3/25 Clorox: Using gaming strategies to grow social media (Private member call) Click here

4/7 BlogWell Cincinnati: Dell, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Hilton Worldwide, Duke Energy, General Mills, Graco, and Tyson Foods share case studies on corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal. (Public event) Click here

5/5 BlogWell Seattle: Microsoft, Xerox, Boeing, Chevron, PEMCO, Starbucks, ExOfficio, and Intel share case studies on corporate social media. (Public event) Click here

[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.]

Love is the most powerful force in marketing. It’s what drives loyalty, excitement, and — ultimately — conversations. You have to work to earn it every day. Three people to focus on:

1> Employees
2> Customers
3> Competitors

1> Employees

You can’t have genuine, sustainable word of mouth if your employees don’t buy into it. If you haven’t earned their trust and respect, how can you expect them to earn it from customers? Earn their love by empowering them, by soliciting (and listening to) their feedback, and by celebrating big when they do amazing things for your customers.

2> Customers

Obvious, perhaps, but few brands strive for this deep of a relationship with their customers. The best word of mouth marketers — the ones we all respect and admire — they’re aiming for love. Most of your competitors are striving for “satisfied” — you can aim bigger than that.

3> Competitors

You can’t solve every problem for every prospect — and neither can your competitors. Focus on those you can do fantastic work for and send the rest to someone you believe in. Both the customer and your peers will love you for it, and you’ll see the benefits when the referrals start coming your way.

3/9 Chevron: Social media planning for a crisis (Private member call) Click here

3/11 Toyota: Social media and crisis management (Private member call) Click here

3/25 Clorox: Using gaming strategies to grow social media (Private member call) Click here

4/7 BlogWell Cincinnati: Dell, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Hilton Worldwide, Duke Energy, General Mills, Rogers Communications, and Tyson Foods share case studies on corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal. (Public event) Click here

5/5 BlogWell Seattle: Microsoft, Xerox, Boeing, Chevron, PEMCO, Starbucks, ExOfficio, and Intel share case studies on corporate social media. (Public event) Click here

It’s more fun to work at a brand, big or small, that is dedicated to earning the respect and recommendation of their customers.

It’s more fun to believe in what you do – to know that at the end of the day, if you were able to turn a few strangers into happy customers, and a few happy customers into loyal fans, then you did something right.

And it’s a lot more fun when your employer supports you in doing this, empowering you to make it happen.

How a word of mouth supergenius does it:

Southwest Airlines is one of our favorite word of mouth brands. In an industry where generally the only people more frustrated than the customers are the employees, Southwest is admired inside and out.

Check out this classic love letter Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg wrote after leaving her beloved employer of 10 years:

68 REASONS WHY I’VE LOVED WORKING AT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

1. This puddle.
2. The response you receive when you tell someone that you work for Southwest Airlines.
3. Free flights.
4. The People – There are times when I pass folks in the halls that I don’t even know and am overwhelmed with the feeling that any one of these people would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.
5. Bags Fly Free – It just feels good to work for a Company that tries to do right by its Customers.
6. The Freedom to move about the Company – I love that several of our VP’s began their careers on the frontline – loading bags, working the ticket counter, and servicing aircraft.
7. On business trips with colleagues, I can look around the dinner table and think, “There’s no one else I’d rather be with right now.”
8. Halloween – how many people can say they’ve seen their CEO in platform boots and a cod piece?
   
9. Having a team of Schedule Planners on hand to “optimize” our Halloween performance schedule.
10. The view from the deck.
11. Having a personal weather man to let you know when to head home or hunker down to avoid bad weather.
12. Lunch in the cafeteria always feels like a high school reunion.
13. The Button Man (sometimes known also as The Magnet Man) – because every Southwest event needs a souvenir.
    
