PR Tools: Word of Mouth Marketing – Give It Away

What are you holding onto that you should be giving away?

After completing the Word of Mouth Crash Course [thanks to Andy Sernovitz for a scholarship!], my biggest takeaway was this: give it all, that’s right all, away.

Do you agree that we have a hesitancy to share not only our secrets, but our best stuff?

Unless you’re like Kentucky Fried Chicken, who recently engaged a security operation with a police escort to relocate KFC’s top-secret original recipe during remodeling, successful word of mouth marketing demands that your top secrets be revealed. 

Why? Think about it – would you want someone to copycat you and make up their own secret recipe when you are the only one who can do what you do?

Owning your originality is the reason you need to give it all away.

Let’s be clear: we’re not talking about turning over every key to every aspect of your business or organization. We are talking about giving people enough exposure so they can taste, feel, talk about and share you and what you do. 

During the course of Andy’s day long Word of Mouth Marketing Crash Course presentation, he us introduced to about some of the stuff he talks about in his book, including the 5 Ts: talkers, topics, tools, taking part and tracking.

Working in small groups throughout the day, mini-epiphanies kept popping up like: the people who talk about you and spread your message may not be your primary customers. Tagging your message carriers and giving them stories to tell is only the first step.

In the spirit of giving it all away, I’m sharing our consulting approach. I never thought to post it anywhere before, but sharing how we do what we do makes perfect sense. Our competition is welcome to adapt it, but even if they do, they won’t have the case studies and results to match the process. We will.

CoryWest Media’s 10 Step Marketing Transformations Process™

1. Assess current communications
2. Clarify marketing and sales goals
3. Evaluate online competitive position
4. Identify target audiences
5. Determine communication goals for each audience
6. Craft keywords and key messages
7. Develop an integrated communication planner
8. Launch projects
9. Measure results
10. Align communications accordingly

Every new client completes a client profile that outlines who they are, what they do and what they expect. We also ask them to tell us about the 3-5 biggest marketing challenges they want us to help them fix. How can you adapt this profile approach to help you better serve your clients and prospects?

CoryWest Media’s Client Profile

1. Contact Information
2. History
3. Products
4. Performance
5. Strengths
6. Weaknesses
7. Opportunities
8. Targets/Priorities
9. Successes
10. Expectations in business relationships

Word of Mouth Applications

Curious about other’s takeaways? Read what my classmates had to say about their crash course experience.

• Francine McKenna (which includes comments from more Crash Coursers)
• Jami Heldt
• Subbu Arumugam
• Eric Rochow

Coming up on October 9, November 5 or December 10, you too have a chance to become a word of mouth marketing super genius – in Chicago. Given the amount of information you get and the connections you make, not to mention the $250 discount alumni discount I can offer you [use code ccalumni], this is one well-priced seminar. And, ever the giver, Andy’s giving away a few word of mouth marketing crash course scholarships and nonprofit discounts. For more ideas right now, download a free chapter of Andy Sernovitz’s book Word of Mouth Marketing How Smart Companies Get People Talking.

Your Turn

What could you be giving away now that you’re not?