Can't pay for it
26 August 2009Instead of worrying about your latest Twitter offer or Facebook campaign, just listen to what customers are saying about you. With any luck, they'll give you the best form of publicity - at no cost!
My mate John Allsopp travels internationally quite a bit. As one of the experts on HTML 5, the latest-and-greatest version of the language of the Web, you can imagine he's highly in demand. Sometimes he jets off to Asia, other times he finds himself
bound for the States.
Until recently, that meant flying Qantas - no one willingly flies United. Recently, John took the opportunity to fly the new V Australia service between Sydney and Los Angeles. When he got off the plane, he posted a message to Twitter: "At LAX waiting for flight to Denver. Best flight ever on V Australia Premium Economy. Fantastic seat, service, and sleep. Hooked."
A few minutes later, Cheryl Gledhill, a mutual friend, chimed in from Sydney with her own comment: "Isn't V Australia the bomb!! My favourite airline at the moment... so roomy, and great entertainment, nice hosties, etc."
I flew V Australia for the first time back in June, and raved about it then to anyone who'd listen. I picked up on the Twitter conversation: "Precisely how I felt after my VA flights last month: hooked. Got 7 hours sleep each way. Worth the price."
After those three comments, Stephen Collins (who knows all three of us) came back with a simple, short, and sweet reply: "recommendation noted".
This is the classic situation of ‘word of mouth', but amplified across the almost 7000 followers each of us reaches on Twitter. It is, in short, a marketer's dream, because we're doing the work, spreading the word, but in our own, authentic voices.
Marketers and advertisers know that a personal recommendation is far more effective than anything that comes to you as advertising. This is the golden moment, the one they hope for. You can't pay for this kind of advertising.
But here's the punch line: I strongly doubt V Australia even knew this moment of wild enthusiasm for their product had ever happened. Unless their marketing department or brand managers were watching Twitter, they probably missed the biggest shout-out they received on that day. Which means they missed a golden opportunity to convert the positive word of mouth into even more sales.
V Australia was busy tweeting about their own ‘4320' campaign, all the while ignoring the groundswell of support for their product.
This kind of disconnect is emblematic of the era of social media.
You don't need to push campaigns out to raise awareness; you simply need to be present, active and listening for those moments when someone, somewhere has something to say about what you're doing.
If V Australia had been there, on the spot, offering John a $100 coupon in thanks for his kind words, they'd have made a customer for life. If they went on and told him that he could send that coupon around, they'd grow their customer base enormously, without any expensive campaigns.
All it takes is awareness, and a desire to meet your customers wherever they are. Do that and you'll have your market. #
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