14. Hearing the Southwest Choir practice in the atrium behind my office.
15. Casual Dress.
16. Hand-written notes from Colleen Barrett.
17. Kisses from Herb Kelleher.
18. That Warrior Spirit.
19. Parties in the hanger.
20. Rapping, singing, flipping, and beat-boxing Flight Attendants.
21. Aviation bloggers and enthusiasts.
22. Employee lanes at the airport.
23. Eight percent 401k match.
24. Best corporate blog three years running according to PR News (…and if I do say so myself).
25. The Culture Committee.
26. There is no shortage of peanuts or peanut references.
27. There is never a dull moment.
28. The Spirit Jr. Costume.
    
29. This photo.
    
30. Texas – From the hospitality to the maverick spirit, and all the folks that call you honey, sugar, and darling.
31. Southwest swag – like the Southwest Airlines lint roller, the Cargo koozie with the crab arms (“we ship your catch”), the flip-flops that leave the Southwest logo imprinted in the sand, and the Southwest bike (one of these days, I’m gonna get my hands on one of those bikes).
    
32. Fred Taylor and Proactive Customer Service.
33. Employees first, Customers next, Shareholder’s last.
34. 36 years of profitability.
35. Profit sharing.
36. Free parking in the Employee lot at the airport. With the upcoming renovation of Dallas Love Field, this option in no longer available. And, technically, being that I wasn’t actually an airport Employee, I was never really supposed to park back there anyway. But, oh the good ole days! (NOTE: To the owners of the red Camero and the black Porsche that are still parked over there, you better move your cars ASAP or you’re gonna get towed!)
37. Crazy email strings – Like the one a co-worker accidently sent to hundreds of people that revealed highly confidential information about a new city. Doh! Or the one that someone intended for a few friends, but accidently sent to the entire company, asking what they wanted her to pick up for a Bar-B-Que. Everyone responded. Not everyone thought it was funny. I think you know where I stand on this one. It still makes me giggle.
38. Weekly emails from Carla looking for her missing mail cart (…I love you, girl!).
39. Daily emails announcing that there is queso, Bar-B-Que, or birthday cake in the breakroom.
40. Parking next to a Boeing 737.
41. That new plane smell.
42. Driving into work with the planes taking off on the runway along Denton Drive. Sometimes I want to race them, but the potholes and my less than favorable standing with the police always stop me.
    
43. Stuart Thomas’s abstract Halloween costume illustrating RASM and CASM.
44. Countless “Wanna Get Away” moments – like the time I took a fly ball to the chin at the Customer Relations/Rapid Rewards softball game and had to come to work for a week with a black and blue goatee. Or the time that I split my pants from seam to seam and walked around all day in chaps. Or the time I walked into a plate glass window escorting Jim Wimberly to a photo shoot.
45. The joy of looking up someone’s phone number in the online Company Directory and discovering a ridiculous employee photo.
    
46. The “no drinking before 5p” rule.
47. The Freedom to be yourself – In 2002, while working in the Customer Relations Department, I went nearly three months without washing my hair, just for fun. In the third month, my supervisor called me in to his office and gently suggested that I may want to “keep our Customers in mind.” I love that it took that long.
48. Secret project codewords like Sockeye, Wyatt ERP and Tipper.
49. The crossword puzzle in Spirit Magazine.
50. Brainstorming sessions in the Magic Factory.
51. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from Headquarters to Dallas Love Field on the Southwest shuttle bus.
52. On any given day you might see a live Texas longhorn, NBA Legend Bill Walton, the Stanley Cup, or a margarita machine on campus.
53. The Southwest cans of water. I mean really…how cute are these things!
    
