By now you’ve heard of Fyre festival; and probably watched both documentaries because you can’t get enough or is that just me? #GuiltyPleasure. Here’s a quick little recap. Fyre Festival was an ill-fated music festival that was marketed almost entirely by “word-of-mouth” from influencers on social media.
It’s no secret that word of mouth is the most effective way to get your message out. It encourages a “natural” trust with your customers because they are hearing about you from people they know and trust. Such as friends, family and, increasingly, influencers.
So how can you use this to your advantage without preying on your customers in a currently fragile privacy ecosystem? How can you avoid having them ignore you entirely?
Before you market to people it’s necessary to narrow down exactly who those people are. Extensive time and research goes into demographic gathering, but have you stopped to think about WHY your audience should be listening to you? What are you offering that makes it worth their time to stop?
According to a recent Sprout Social article, 34% of people use social to reach out to brands to leave good reviews*. This is a great stone to build off! These are consumers who not only use your product or service, but they took the time to let you know how much they like it. Listen to these comments. It’s likely a larger group also feels the same but haven’t taken the time to let you know. Start showcasing content related to what your commenters are already applauding you for; prove you trust their feedback.
Another important piece to building relatable content is sometimes throwing your strategy aside to give the people what they want. That same article noted only 59% of consumers want posts that are educational; but 61% of marketers make this type of content first.*
Each post is an opportunity to prove your customers should listen to you because you are listening to them. It builds mutual trust which can lead to an increase in customers coming to leave good reviews; and at the very least leaving with favorable feelings.
Now that you have a loyal base, it’s time to turn them into advocates for your cause. Half of all consumers surveyed said that seeing content from other users for a particular product increases their chance of buying vs traditional marketing efforts.*
Showcasing content from actual customers not only builds trust that people do actually use your product, but it increases the likelihood that people in the decision phase will convert to customers. Testimonials and case studies are a great way to pay it forward. If you’re looking for a more natural approach, you can always try a Tagboard.
Tagboard allows real time curation and featuring from the actual posts of your users. No waiting for them to reach out to you with a positive review or asking your customers for a testimonial. Simple, natural sharing that happens everyday across the internet of friends telling friends about things they enjoy.
Times are tender right now for businesses highlighting what consumers are doing on social media. Privacy and authenticity are at the top of everyone’s mind. This is why building a trusting relationship from the start is so important.
One of the main points Fyre Festival taught us, is that you can never do too much research. This goes for brands, influencers and consumers. Know the ultimate reason behind what you are sharing and if possible the origination point. Do your customers really care about that post? Does your favorite brand listen to your feedback? Did that influencer label their ad or is this an unsponsored endorsement?
Slowing down every so slightly, and really focusing on building relationships instead of selling, selling, selling can nurture a mutual trust between you and your audience. And with over 50% of consumers saying they trust the word of their family and friends for purchases they make, I’d say that’s worth tapping into.
*Source: Published on February 01, 2019 Jacqueline Zote: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-statistics/