this for positive change.  

You don’t have to use just the internet.  Meet them live, face to face.  Go where your customers are.  This could be at your venue.  Instead of walking around with a clip board, invite them to a table or booth.  Give them a gift for their honest conversation.  We are always doing contests with text messaging at events.  Why not have them text you their opinions? If you market a sports team, why not go to youth sports games? Talk to the kids.  They are your future.

I am a firm believer in having a finger on the pulse of our customers.  Two way talk will do the trick.

Word Of Mouth Marketing: Don’t Be Too Nice?

The internet has truly become a word of mouth marketing haven.  There are tons of social network sites, review sites, and product theme sites that offer free word of mouth opportunities.  If you make an effort to search the internet carefully, you will find an entire marketing campaign available to you.  But as with anything that’s free, there can be issues.  Here is a true story that just happened last week.

My daughter’s drum teacher Kevin has a nice small business going. He has built his business strictly on word of mouth. He is a great drum teacher!  As with any business, he would like to continue building his business so he looked to the internet. 

There is a website for reviews called Yelp. They have become a leading review site in cities throughout the U.S. and the world.  They promote the site as “real people, real reviews”.  While I have never added a review to the site, I have used the site to see what other people think of a business.  For example, I read Yelp reviews for the casino boat company I worked with.  It gave me a pulse of what our customers thought of the product.

Kevin decided to use Yelp to help with his word of mouth marketing.  He asked all his clients to write a review on the site.  Yes, he was taking a chance that someone might say something bad but that is what web 2.0 is all about.  After just a few days, about a dozen of his clients had already written reviews.  All of which were good reviews. 

Yelp decided that too many good reviews were coming in for Kevin and shut him down.  They even sent emails to some of the reviewers accusing them of being fake.  A ironic twist on this is that one of the “supposed fakers” was a potential advertising client of Yelp.  Do you think Yelp is going to get any of the marketing budget now?

Does Yelp want only bad reviews?  No, I don’t think so.  However, if they are going to be in the review space they need to have a better system.  They need to except the fact that businesses are going to use them as a word of mouth marketing tool, especially if they have a good product.

The Power Of Free Marketing

I heard a great example of the power of email marketing and word of mouth when it comes to live events. 

My cousin Annie sent me an email yesterday letting me know that she received an email from Goldstar letting her know they were offering half price tickets to the Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams concert.  The offer was good enough that she reacted and bought tickets.  In fact she called a couple of friends and four of them are going.  She went even further and emailed more friends to tell them about the great offer.

I have no idea how many people this email offer went out to.  I am sure it went to thousands.  The example above is just one person who received the email and a minimum of four tickets were sold.  Her word of mouth email went out to even more people.  This free marketing tool will sell tickets.  It might sell them alot of tickets.  This is a marketing power you can do today.

Try It You Might Like It

If you are not marketing your brand on the social websites, why not try a few?  As we have discussed for a few months, everyone’s budgets are getting smaller and we still have to market.  So why not do a social experiment?  It doesn’t really cost anything to try it.

The social networks are a perfect place to do a promotion.  They work best when you offer plenty of interaction and you give them something.  Let’s throw some ideas around.

Facebook is now the most popular of the social sites.  It appeals to a wide demographic age group.  From high school kids like my son to old dudes like me.  At the high school level, they do use it to socialize but they also love to see how many “friends” they can have.  I compare it to collecting Pokemon cards.  But having a lot of friends is what it’s all about.  The more friends, the more eyeballs seeing your message or talking about you.  Facebook is a perfect place to promote and offer something.  They have options that include; start a group, start a fan club, or invite friends to your event.   The new Will Smith movie 7 Pounds is promoting on Facebook.  Instead of just placing a boring banner ad they are inviting Facebook friends to go see the movie.  You can RSVP with yes, no, or maybe like an evite.  As of this writing, almost 20,000 people have said they plan to attend.  Why not try it with your brand. As we discussed yesterday, traditional banner ads on Facebook are not working. 

Twitter is a great site to speak directly to your fans and customers.  This is all about having a conversation.  Have a cool new event and want to spread the word.  Let your Twitter followers know about it.  Ask them to tell you what they like.  What kind of events do they want?  This can be your direct pulse.  Be prepared to also take criticism.  While you may think this is not good marketing, this is part of the social network scene.  Your response or lack of response to any criticism can be the make or break. 

If you are a family show, there are social sites for you.  Disney On Ice is promoting its show with MomsLikeMe www.momslikeme.com.  As the name states, it appeals to moms.  Check out the website.  You can log into the nationwide site or go to your own local city site.  On the local Boston site they have an online ticket contest for the upcoming DOI show.  I found out about this because the Disney On Ice TV spots are promoting the social site.  This is a win-win for both.

Pick any event you are trying to promote and offer something that members of the social website can receive.  For example, if you are an arena, why not try making a social network offer? Why not a free popcorn?  Give them a code word they need to say to get the popcorn.  See how many people take advantage of the offer.  Who cares if non-social customers get the code word.  That is the beauty of it.  If done correctly you will create buzz and word of mouth.  That is social networking.

More and more social sites are entering the space everyday.  No matter what you are trying to market, there is an online social group for you.

If you need any help with this or other creative ideas, contact me at:
http://www.joelewi.com/contact_joe_lewi.html
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Spread The Word

The new media has taken word of mouth to a new level.  It is now a legitimate form of marketing that can be a managed campaign.  There is even an association.  Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).  Their website is www.womma.com.   Check out the site.  They have some really good insight.   WOMMA defines Word of Mouth Marketing as: “giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for the conversation to take place”.

Whatever type of show or event you need to promote, there is a niche market for it.  And for every niche market you can find that community on the web.  Find them and start a conversation about the show or event.  You may find that they are already talking about it.  What are they saying?  If the show/event is not selling well, you might find out why.  As I have stated in earlier posts, you cannot worry about losing control of the conversation.  If you stay on top of the conversations you can steer it in your direction.  Ask questions.  Find out what your niche community likes.  Use this to your advantage.  You can even set up polls.