54. Doug Lawson – our resident “Viv Engineer” who, among other things, studies the movements and behavioral patters of animals (like ants, bees, and herds) and applies that knowledge to algorithms that make our airport operations more intuitive and efficient.
55. Linda Rutherford – without Linda, there would be no blog and no Emerging Media Team.
56. License plate frames that say “my other car is a Southwest 737.”
57. Bob Jordan’s Mustache.
58. Sitting on a plane and listening to the folks around you talk about how much they love Southwest Airlines.
59. Amazing people like Bill Owen, Anne Hancock, Brian Lusk, and Carole Adams, who, for me, will always epitomize the Spirit of Southwest.
60. Dallas Love Field – just 15 minutes from my apartment to the gate.
61. Lunch at the PR table.
62. The view from the window seat.
    
63. Getting a thumbs’ up from Gary.
64. Chetto Drafts in the Landing.
65. James Tibbons and this video.
66. The Southwest Communications Department – I’ve spent nearly every work day for the past six years with the same group of people. They know me as well or better than anyone, and they have loved me, nonetheless.
67. My very good friends, who have taken care of me when I was sick, had me at their homes for holidays, allowed me to loaf on their couches when I didn’t have a television or a home, and were on call to bail me out of jail if I were ever arrested.
68. Bloody Marys on a plane – they’re just better up there.

Much LUV, my friends.

[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 is easy to try out — anyone can get involved. But that’s not to suggest success is guaranteed. Three reasons your program may not be working like you’d hoped:

1> You forgot WOM doesn’t begin with marketing
2> It’s confined to one department
3> You’re getting in the way

1> You forgot WOM doesn’t begin with marketing

Word of mouth doesn’t begin with clever marketing, it begins with great products and services, sold by great companies who employ great people. This isn’t to suggest some “boring” brands are naturally doomed — we have tons of examples proving people love to talk about duct tape, invoicing companies, and lawn care businesses all the same. But they all have one thing in common: The products themselves are fantastic — the smart marketing just amplifies it.

2> It’s confined to one department

While a hard-working, dedicated word of mouth marketer can do wonders for a brand — they can’t do everything. Word of mouth really takes off when the philosophy of earning the respect and recommendation of customers seeps into every department. When everyone is asking one another, “Would anyone tell a friend about this?” — that’s when you start to see real success.

3> You’re getting in the way

As a word of mouth marketer, your job is to make it easier for conversations to take place. Often, this simply means getting out of the way. Avoid constricting things by letting them share wherever they want, using whatever technology they want, in whatever language they want.

You work so hard for a click on your web page. You put so much effort into getting someone in your store. You do so much just to earn a fan. But without a way to contact them again, you have to start all over the minute they walk away.

Extend the relationship by always asking for their email — online or off. Regular, anticipated newsletters delivered to their inbox are the only form of advertisements your fans request.

How a word of mouth supergenius does it:

You don’t have to make it complicated.

Chicago’s Logan Bar & Grill attaches a simple comment card to every bill, but instead of just looking for feedback, they ask for email addresses so fans can subscribe to their newsletter.

The opt-in is a simple addition to a conventional practice, allowing Logan Bar & Grill to extend the relationship with customers they might otherwise never see again.

3/3 FINRA: Social media guidelines for financial firms (Private member call) Click here

3/9 Chevron: Social media planning for a crisis (Private member call) Click here

3/25 Clorox: Using gaming strategies to grow social media (Private member call) Click here

4/7 BlogWell Cincinnati: Dell, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Hilton Worldwide, Duke Energy, and Tyson Foods share case studies on corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal. (Public event) Click here

5/5 BlogWell Seattle: Microsoft, Xerox, Boeing, Chevron, PEMCO, Starbucks, ExOfficio, and Intel share case studies on corporate social media. (Public event) Click here

If everyone knows about it, if everyone can access it, and if everyone’s already seen it — why would anyone talk about it?

For great products, we call this the “chocolate problem” because while we all love chocolate (and we do, don’t we?), when was the last time eating any inspired us to tell anyone?

And for communities, we’re talking about a barrier to entry. When everyone can access it — when there’s no basic filter that bonds community members — it’s hard to develop the sense of true community.

How a word of mouth supergenius does it:

Last summer, casual dining restaurant Houlihan’s created its own social network — an invite-only brand community that now consists of more than 10,500 “Houlifans.”

