business-globe-yellow.jpg
Success Through Strategy!

Strategy Matters delivers news, tips and strategies for effective communications through traditional and social media. 

Need Help With Content Creation and Marketing?

We can create, coordinate and place your content through your communication channels and through targeted media placements. Monthly management fee schedules, and single-project rates, based on your needs. Contact us to learn more. 
How to Get Your Customers to Spread Positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM)

How can you get your customers to spread positive WOM for you? The quick answer is "ask them to." You certainly can do that but, before you do, an important first step would be to verify whether their experiences with you are actually positive.

 

If we were working with your organization, we would first want to see some actual customer data, trended over time, to get a real sense of how your organization is perceived. You may be absolutely right and have lots of satisfied customers, which is great--but you may be unaware of certain issues, interactions, etc., that might be leaving customers less than satisfied.

 

Another key point here is that, in the competitive environment we all operate in, we really have to go beyond "satisfying" customers to "delighting" them. Satisfaction they likely take for granted. To nurture brand ambassadors who will talk about you to others, you need to really "wow" them.

 

Think about those organizations, products and services that you spontaneously talk about to others. 

 

What prompts you to do that for them, especially when you consider companies where you don't automatically spread the word?

 

What someone else says about you will always be more impactful than what you say about yourself--that's true of both individuals and organizations. For both, the challenge then becomes delivering such exceptional experiences that they will WANT to spread positive word-of-mouth about you-even if you don't ask them to.

 

And, yes, you should ask (or at least encourage) your satisfied or "wowed" customers to spread the word on your behalf.

 

What do you think? In what ways do you fuel positive word-of-mouth about your organization and its offerings?

 

  
Why Your Home Page May Not Really Be Your Home Page

On his blog, Occam's Razor, Avinash Kaushik makes a very insightful point about home pages: individuals and organizations that have websites have lost control of what their home pages are. Those who own the websites think of their home pages as the main entry point for their websites. But step back from that a bit to consider how people really engage with websites.


You don't even have to think about it; you can use your analytics to tell you. As Kaushik points out, every analytics package will have some report that tells you how (and where) people are entering your site. And, while what you consider to be your home page may be the main point of entry, there are also likely to be several other points of entry.

 

For our website, for instance, we know that many visitors enter through links from various social media posts or other online communications that may be generated by us, or by organizations that have referral links to our site on their sites.

 

Our home page isn't necessarily our home page! And, chances are, neither is yours.


Why is that important? Because if visitors aren't entering where we think they're entering, we need to make sure that wherever they engage with us, we're telling our story completely--or offering a quick and convenient way for them to access our story. Keep in mind that the way you envision how someone might navigate your site may or may not be a reflection of reality.


That can be concerning. It can also be extremely useful information, and it's likely right at your fingertips. Armed with this knowledge, you can then make adjustments to your website's content to help drive the results you're looking for. 


Don't think like you; think like them. A better understanding of how your audience is engaging with you can help you better deliver content that is relevant and compelling!


Learn more here.
Building Your Brand: Both Easier and Harder Than You May Think

Your brand image is driven by every interaction that a customer or prospect has with you, and the sum total of all of those perceptions, which leaves behind some impression.

 

It's really the same type of concept you might use when considering an individual's "personality" or how they are perceived by others.

 

We work with individuals and organizations regularly to lead them through a brand evaluation and assessment process, and then through the creation of strategies and tactics to influence consumer perception in support of their desired brand image. This process doesn't have to take that long, assuming the company's leaders are aligned in terms of what they wish their brand identity to be (which isn't always the case). 

 

Another impact on time required for effective brand management would be the need to do an assessment of how your brand is currently perceived.

 

That's an important way to determine, objectively, to what extent how you wish your brand to be viewed is a reflection of your target audience's reality. The gaps discovered provide insights into areas where you may need to focus your brand management efforts.

 

What does take considerable time, though, is actually building and managing a strong brand.

 

Again, it's not just about a great logo. It's about having a strong product/service that meets the needs of a target audience, represents value to them, and ensures a positive experience at every touchpoint. 

 

Building your brand will involve focusing on product attributes (the product itself, packaging, distribution, etc.), staff attributes (particularly for service organization where the staff is, in effect, the "product"), pricing issues and, yes, promotion. All of these elements must work together to help influence consumer perception. 


How do you know if your efforts are working? It's all part of a well-designed brand management process. Ideally, results should be measured based on the perceptions of your target audiences-your customers and prospects, or those you are attempting to influence. How closely do their perceptions match your desired brand image? That's a very good measure of branding effectiveness because, after all, you don't define your brand... they do!

 


Featured White Paper

"Small Businesses and Content Marketing: Best Practices"
Small businesses can leverage the power of content to get noticed, gain connections and customers, and build business through the strategic use of content. Learn how. 

 Get your copy here.
Volume: 7 - Issue: 7
 July 2015
Strat Comm logo
In This Issue
Generating Positive Word-of-Mouth
Your Home Page
Building Your Brand
We're In the News! 

Are You Making These Annoying Branding Mistakes?

13 Tips for Making Your Business Blog a Go-To Destination

5 Strategies for Branding (or Rebranding) Your Medical Practice

How to Answer the Top 5 Interview Questions
 
 Marketing: Gaining Leadership Buy-In For Your Marketing Communication Efforts

Research Matters
Some recent news and  research you may be interested in--we were!