Why Word of Mouth Marketing Is The Best Form of Storytelling
By Ted Wright November 21, 2018
By Ted Wright
I’ve never met a business leader who told me they had too much money for storytelling or marketing.
Luckily, smart leaders using Word of Mouth Marketing can depend on influencers to cost-effectively carry their story.
Word of Mouth Marketing is all about sparking conversations, and most companies already have marketing materials that point to what is conversational about their business.
Nearly every company and brand has a compelling story to tell – and groups of people out there are eager to hear it.
What can you can do to plant storytelling seeds?
This is where influencers come in.
Influencers are not necessarily the wealthiest part of the population, the best-educated, or social media stars. But they are everywhere.
Influencers are like walking, talking, passionate billboards – but better:
- Influencers have arranged their lives to collect information and share new stories. Storytelling is part of their DNA. It is their love language.
- They like to try new things because they’re new. An influencer knows if she has information first, you will not only listen to what she says but you will also come back to her for another conversation!
- Influencers are intrinsically motivated. They are compelled by something deep inside to share stories about the brands and products they love. They want to build bonds with people. Trying to motivate them through discounts or coupons won’t work. Their love is not transactional.
Influencers play an important role in our busy world. Time and money are scarce. We don’t have time to research what tequila we should be buying or what gym we should join.
Instead, we let our influencer friends – to whom these things are important – figure this out.
Storytelling through influencers
The influencer opportunity is too big to ignore. There are thousands of people in your community who love to share stories about what is new and interesting. In the long-term, nothing can match the effectiveness and value of these people.
Keep in mind, one million conversations can be generated by a single influencer. Ideally, this means you can dominate the US market in a category if you start out with a base of 1,000-10,000 influencers.
Influencers will use storytelling to showcase your product or service in their everyday lives. It’s easier for an influencer to tell your brand story in an authentic and more interesting way.
Word of Mouth Marketing is inexpensive, it works, and there are people all around us just waiting to share a good story. No billboard, magazine ad or commercial can compete.
Ted Wright is the founder of Fizz, the world’s leading word of mouth marketing (WOMM) agency. Ted is also an acclaimed WOMM keynote speaker and the author of Fizz: Harness the Power of Word of Mouth Marketing to Drive Brand Growth.
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