Powering Up Your Personal Word of Mouth with Best Blogging Practices

Power up your personal word of mouth with these blogging tips

It is true that word of mouth marketing has been with us for as long as commerce has existed. Interestingly, word of mouth marketing has dramatically changed in recent times, especially since the advent of the internet. Information technology has transformed word of mouth marketing into a new specialty in marketing that can be planned, is actionable and can be tracked just like other major forms of marketing. It has therefore come to be a general term to refer to several techniques that are used to energize and engage customers. It has come to include blogs, viral marketing, loyalty programs, social media, emails, discussion boards, mobile texting, and other strategies that get customers to talk to others about your products.

In particular, there are several ways in which you can harness the power of word of mouth marketing through blogging sites and other social media to significantly boost the exposure of your company. You can use blogs to give people and potential customers a reason to speak and talk about your products or services.

Word of Mouth through Blogging

Blogs can significantly contribute towards your word of mouth marketing in various ways. Firstly, blogging software like Wordpress and Blogger.com do not need you to have any special programming skills or knowledge. This means that even a technically challenged employee or business owner can easily post a blog and tap into the online market.

Secondly, due to the fact that blogs are meant to be regularly posted, they are very helpful in increasing a business's exposure through the provision of new and useful content for search engines to comb through.

Thirdly, blogging enables the company or business owner to have control over the content being marketed because the business owner or the company can choose which topics to post. As a business owner, you can start a blog that will elicit a discussion that is centered on a particular aspect of your products, and everyone will be discussing about your product in those angles through their posts. In addition, blogging is a good way to encourage customers to provide feedback by submitting their comments. The fact that the customers' comments can be viewed by everyone who visits the blog makes this a perfect word of mouth marketing technique that is worth pursuing for any business owner.

Just like blogging, you can harness the power of word of mouth marketing through discussion boards on certain blogs. Discussion boards are very helpful especially if you want to develop relationships between your business and your customers. By offering a forum for individuals with common interests to share their thoughts or their interests, discussion boards can be successfully used to create a sense of community. As a business owner, you can take advantage of this format by presenting an initial topic of discussion with relevant information that will encourage customers to post comments and even ask questions. This is a very effective word of mouth technique that will ensure your products or brands are discussed by thousands or even millions of customers and potential customers.

Some important Points to Note

One important step that you should consider when generating word of mouth marketing through blogs is to have a clear understanding of the blogs that are most likely to generate a significant impact on your target audience. Although the largest blogs will normally have the widest reach, you need to consider if they are the ones that will best relate with your target audience. You will need to work with bloggers who have between 100 and 1,000 people linked to them because according to experts, it is this category of bloggers that can enable PR individuals to successfully reach niche markets.

Nevertheless, you need to remember that bloggers will never be journalists, and they will not just publish your press releases. They will usually write stories with opinions, views, and angles, thus a plain, mass-targeted advertorial or press release will basically not cut it. It is not possible for you to tell the blogger his/her own opinions, but you can assist them by developing an informative and interesting story in a way that will relate to their target audience. You should keep in mind the fact that bloggers intend to publish stories and not a sales pitch.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, word of mouth marketing depends on customers sharing their views or opinions in an open public forum, and the internet has significantly boosted the exposure that businesses can gain by using this technique. Through the use of blogs and other internet resources, you can do several things to get more from blogs without actually blogging.

Reporters and Customer Service Folks Excel in Social

Social marketing from reporters and customer service folks

What does it take to make your social networking succeed? As social networking grows with the addition of new sites and applications, we strive to keep up with them all and handle them effectively. To do this, we must master a certain skill-set that encourages more than calculations, it encourages communication.

There are several key elements to creating a successful social network, and there are some particular professions that already host such needed elements. Have you ever considered what a reporter does? They constantly interact with people and deliver the answers that people seek. Often, they are renowned for asking the right questions to encourage future interaction with their audience. 

Then there are those of the customer service profession. These people understand what it means to interact with an individual and their specific needs. Though they provide answers and facts, they do so in a manner that is specific to the person. The ability to be good with people plays an essential role in how your business appears to your audience. 

Basically, those with customer service or even a reporter’s background can influence your abilities as a good social media manager. While these professions may not have been specifically engaged in, these techniques and practices are essential to social networking success.

Serving your customers

Social sites have become one of the primary sources for customer service. Not only do they provide facts and information, they are a direct window to your audience. Here, you can discuss and communicate with an individual directly. This should be seen as your chance to befriend your audience in a social way. To do this, you must understand that social media isn’t just about speaking, it is about listening as well.

