Small Talk

October 17, 2011 »

Having The Courage To Follow

On a recent trip to California, I was researching about the power of a movement, and found this great video on YouTube.  I remember seeing it for the first time a couple of years ago, but watched it with a new lens last week. The video shows a young man, dancing by himself at a festival with blithe disregard for anything else around him.  Curious onlookers took note, and in time, the first brave soul decided to join the original dancer and participate alongside him. Then there were three, four, ten, twenty .... and before long, the entire crowd started to dance with the first set of followers.  They were all joining the movement.  They were apart of something bigger than themselves.  And they felt good about what they were doing.  It’s worth noting that those feelings represent some of the most fundamental reasons why consumers participate in word of mouth movements like the ones we manage at HealthTalker.

It wasn’t so long ago that we were that shirtless guy, dancing on the edge, trying to lead the industry with a new way to market.  We began attracting some attention from a few curious onlookers - but generally, were moving to our own beat as most marketers hesitated to join in.  After a few months, I was fortunate to find one believer who raised his hand and said that he wanted to come dance with us.  And so it began as Bob Harrell, the first brave dancer with HealthTalker, transformed our business through his validation.  In time, there were two, then three, and then five - and soon, dancing with HealthTalker no longer became that risky, because others had confirmed the wisdom of integrating word of mouth as a marketing tactic in the pharmaceutical industry.

Much like you see in the video, the hill where HealthTalker has been dancing is getting more crowded with more and more believers - but we still see plenty of brands uncertain if they should get up and join us. 

For those of you who are still skeptical about the power of word of mouth and what it can do for your brand, perhaps some of these statistics will give you the courage you need to tell your boss to try something new with your brand plan. Here are just a few reasons why WOM can be a game changer:

1.     I realize you might be in advertising if you are reading this blog, but what do you tend to trust more: advertisements or recommendations from people you know?  Exactly.  Don’t worry - you’re not alone.  In fact, WOM is the most trusted advertising medium there is.  According to a Nielson Global Online Consumer Survey, 90% of people trust recommendations from people they know where as just 62% trust what they see on TV. 

2.     A Harris Interactive study asked what sources “influence your decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product?”  Seventy-one percent claim reviews from family members or friends exert a “great deal” or “fair amount” of influence.  WOM influences decision making in a way traditional advertising doesn’t.

3.     A study by Keller Fay found that two-thirds of all WOM is positive.  And not only that, “positive WOM is more likely to be passed on to others compared to negative WOM.”  Many of our clients used to be concerned about having brand ambassadors engage in their movements for fear that they might say something negative.  The reality is that the art of self-selection creates a pool of participants who by nature maintain a positive view of the brand; otherwise, they wouldn’t choose to participate.  It’s like you are stacking the deck in your favor, every time.

4.     The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers.  It’s happening online too: 53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product.  Are you apart of the conversation, and shaping the way it happens?

If those four reasons aren’t compelling enough, perhaps our big Q4 promotion will motivate you to swap out a few pages of your print publication plan next July and August and invest in creating a movement.  To make it easy for you, we’re giving away $100,000 in services this quarter.  Check out all the details here and here.

So come on and join our movement.  And don’t worry, you’ll blend right in!

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