“As
marketers, we know the oldest, most basic form of brand marketing is also the
most powerful: word of mouth. In spite of highly advanced digital marketing
tools, massive amounts of data and infinite ways to connect directly with our
audiences, it’s more important than ever for brands to endemically infiltrate
the conversations of consumers in 2018.
That’s because word of mouth is still the most trusted source of
information for consumers who are increasingly suspicious and avoidant of the
marketing messages they’re bombarded with day after day. According to Nielsen,
84 percent of consumers reported trusting recommendations from influencers,
friends, family members and peer networks above all other kinds of marketing.
Tellingly, when it comes to the coveted millennial market, a recent study by
the McCarthy Group shows that 84 percent of them don’t like traditional
advertising, nor do they trust it.
Given that the fundamentals of marketing rely on building
trusting relationships with consumers, today’s marketing landscape is in dire
need of transformation. Here are some tips on how to get your brand on the tips of
tongues via authentic, trustworthy, person-to-person messaging in an era when
digital interactions have too often taken their place.
Understand the value of offline human networks
Digital marketing is an incredible gift to brands of all sizes.
It can communicate so much about consumers, including what they want in real
time and how they feel about our brand at any particular time. But it’s not a
complete replacement for the human networks that have always driven commerce.
What happens online, especially on social media, is often just a
pale reflection of what’s happening offline, where real influencers—friends,
families and co-workers—are sharing information, showcasing products and offering
advice in a much more valuable, tangible way. Marketers often ignore the
importance of these interactions because they’re so much harder to measure and
report back up the chain. As a result, they move forward with marketing
strategies that lean too hard on inauthentic digital relationships, and they
end up ignored by consumers themselves.Incorporate online and offline influencers
There were influencers before the internet, and they are still
around today. It’s time to recognize that influencers don’t just exist in the
digital space. Social media partnerships are great when the relationship is
natural and authentic, but the strategy can’t begin and end there.
Brands need to leverage word of mouth by including offline
influencers, people of impact and expertise that might not have huge social
followings or household name recognition but command strong, influential
networks in “real life.” You can measure the value of someone’s impact sphere
by understanding how many other influencers could be reached if activated.
For example, let’s take a senior partner at a talent agency with
no digital footprint. On a daily basis, she’s interacting with her clients, her
business partners, producers, directors and so on. That’s a powerful voice to
be associated with.
Other people, like activists, entertainment executives, artists
and startup founders, have the same offline clout. These kinds of people are
respected by their peers, who look to them for expertise and advice. By
partnering with people that wield this kind of authentic power offline, brands
can build tangible word-of-mouth networks with much more weight than those we
see from manufactured relationships with social media stars, many of whom may
not have offline influence.
Determine your own system of measurement for word of mouth
Everyone knows how important word of mouth is for a brand, but
it often falls into the background because it’s hard to quantify. When judging
the effectiveness of a marketing strategy, it’s much easier to look to Nielsen
ratings, media impressions or social media likes to analyze budget
effectiveness. Measuring word of mouth has been tricky, if not impossible,
until recently.
By rating the value of a relationship based on key factors like
breadth of social circle, expertise, authority, thought leadership, social
impact and more, brands can development their own system of measurement,
turning influence driven by word of mouth into something that can be predicted
and later credited for resulting successes. Instead of throwing money at the
next hot celebrity and hoping word of mouth is happening on its own, brands
need to recognize it as a channel that deserves its own plan, strategy and
system of measurement. Only then can brands and marketers be deliberate
and, again, authentic in building real influencer relationships. This
level of control allows for the same kind of valuable measurement that
marketers leverage in all other forms of marketing.
Technology keeps moving forward faster and faster, but humans
essentially remain the same at their core. They want to connect on a real level
with people they trust. They want advice from those they see as knowledgeable
and respected. Whatever form digital marketing takes next, and whatever new
platforms emerge, the real human connection is always going to hold its value.”
SOURCE: ADWEEK http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/the-future-is-digital-but-most-marketers-overlook-the-value-in-human-connection/?utm_campaign=nl_2&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=AWK_BrandMarketing&s_id=59a583510ca9897f088b5562
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