This is something that is often overlooked by social networkers because while you may be speaking to a wide audience, you must also be able to converse with an individual person. This means that you can’t limit yourself to disclosing just the facts, you have to understand how to handle an individual and address their specific needs. You must speak to them in the right language, so you don’t want to indulge in jargon or otherwise lose their attention. Above all, you never want to sound like a pre-recorded message.

This often leads to the simple question: Can you tell your story? It’s not just about disclosing your history; it’s about being able to communicate with someone else. Social networking is more than calculations, it’s about being able to engage the audience properly and respond to individuals and specific needs by relating to them on a personal level. It’s all about being able to listen AND respond effectively so that both you and your customer can develop your own story together. 

What does it take to stimulate conversation?

This brings us to the abilities of a reporter. This particular profession not only focuses on being able to find information, but present it in a manner that will appeal to their audience in more ways than one. Every business provides facts about themselves, but there are facts in general which are appealing. Reporters find the scoop, they find ways to relate “hot topics” with the message they want to deliver. 

So ask yourself if you can serve your social networking needs in an engaging style. Those in customer service can appeal to the needs of individuals, while the reporter can create conversation amongst individuals. A reporter is able to stimulate personal word of mouth marketing strategies through their methods because they create discussion. 

Then there is the fact that being a reporter can help understand what leads to pursue. Reporters target “hot” leads and evade cold trails. This is very effective when you must focus on what is truly important. Time is always precious, which means that readers and listeners will only give their attention to that which is important to them. A reporter understands what is important and presents it to their audience. 

For those within the social world, being able to write and create quality content that will appeal to your audience is crucial to success. A social networker should see themselves as a reporter whose job is to provide what the audience desires to create debate and conversation. 

The characteristics of these two professions are essential to a social marketing strategy. While not everyone has been a reporter or in charge of customer service, the elements of these professions are something that every social marketing manager must apply and practice to properly engage their audience and ensure their social networking succeeds.

Monitor the Need You are Satisfying: Essential Tips You Should Know

Listening to your customers and providing solutions give value to your personal brand

Many companies may have the tendency to devote so much of their time to sell a product or service, and then fail to check whether they have satisfied their customers' needs or not. Any business owner wants to make more money; however, they can achieve this goal when they understand their customers and try to meet their expectations. The best way to do this is by listening to what customers have to say, as any information divulged can be vital to any company's success.

The Need for Listening to Customer Feedback

When your customers contact you for technical support or concerns about the product, they expect to obtain prompt attention. They want you to listen to them and they want to receive your full attention. You should convey your commitment to serve them and help them find the ideal solution. In addition, you should also listen and monitor how your business satisfies the needs of your customers. When you know that you are on the right track, you can develop better products geared towards your customers' expectations.

Customer feedback is one of the most critical components of a customer service program. Most businesses succeed because they work closely with their customers and integrate any feedback that will improve their services or products. As a business owner, you should be proactive about providing outstanding customer service. You can find out if you are satisfying your customers' needs by asking several questions that you’d undoubtedly need to answer as well.

1. What do your customers say their needs are?

2. How do your customers talk about the products they are using? What features work or do not work for them, and what are their reasons for saying so?

3. What are their personal or professional goals, and have you met these? If not, how can you help them attain their objectives?

How to Identify Consumer Needs and Provide the Best Solutions

When you operate an online business, the basic rules remain the same as when you manage a land-based retail store. You still have an actual business, and you deal with real customers. While you may not meet these individuals personally, they have genuine needs, problems, and desires that you should meet.

After you have determined who your target customers are, you are not in the best position to define the problems they may be encountering. You can provide the right answers through the products you develop, various posts on social media, or blogs that you publish in article directories. Now, all you need to do is to know how you can identify and monitor their needs, so you can provide solutions. The following tips can help you check your customers' needs.

1. Determine your customers' pain points

Listen to your customers' pain points or problems, then identify ways to solve their concerns. When you understand what they need, you can devise the ideal product that will exceed their expectations. Word of mouth marketing is a powerful tool that can make or break your chances for success, so you should aim to receive more positive feedbacks from your customers. Monitor what they say online, and keep these details in mind when you formulate answers to these issues.

2. Find out where your clients are hanging out

Online forums and social media where your target customers hang out provide excellent sources for discovering how well you have met your customers' expectations. Through these locations, you can provide answers based on their concerns, and you can determine how well you are able to satisfy them.

