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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 13: How to Start a Brand Ambassador Program

Welcome to the 13th episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!  Today’s episode is about the ideal starting point for your brand ambassador program.  If you enjoy the show please consider leaving a review on iTunes, it really helps!

Show Notes:

0:45 – Thank you to Patricia Oliver, Todd Burgess and Jenny Schmitt for listening and promoting #FanDamnShow

1:25 – The starting point for building a brand ambassador program

1:45 – The two questions your company must ask (and answer) before launching a brand ambassador program

3:00 – Why it’s so important to ask and answer these two questions early to help structure your brand ambassador program moving forward, and to help keep it focused

4:55 – An example of how this works for a company

7:15 – The secret to why this works

10:20 – 10 Things to Remember When Creating a Brand Ambassador Program

 

Here’s where you can download this episode directly.  And if you can, please subscribe to The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show on iTunes, and I would *love* it if you could review the podcast on iTunes as well.

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 12: Saying ‘Thank You’ As a Marketing Strategy

Welcome to the 12th episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!  BTW before I get to the Show Notes for this episode, thank y’all for making last Tuesday the best day for downloads of the show at 66 downloads!  That’s the best in the history of the show since it was launched last May!  Thanks to everyone for listening.  I mentioned my audience goals for the show earlier this month, and while January is now the best month ever for downloads, there’s still some work to do to reach January’s goal of 750 downloads.  So any help you can give me by telling others about The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show would be greatly appreciated!  In fact if you enjoy the show please consider leaving a review on iTunes, it really helps!

Show Notes:

0:45 – Thank you to Amy Robles, Sarah Seado and Kary Delaria

1:00 – The role of saying ‘Thank you’ in building an audience

2:25 – Appreciating your customers is the great marketing equalizer

3:10 – Too many companies focus on acquiring new customers vs showing appreciation for their existing customers

4:00 – Why would you not say ‘Thank you’ to the people that are helping you reach your goals?

4:45 – The bar has been set so low that when a company appreciates us, it surprises us

 

Here’s where you can download this episode directly.  And if you can,please subscribe to The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show on iTunes, and I would *love* it if you could review the podcast on iTunes as well.

Here’s this week’s episode:

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/fandamnshow/ThankYouAsAMarketingStrategyFINAL.mp3″ title=”Saying ‘Thank You’ As a Marketing Strategy” ]

And here’s all the episodes so far:

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 11: Three Ways to Create Content Your Customers Will Love

Hey y’all, welcome to the 11th episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show! Today I discuss three simple ways to create more customer-centric content!  I hope you enjoy it!

Show Notes:

0:45 – Special thank-you to Robyn Wright, Kelly Hungerford and Kerry O’Shea Gorgone.

2:00 – Three simple ways you can create content your customers will love.

2:12 – Focus on questions that your customers have

3:30 – Focus on addressing complaints from your customers

8:00 – Involve your customers in the content-creation process

 

Here’s where you can download this episode directly.  And if you can,please subscribe to The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show on iTunes, and I would *love* it if you could review the podcast on iTunes as well.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/fandamnshow/Episode_11_-_Three_Ways_to_Create_Content_Customers_LoveFINAL.mp3″ title=”Three Ways to Create Content Customers Love” ]

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 10: Why Companies Won’t Connect With Their Customers

Welcome to the 10th episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!  Today we are going to talk about a marketing problem that everyone knows exists, that not too many marketers seem to be doing anything about: Creating customer-centric messages and connecting with customers.

Show Notes:

0:50 – “What’s the Biggest Mistake That Marketers Make?”discussion from the Marketing Smarts podcast with Kerry O’Shea Gorgone. You can listen to that episode here.

2:20 – Why don’t marketers listen when industry leaders and experts say that they should do a better job of understanding and listening to their customers?

3:34 – Most companies aren’t build and structured to have direct and repeated interactions with their customers.

5:30 – Most companies don’t understand that most of the marketing messages around its brand aren’t coming from the brand.

6:50 – Social Media leads to Digital Word of Mouth. Ideas are spreading from customer to customer without direct input from marketers.

9:55 – My (very lofty) goals for this podcast and number of downloads for the year and why I need your help in reaching my goal.

 

I hope you enjoy this episode, you can download it directly here.  And if you can, please subscribe to The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show on iTunes, and I would *love* it if you could review the podcast on iTunes as well.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/fandamnshow/Episode_10_-_Why_Companies_Dont_ConnectFINAL.mp3″ title=”Why Companies Won’t Connect With Their Customers” ]

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What’s the ROI of Making Your Customers Cry?