But why their own private network? In an interview with Fast Company’s Ben Paynter, Houlihan VP of marketing Jen Gulvik explains simply: “Exclusivity.” Tired of trying to keep up with competitors like Applebee’s and Chili’s in mass media, Gulvik wanted to approach millennials on their own turf. She traded insider information about recipes and redesigns in exchange for fans’ honest input.

Houlihan’s recruits community members from their database of 600,000-plus customers who have either visited their corporate website or signed up for email coupons. Potential Houlifans fill out a questionnaire testing both their brand love and how socially active they are. Each restaurant has about 200-400 fans, most of whom bring in friends once a week.

This fan feedback has allowed Houlihan’s to stay nimble. As a result of community insight, their small-plates menu alone has seen significant improvements. In the Kansas City area, site of the first test, overall profits are up 12% at a time when sales in the $83.5 billion casual-dining industry have dropped 1%.

Learn more: Fast Company

Our next BlogWell event is coming up April 7 in Cincinnati, hosted by Duke Energy. We’ll feature practical, how-to social media case studies from eight big brands, including Dell, Duke Energy, AT&T, Hilton Worldwide, Tyson Foods, and Procter & Gamble.

BlogWell is one idea-filled afternoon focused on social media at big brands. There are no agencies, no start-ups (though they’re welcome to join and learn along with us!) — just big companies sharing what they’ve learned.

Thanks to our brilliant, talented, and suspiciously good-looking speakers, our BlogWell series has been an amazing success. We’re thrilled to be bringing it to Cincinnati and would love for you to join us.

Register and learn more: Click here

If you haven’t been to a BlogWell yet, check out a few nice things some smart folks had to say about their experience:

“The discussions were thought-provoking and inspirational.”
— Jim Lein, Oracle

“I came away inspired, energized, and with a nice bundle of new best practices to apply.”
— Ed Nicholson, Tyson Foods

“An amazing amount of useful material was presented in a timely, efficient way.”
— Donna Speigel, Crate and Barrel

“A well organized and well executed conference. Great job!”
— Todd Blecher, Boeing

“One of the best seminars of this type that I’ve seen in a long time.”
— Sandra Buettner, Johnson Controls

“A great forum for social media professionals to collaborate and learn from each others’ lessons and successes.”
— Jennie Ecclestone, General Motors

“The most valuable source for staying current on B2C and B2B social marketing techniques in Fortune 500 companies.”
— Paul Dunay, Avaya

“One of the most organized and informative events all year.”
— Jackie Bona, Google

Register and learn more: Click here

Your fans are involved in dozens of transactions every day, online and off. Whether it’s grabbing coffee before work, buying a movie ticket, or picking up groceries, transactions are constantly occurring.

Most order processes are the same – a mundane sequence of entering personal information, selecting a shipping speed, and getting a verification email a few seconds later.

As a word of mouth marketer, this should set off an alarm.

With thousands of companies doing the exact same thing, a single innovative or quirky variation to your order process could make the difference between a company that creates conversations with their fans and a company that doesn’t.

Start out by highlighting one or two aspects of your order process that could be retooled. You don’t have to reinvent the system — take a look at your return policy, online interface, or packaging to see if there’s something you can change to make it remarkable.

How a word of mouth supergenius does it:

College students love Chegg for their cheap textbook rentals, free shipping, and eco-friendly business philosophy.

Chegg believes that renting a book instead of buying it new helps save trees. This isn’t just their corporate mission statement, the company actually functions around this core value. For every book they rent, they plant a tree in return.

As the customer finishes their transaction, Chegg presents a world map and asks the customer to pick a country or region to plant their tree in. It’s a simple, visual way of engaging during the transaction process and giving back to the community at the same time.

Customers can then tell the world what they did by linking their Chegg transaction to their Facebook profile or Twitter account.