3. Participate in social media groups, so you can connect with your customers

Try to join several relevant social media groups, and know the questions they are asking. Afterwards, participate in discussions so that you can give your answers. If you feel that more details are necessary, you may create a free report that offers an extensive explanation or answers to their problems. Based on the feedback that you receive, you can determine ways to please your customers. Do your best to be consistent in monitoring the level of satisfaction that you deliver through your products and services.

Bottom Line

It is essential for you to listen to what your customers expect and need so you can deliver solutions or products that will meet their standards. Moreover, this will solidify your outstanding reputation and become a driving force for long-term success. You can ensure retention in the business when you know how to pay attention to your customers.

Using Your Facebook Dashboard to Succeed

Facebook as a social marketing tool

Every person on Facebook has a dashboard they use to keep track of friends and apps. They can monitor who and what they see. This is also possible for businesses that use Facebook. You can use your dashboard to keep track of likes, dislikes and see what people are saying about your company. This will give you an opportunity to reach out and engage with your customers whether they are happy or unhappy with you.

Why Your Business Needs to be on Facebook

It’s all about location, location, location.  Whether it’s an online location or share of mind location, you must have the prime area and Facebook has over 900 million users making it at the top of places to locate your business. 

Using your dashboard, you can see who is engaging your updates and sharing them. You’ll see who of your clients are also active online, who they’re connected with and which topics and specials are of most interest to them. There’s a wealth of customer intelligence in your Facebook dashboard and insights.

Monitoring Traffic

Did you know that you can see who on Facebook is going to your site and/or blog? Get some real insights on customer flow, their interest in topics and how well your website is doing in continuing the conversation that you start in your social networks. 

It’s also a great place to monitor conversations and have an active customer service arm that reaches into the mobile devices that most people access Facebook with.

Tracking Engaged Users

It is possible to track every customer and see how they are engaging with their friends. Their posts become public so you will be able to see what they are saying about you and your business. 

Are they talking about your business? You can greet and thank them or try to resolve issues which draw dislikes.

Who Can Be Reached?

There are many ways you can target your message and promotions. Once you get their attention, then get personal with your contacts on Facebook. You want them to see you as approachable, a resource and someone they can access here that they could never reach through another channel. 

Whatever you’re doing remember to keep delivering them value so they will listen and stay engaged. 

Review the posts and updates and find out:

1. What are they most interested in?
2. What are they sharing the most?
3. What do they like most about you?
4. What are their burning question and/or issues?

Get Ahead with Other People's Experience

Content marketing is important in building a brand. Content is mainly what attracts and engages readers. If you effectively engage the right readers, you have a higher chance of developing relationships that could result in friendship, resource sharing, recommendations and even business.   It is not always so easy coming up with good content. In the beginning, it may be easier because ideas are fresh and everyone still has a lot of enthusiasm. After a while though, ideas usually start slowing down. 

This is the reality of content marketing; it is not always that easy coming up with content that you can share to your audience.

Part of maintaining good online presence is through a constant flow of content in your website. Businesses are faced with the challenge of constantly coming up with ideas that can help and engage their readers. Whether it’s in writing, video or image form, it’s important that valuable information is shared to audiences. 

We normally get our ideas based on what we know and on our own experiences, but these eventually run out after some time. The best way to get a constant flow of content is by deriving ideas from other people’s experiences. There is a never-ending wealth of information that can be learned from other people. An intelligent content writer can use such experiences to create fresh and relevant content for their readers. Many people can probably be able to relate to such experiences.

Here are some ways on how to get ideas from other people for content:

Reach out to others – This is why it pays to have professionals in your network. Do some research about your niche and reach out to professionals who are experts in the field that you are interested in. You can either talk to them on the phone or connect with them in the most convenient way for the both of you. This way, you can write about what you know and also write about what other people know concerning a certain topic. Sometimes you don’t even have to look very far. Just constantly try to seek ideas for interesting things to write whenever you interact with customers, colleagues and friends. 

Get ideas from your readers – It’s quite likely that you will have readers who are going to comment on your content. Interact with these people because sometimes they come up with questions that can open you up to ideas. You can also do the same when you yourself read articles. Leave comments or read about what other people think regarding the topic. Watch out for trends and see if you can get ideas from what others think about a certain topic. 

Monitor your social media sites – Tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite and other social media monitoring tools can help you gather ideas for content creation. Readers like to share their opinions online. If you have social media sites, carefully monitoring them can help you get ideas from your customers, readers, or anyone who is talking about your brand. When you monitor your social media sites, you can get ideas on which types of content best engage your readers. Discovering such factors can help you create content that is sure to capture your readers’ attention. 

Through your content, you build your reputation and gain readers’ trust in your brand. Give your readers something valuable and they will value your brand in return.