Watch this video.  Now.

Then forward it to your boss and ask her “What would our business look like if our customers loved us that much?”

Or maybe the better question to ask is, “Why don’t we love our customers as much as Taylor Swift loves her fans?”

Because you don’t.  And you should.

I love you Taylor Swift.  And it has nothing to do with your music, it has everything to do with how you go out of your way to communicate to your fans that you love them.

Successful marketing isn’t about generating sales, it’s about generating love.  Customers that love your company, who it is and what it stands for, and tell other customers why they should love you just like they do.  Because generating the love means you generate the sales.

Two points to consider:

1 – I would bet dollars to donuts that Taylor never once thought while wrapping presents to deliver to her fans, “Wait…what’s the ROI of driving to a fan’s house with presents?”

2 – Taylor’s new album 1989 was the top-selling album of 2014.

I can’t help but wonder if these two things aren’t somehow related.

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The Passion Point: When Brand Like Turns Into Brand Love

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Earlier this decade, Patagonia made a rather bizarre plea to its customers: Stop buying our stuff.  The outdoor apparel brand launched a marketing campaign designed to ask customers to reconsider their shopping habits.  To stop buying new coats when their current one was just fine, to stop indulging in spending sprees on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  To spend less on what you want and more on just what you need.

So did Patagonia’s customers heed the brand’s advice?  They did not, as Patagonia’s sales increased by more than $150 Million over the next year.

Obviously, this approach won’t work for every brand.  And that’s the point.  It works for Patagonia because the brand has established the trust of its customers.  Its customers believe that Patagonia’s motivations behind asking customers to avoid extravagant purchases are truly to create a better world.  Many of Patagonia’s customers share these beliefs and wants.  Which means Patagonia’s marketing message to ‘buy less’ actually validates to its customers that Patagonia is a brand that they should believe in, and support.

This story also goes to the heart of truly successful marketing.  Too many brands market their products, when they should be marketing how those products fit into the lives of their customers.  Patagonia does this amazingly well.  The brand focuses on its customers and their likes and beliefs.  The company shares many of those same beliefs, such as protecting the environment, enjoying the outdoors, and sustainability.

We all have certain things we are passionate about.  Maybe it’s something specific like US military history, horseback riding or automotive repair.  Or it could be more general like design, simplicity, minimalism.  But we all have things that we are passionate about and that we love.  Things that motivate and excite us.  We can relate some of those things with some brands.

But we love the brands that we identify as being related to the things we love.  In the Patagonia example, its customers love the brand because its customers love protecting the planet and believe that the Patagonia brand has this same desire.  Patagonia is helping to facilitate the ideas and beliefs that are important to its customers: Protecting the environment, being active in the outdoors and sustainability.  Patagonia’s customers feel better about themselves for supporting the brand.

So if you truly want to make a connection with your customers, don’t promote your brand so much as you promote the things that your customers love that they associate with your brand.  For Patagonia, that’s protecting the environment, being active outdoors, and sustainability.  For Fiskars it’s scrapbooking.  For Harley-Davidson it’s the freedom of the open road.  It’s not about a parka, a pair of scissors or a motorcycle.

It’s about us.  It’s about the things we are passionate about, that we love.  How well you relate to the things we love determines how well we will relate to your brand.  When you can show us that your brand is just as passionate about these same things and can help us realize our passions, we might just love your brand as well.

Pic via Flickr user David Robert Bllwas

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Picking the Right Brand Ambassador

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More than ever, companies are enticed by the prospect of launching a brand ambassador program.  The idea of having an army of ‘customer marketers’ that help promote the brand is very attractive to many companies.  But how do you choose the right brand ambassador?

First, let’s remember what we discussed when we talked about whether you should work with fans or influencers, because the same rules apply.  The biggest mistake that many companies make when connecting with potential brand ambassadors is the company will offer customers free products if they will become an ambassador.  In other words, companies want to give customers an incentive to become a brand ambassador.

The problem with this approach is that your true fans don’t need an incentive to join your brand ambassador program.  All they need is an invitation.  Remember that your fans aren’t motivated by free products, they are motivated by access, by a belief in the values and ideals that are core to your company.  Your fans want a closer connection with the brand they love, yours.  They want the backstage pass, they want a level of access, connection and input with your brand that the average customer doesn’t have.  Or want.

