Jonathan Kay, the ambassador of buzz at Grasshopper, and award-winning virtual phone system for small businesses, created a buzz department. He generated more than 500 mentions of Grasshopper in premier media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, TechCrunch, Mashable, Forbes, Inc. magazine and Fast Company. More than a third of the Grasshopper signups come from word-of-mouth referrals.
Mr. Kay uses guerrilla marketing, PR, business development, community management and word-of-mouth marketing. The buzz department builds and cultivates valuable relationships through high-level engagement and simple things, like listening and actually caring.
The basic idea is to reach the important few, creating an army of brand loyalist. He indicates social media is a learned skill and not difficult to teach. Actively talking and listening to customers is your best marketing strategy. He states if you show you care to the few, they will endorse your product by word-of-mouth to their friends and so on. Leaving a positive impression will bring dividends to your company.
http://www.openforum.com/articles/the-art-of-creating-buzz?intlink=us-openf-nav-gallery
Monday, November 21, 2011
Consistent Experiences
As the amount of online traffic and purchases increase, marketers feel more pressure to provide a shopping experience that is consistent with that of brick and mortar stores. Companies also want to achieve similar sales and integrate personal selling methods into their online storefronts. Using well planned IMC can deliver the same message through all marketing channels, but each channel has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages for the customer. Companies may also receive different benefits from each marketing channel.
Katie Lombardi mentions one such situation in her post. The ability to upsell does not translate well to online sales. Many search methods are centered on finding the desired product at the best price, regardless of the website. Online shoppers who are first time purchasers or gift buyers may not know about upgrades or accessories. Customers that have some familiarity with the products may still fail to see the advantages of product upgrades. Personal selling still holds an edge over online retail in this situation.
Online sales will always fall short when trying to draw business from social shoppers. Some people simply enjoy the shopping experience and the company of others. The ability to talk to a sales person and ask for opinions is hard to replicate online.
Online sales also fall short versus brick and mortar when learning styles are taken into account. A customer that has a tactile learning style will not purchase various items without being able to touch them. They need to feel how they work or investigate the construction of the product. Marketers should provide the most consistent shopping experience possible, while realizing some customers will provide better sales in different channels.
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