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A fantastic community can drive long-term word of mouth. And while simply building one doesn’t mean they’ll come, the more you can embrace a few natural human tendencies, the better odds you’ll have of creating something meaningful. What to remember when building yours:

1> People are good
2> People like to help
3> People want to connect

1> People are good

Great communities work because they’re organized around the idea that people are naturally good. You’ll recognize these communities because they allow more control to their members and they feature things like a fantastic welcome process that connects current members to new ones. Sure, there will always be a few idiots — but empowering the good guys means you can drown out the trolls and curmudgeons.

2> People like to help

People spread word of mouth and engage in communities because they like to help others. And while every community has its “lurkers,” they also have potential super-users — with the best communities designed to encourage these talkers. Clorox, for example, has seen significant increases in engagement since adding gaming mechanics to their community, all designed to acknowledge, reward, and support this natural behavior.

3> People want to connect

Humans are social creatures. We’re driven to build connections, to join groups, and to extend our networks of “people like us.” Communities created around specific topics help us find others who share our interests — and that’s where the conversations and word of mouth can really take off.

9/1 Cisco: How we structure social media (Private member call.) Learn more

9/14 Procter & Gamble: Swan dive… into Old Spice’s remarkable social media campaign (Private member call.) Learn more

9/21 Alberto Culver: Managing promotions on Facebook (Private member call.) Learn more

[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

A lot of word of mouth can happen immediately following the sale (during the honeymoon period), but you’ve got opportunities to create it long after the initial purchase, too. A few ways to do it:

1> Ask for a review
2> Earn their email
3> Follow-up

1> Ask for a review

Always, always ask for a review. Honest reviews from happy customers are timeless, long-term word of mouth assets. Capturing great reviews means you’ve got referrals you can use on your website, in your brochures, or on your wall long after the initial sale.

2> Earn their email

Earn the permission to contact your customers again by asking for their email. Offer them a newsletter, send them ongoing helpful tips, and keep them engaged. Earning the initial sale is just the beginning — earning their long-term word of mouth is where things can really take off.

3> Follow-up

A genuine follow-up is not only a great customer service gesture, but it can also lead to great word of mouth, too. Try following up your sales with a simple call, email, or hand-written note to check in on your customers. And when you do it, use the opportunity to let them know how much their word of mouth means to you.

9/1 Cisco: How we structure social media (Private member call.) Learn more

9/21 Alberto Culver: Managing promotions on Facebook (Private member call.) Learn more

[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

Word of mouth can work for anyone in any industry — including business-to-business brands. The topics and tools may vary, but the fundamentals are the same: Find people who will talk about you and make it easy for those conversations to take place. A few ideas to get you started:

1> Give away white papers and research
2> Send an email newsletter
3> Connect your clients

1> Give away white papers and research

Great research always gets shared. Case studies, polls, surveys, data — they all get quoted, forwarded, and linked to. And when you publish this stuff, think like a true word of mouth marketer and make it really easy to share.

2> Send an email newsletter

Email newsletters (like this one) are special — they’re the only kind of advertising people ask for. They’re also the single most forwardable word of mouth tool. Create a newsletter and put a sign-up form on your homepage — even if only a few people sign up, they’re probably among your most eager talkers.

3> Connect your clients

Good things happen when you connect your customers with one another. Host summits, create communities, launch an ambassador program, have a BBQ — they all drive enthusiasm and get people talking. SAP’s customer communities, CoffeeCup Software’s ambassador program, and Intuit’s small business community are just a few examples of great BtoB brands creating word of mouth by connecting their customers.

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Great word of mouth begins with a focus on the people who will be doing the talking. Most marketers get tripped up by starting immediately with their customers — but in doing so, they’re missing a whole bunch of other potential talkers. A few to look for:

1> Eager employees
2> Dreamers
3> Middle men

1> Eager employees

Employees can be among your most efficient talkers — yet they’re generally the last place marketers look to create word of mouth. Find ways to get these internal enthusiasts involved with product samples, beta testing, brand swag, and friends and family discounts. Not every employee wants to be an evangelist, but the ones who volunteer to do so are likely to be among your brand’s biggest fans.

2> Dreamers

Fans and hobbyists — though they may never actually buy your core product — can be among your best talkers. Think about it: Ferrari’s most active talkers aren’t actually the people who buy them, they’re all the teenagers with posters on the wall. Feed your dreamers with gear they can wear, geeky specs, and the occasional test drive.

3> Middle men

Some of the best word of mouth is the result of a focus not on the buyers, but on the people who talk to those buyers. They’re analysts, doctors, teachers, cab drivers, and waiters. In one of our all-time favorite examples, The Prostate Net approached barbers to help educate thousands of minority men on the risks of prostate cancer.

Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on August 11 to hear McDonald’s, Whirlpool, GM, CME Group, Chevron, Alberto Culver, Verizon, and Kraft Foods share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.

You’ll get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans. You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — all in four hours.

Register and learn more about BlogWell here.

In his BlogWell Seattle case study presentation, “From Student to World Class,” PEMCO’s Rod Brooks shares how they use social media to listen to, participate with, and encourage their customers to spread positive word of mouth about PEMCO and their local efforts in the Northwest.

Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on August 11 to hear McDonald’s, Whirlpool, GM, CME Group, Chevron, Alberto Culver, Verizon, and Kraft Foods share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.

You’ll get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans. You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — all in four hours.

Register and learn more about BlogWell here.

In his BlogWell Seattle case study presentation, “From Pioneering to Practice: Intel’s Social Media Revolution,” Intel’s Bryan Rhoads shares how they maximize their social media efforts through training their employees to become social media practitioners.

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Even with all the great sharing tools available, none of them beat a simple tell-a-friend form. Done right, these forms make it easy for a fan to send a personalized endorsement of you straight to the inbox of their friends. A few tips on making yours great:

1> Use the sender’s name
2> Offer multiple referrals
3> Protect privacy (and brag about it)

1> Use the sender’s name

When your forms send the referral, make sure they’re from the sender’s address and not from your website. People aren’t expecting emails from you, which means yours are likely to get deleted without opening. Emails from friends, however, get opened, read, and passed along.

2> Offer multiple referrals

The easier you make it to tell multiple friends, the more referrals you get. Your forms should have room to enter at least two or three names and email addresses. Make it obvious you hope they’ll tell all of their friends — not just one.

3> Protect privacy (and brag about it)

Privacy concerns are one of the main reasons people hesitate filling out online forms. Make sure people know you won’t use their info for anything other than sending the referral (and live up to that promise). Put plain-English explanations next to your forms, link to detailed disclosure policies, and let them know they can trust you.

Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on August 11 to hear McDonald’s, Whirlpool, GM, CME Group, Chevron, Alberto Culver, Verizon, and Kraft Foods share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.

You’ll get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans. You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — all in four hours.

Register and learn more about BlogWell here.

In his BlogWell Seattle presentation, “Social Media Ethics Briefing: Staying Out of Trouble,” Andy Sernovitz shares an update on the FTC’s latest regulations and offers practical steps to keep your brand’s social media engagement legal, honest, and ethical.

Social Media Ethics Briefing: Staying Out of Trouble, presented by Andy Sernovitz from GasPedal on Vimeo.