Here’s How to Spot Your Best Brand Ambassador

Let’s say Hewlett-Packard is launching a brand ambassador program and wants to promote its new laptop.  HP has identified two candidates for its brand ambassador program; Tim and Josh.

Tim has had several different brands of laptops over the years, including an HP.  While he wouldn’t consider himself to be a fan of HP, he does think they are about as good as the competition.

HP decides to pitch Tim on joining its brand ambassador program by giving Tim a free laptop.  HP encourages Tim to talk about the laptop online, and gives him coupons that he can give to other customers.

The problem with this approach is that HP is enticing a non-advocate to become a brand ambassador for HP by giving him free stuff.  Basically HP is trying to ‘buy’ Tim’s advocacy with a free laptop.

The other candidate HP has identified for its brand ambassador program is Josh.  Josh is a diehard fan of HP products, in fact he has an active blog devoted to the brand’s computers.  In fact HP knows about Josh because he reached out to the company’s social media manager on Twitter and asked her for an interview on his blog.

Josh doesn’t need to be ‘sold’ on HP, he’s already a fan.  So HP doesn’t need to offer Josh a free laptop (he’s probably already bought it anyway), they need to offer him special access to the company.  HP would ask Josh to help them tell other customers about the laptop, but HP would also make its product engineers and marketers available to Josh so it can utilize feedback from Josh on its products and marketing.  Since Josh is a fan, he doesn’t view this as an incentive, he sees this level of access toward HP as a reward for being a fan.  So he would be thrilled to join.

On the other hand, if HP went to Tim (a non-fan) and asked him to join its brand ambassador program and told Tim that HP would want him to routinely connect with its product engineers and marketers to give HP feedback on its products, Tim would likely see this as work, and not be interested.  Because Tim’s motivation (as a non-fan) is based around getting free stuff, where Josh (the fan) wants more exposure to the HP brand.

Pick ambassadors that believe in your brand

When you are picking brand ambassadors, you don’t want customers that you have to incentivize by giving free stuff.  You want people that believe in your vision and who will work with you to help you realize that vision.  Remember that your brand ambassadors will literally be your brand’s representatives in your markets.

Choose wisely.

Pic via Flickr user Irina Patrascu

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How a Passionate Community Formed Around 5 Million Toys Lost At Sea

LegosOn Feb. 13, 1997, the ship Tokio Express was bound for New York when it was struck by a huge wave about 20 miles off the coast of England.  As a result, dozens of shipping containers were thrown overboard and into the sea.  Among the lost cargo was almost 5 million Lego toys and pieces.

Almost immediately, these Legos began washing up on shore in nearby Cornwall, England, and still do even today.  At first local beach-combers began to discover the unexpected treasure, but then additional possible findings were made in other locations.  Eventually, it led to the creation of an online community devoted to finding the lost toys, led by the appropriately-named Legos Lost At Sea Facebook page.  Here, passionate collectors come together to share what they know and have discovered about this event and the 5 million or so Legos that were lost at sea.  Due to the group’s research they have secured cargo manifests and know how many of each item were on the ship.

This event has become a rallying point within the Lego-collecting community.  Fans from around the world are now comparing notes in an effort to locate as many of the Legos as possible.  The majority of the findings have been on the shores of the UK, but it is believed that toys from the lost stash have been found on beaches as far away as California and Australia.

As I talk about in my book Think Like a Rock Star, a community is a group that has a shared sense of ownership in something larger than themselves.  If you’re wanting to build an online community, it’s often very difficult to do based on the product itself.  It’s far better to focus on something that brings the group together.  The Legos Lost At Sea community is a good example of this, they share the common bond of trying to locate as many of the lost Legos as possible.

So how could a brand or company become involved in an existing community like Legos Lost At Sea?  Well the first thought would be that Lego should sponsor or participate in this group.  But there might be some valid legal reasons why this wouldn’t be a good idea, perhaps participation could somehow be tied back to an admittance of fault in some way for the lost cargo, who knows?  Another idea is what if local beaches in England sponsored ‘Lego Treasure Hunt Days’, where collectors could meet and work together to clean the beaches, and at the same time (hopefully) find more of the lost Legos!  The local beaches benefit from becoming cleaner, and the local collectors benefit from not only finding Lego-booty, but also they get to meet their fellow collectors and bond over a common love of all things Lego.

