Part 1 of 3 about word of mouth marketing for credit unions

Think back to the last time your friend asked for a restaurant recommendation. Maybe you eagerly told them about the hot new dinner spot that just opened. Your friend hadn’t heard of it, but was excited by your recommendation. How did it make you feel to pass along this hot tip to your buddy? It made you feel great! You are cool. You are in-the-know. You were helpful.

People tell others when it makes them feel good to do so. So the question is, “what can we give people that will make them feel cool/smart/helpful when they tell others?” Or in other words, “what can we do that’s so buzz-worthy that they cannot possibly keep it to themselves?”

Word of mouth is kind of like the oceans—as old as time but until recently we didn’t know much about them. Ever since cavemen were roasting brontosaurus burgers over newly discovered fire, phrases like “dude, have you heard about __?” have been influential and credible sources of recommendations.

Yet as credit unions, we’ve not been able to harness the power of word of mouth marketing. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that word of mouth marketing in any industry truly came into its own as a discipline. It was around 2005 when the Word of Mouth Marketing Association formed to create and formalize an official industry trade group to truly transform word of mouth from being a mystical elusive idea into a respected discipline.

WOMMA defines word of mouth marketing as: “Giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for that conversation to take place.”

Principles and Steps of Word of Mouth Marketing

To wrap your brain around the main principles and steps of word of mouth marketing, start by asking yourself these questions, in this order.

• Talkers — Who will talk about you and tell their friends?
• Topics to Talk About — What will give people a reason to talk?
• Vehicles for Spreading the Message — How can we help make the message spread faster, farther and easier?
• Joining the Conversation — How will we participate in the conversation the talkers are having?
• Tracking and Measuring ROI — How will we find out what people are saying?

Up next, part 2 of 3: “Why WOM for Credit Unions?”

Homework

I highly recommend you read Andy Sernovitz’s book, Word of Mouth Marketing for an excellent primer on the subject. Andy is also one of the founding fathers of WOMMA.

Subscribe to some good WOM blogs:

• The WOMMA Word
• PSST! Word of Mouth Marketing for Credit Unions
• Buzz Marketing Daily

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Jeff Stephens is CEO of Creative Brand Communications (a multi-sensory marketing and experiential brand development agency), whose new division, PSST! is the world’s first word of mouth agency for financial institutions. Drop Jeff a line at jeff@psst-marketing.com.

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