Whenever you’re thinking about your community-building efforts, think about how you can work with an existing community to them it reach its goals.  The goal isn’t to join a community so you can promote your product, the goal is to join the community to help it reach its goals.  Helping an existing community reach its goals and better itself is the best promotion possible for your product.  Keep that in mind the next time you are thinking about how your company can ‘leverage’ an online community.

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This is Exactly Why You Should Ask Your Customers For Online Reviews

EnterpriseEmailConsider these customer service/satisfaction facts:

Americans tell an average of 9 people about a good experience with a company, and 16 people about a bad experience.

Roughly 80% of all tweets related to a customer service issue with a company, are negative.

But think about how this applies to you: Are you more likely to praise a company or complain?  Personally, I am more likely to share a negative experience, or rather I am more likely to be motivated to share a negative experience.  Especially when I think the company just completely screwed up.

Yet when it comes to a positive experience, I am less likely/motivated to share that experience.  Case in point, for over a year now I’ve been renting cars (quite often) from a particular Enterprise location locally.  So much so that the employees that work there recognize me and know which vehicle I prefer in the class I rent.  I always get a good experience, and a couple of times it’s been exceptional.  So when I received an email (screenshot above) encouraging me to review them online, it was a no-brainer.  In fact my first thought was ‘Of course, I should have already done this!’

The reason why?  We complain because we want to get the company’s attention so they will fix our problem.  That’s typically our motivation when we complain online.  With a positive experience, we aren’t trying to get the company’s attention, so our motivation to share good news is typically less.

The takeaway is this: A lot of companies are very reluctant to send an email like the one Enterprise did.  “We’re just encouraging our customers to leave negative reviews online!” I can see many CEOs lamenting.  But most of those unsatisfied customers have already left a negative review online.  Asking for reviews would typically encourage more positive reviews than negative.

We are more motivated and likely to share negative experiences with a company than positive ones.  So by asking for reviews, you are evening the scales because you are making it easier for customers that had a positive experience to share that.

Do you agree with this?  Are you more likely to share a very positive or negative experience online?

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Sprint: 20% of Employee Bonuses Are Tied to Net Promoter Score

14325498366_f041d5d541_zSprint has rolled out a new bonus structure for all its employees, including executives.  Moving forward, 20% of employee bonuses will depend on how effectively its current customers promote Sprint to new customers.  In short, Sprint is betting on the power of the Net Promoter Score, and will pay its employees big bucks for raising its score.

Here’s how it works: Surveyors ask Sprint customers to rate — from zero to 10 — how willing they are to recommend the company to others. Only nines and 10s count as promoters. Sevens and eights are considered neutral, and anything less comes out as a detractor.

The key for Sprint employees and execs is that 20 percent of their incentive pay is now tied to improving that score.

On paper, this sounds like a good idea.  The rationale is that if more of Sprint’s current customers are generating positive Word of Mouth, it will lead to new customers.  So Sprint wants to reward employees when its NPS increases.

Here’s the potential problem I see:  By paying employees for raising its NPS, it gives employees an incentive to raise its NPS instead of creating an environment where happy customers promote the brand.  What gets measured gets managed.  The goal shouldn’t be improving your NPS, that should be a by-product of doing a better job of understanding your customers.  The goal should be to better understand and connect with your existing customers.  A by-product of this will be an increased NPS.

Here’s another example:  Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, is also betting big on the power of its brand advocates.  But instead of focusing on raising its NPS, Telstra has focused on its call centers, on giving customers a better and more efficient experience.  Additionally, the company sends out over 11 million customer surveys a year, including 30,000 a day.  The feedback from these surveys as well as call centers is then mined and applied to Telstra’s existing marketing efforts.

As a result, Telstra’s NPS has increased by 3 points in 2014.

Whenever I talk to a company about launching a brand ambassador program, we talk about the reasons why they feel they need such a program.  Then I ask them to tell me what in it for their customers.  Many companies can tell me exactly how they want to benefit, but when it comes to discussing the value created for the customer, they typically haven’t given that as much consideration.  The goal shouldn’t be to raise your NPS, it should be to give your customers a reason to rave about you.  If you do that, then your NPS will take care of itself.

Whenever you considering launching any initiative that’s dependent on your customers performing some action for you, always carefully outline what’s in it for the customer.  Be able to spell out how you benefit, and how the customer will benefit.

The goal is a win-win, not a win for your brand.

Pic via Flickr user Mike Mozart