Creating Buzz/Engaging Influencers -Social Media Masters - Toronto

Word of Mouth Marketing:
Creating Buzz and Engaging Influencers
October 2011Social Media Masters Toronto
@wikibrands
#smm2011
Sean Moffitt
@seanmoffitt

Who is Sean Moffitt….
Just A Blonde Guy With a Cause
Bad US Soccer
Perception
Bad Chefs
Bad Spies
Bad Marketing and Digital Practice
Bad British Cuisine
Bad Bay Area Hoods
Bad Defensive Secondaries

Agent Wildfire – Canada’s Word of Mouth People

We Word of Mouth (WoM)
with these Influencers…

Wikibrands - 2011 Booklist
Business Book of the Year
Published by McGraw-Hill (2011 Launch)
Twitter: @wikibrands
Website: www.Wiki-Brands.com
Richard Florida, Best Selling Author,
“A must read for business leaders”
Don Tapscott, Digital pioneer and author, Wikinomics
“This is an important, perhaps seminal book”

A Premium Brand is Now a Mark of Participation
Wikibrands - There’s a new currency on how brands build business…
“Something you Want”
1950
“Something you Trust”
1910
“Something you Buy”
1850
“Something you
Participate In”
2011
“Something you Prefer”
1980
“Something you Love”
2000

Wikibrands - Exploring The Ten Continents of the Wikibrand World
Word of mouth
Grassroots marketing
Social influence
Customer participation
Digital engagement
Online community
Connected media
Member collaboration
Awesome customer experience
Distributed Content
Equals
success in business

Forget Marketing’s 4Ps…
Embrace the Wikibrand 13Es
Mission
Drivers
Would you recommend my brand to a friend or colleague?
Well would you?
Advanced
Drivers
Effiliation
Experience
Premium
Drivers
Equity
Ennovative
Entimate
Entertainment
Basic
Drivers
Education
Entegrity
Exposed
Exchange
Esthetics
Company-driven
User-driven

Web WoM leads the way
Believe word of mouth is credible
63%
56%
55%
39%
58%
50%
49%
35%
Likely to pass along brand conversations to others
Likely to purchase based on brand conversations
Likely to seek out information based on brand conversations
Word of Mouth
Social Media
Social Business
Source: Keller Fay, 2010

“Facebook is Ringo, Social Media is George,
Word of Mouth is Paul, but Social Business is John”
Social Business
105M
Word of Mouth
55M
Social Media
14M
11M

Big Caveat:
Technology and tools are less than 20% of the deal
“The diffusion of innovation is based more on sociology and psychology than on technology.”
Everett Rogers, 1962- The Diffusion of Innovations

The 4 Laws of the Social ‘Net and WoM
Socialness
Authenticity
Customer-ness
Awesomeness

The 1st Law of the Social Net - Awesomeness
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey
#939 Hot cream and a straight razor on your neck at the barber shop
#983 That pile of assorted beers left in your fridge after a party

The 1% Fact
- The World is Not Created Equal…
Whether its business, products, services, motives, TV ….
There is the “AWESOME” - 1%
There is the “GOOD” - 20%
There is the “MEH” - about 60%
There is the “BAD” - 20%
There is the “UGLY” - 0.5%

What’s awesome in Your World?
October WoM

Who were #1, #2 and #3 people to fly across the Atlantic?

The Law of Awesomeness Online
Only 0.9% of Facebook Users have…
More than 500 friends
Only 1.5% of Tweet conversations…
Are three levels
(replies) deep

In a Wikibrand World -
Act different, be different, think different
Top 7 Things That People Talk About YOUR Brand
Unique
Dynamic
Different
Distinctive
Innovative
Visionary
Daring
Source: Y&R Brand Asset valuator

The 2nd Law of the Social Net - Socialness
"Prosocial behavior is an essential component of health and happiness in human beings”
Robert Kloninger. Professor of Psychiatry , Author of Feeling Good, The Science of Well-Being
19

Six Core Human Instincts on Why We Talk
To Survive (Kiva/LinkedIn)
To Connect (Facebook)
To Make Sense of the World (Wikipedia)
To Reduce Risk & Uncertainty (Amazon)
To Benefit Economically (eBay)
To Relieve Tension (YouTube)

– Online Community Motivation –
Why Do True Fans Join?
#1 - Social Connection
#2 - Shared Community Values/Culture
#3 - Expression/Creativity/Venting
#4 - Establishing influence with key decision makers
#5 - Access to Special Information/Advice
#6 - Appealing to Hobbies/Interests
#7 - Making a difference/to matter/support a cause
Source: Agent Wildfire 2011 Community Management Survey

Me in 1992
Me in 2011
150
4000
150
X 12
X 170
X 12
5000
20000
X 500
X 170
5000
5000
X 170
X 190
900
X 40
1800
People
Strength
8.4 Million
People
Strength

Only in Canada, Pity!
Ranked #1
Online penetration–79%/26.7 million Canadians online
Online usage–average 43.5 hours online per month
Online video– 251 videos/17.2 viewing hours per month
LinkedIn usage - 15% of online Canadians use
Gaming – spend 4.5 hours each week
Ranked in Top 10
Social media Use– 70% use social media; ½ everyday
Facebook usage–#4 worldwide/82% of online Can.
Twitter usage–#6 worldwide/18% of online Can.
Smartphone usage – 33% of mobile users
Social media age breakdown
– usage is younger-skewed but broad spread, 18-34 {86%}, 35-54 {64%}, 55+ {43%}
Mobile Usage
– there are 24+ million Canadian mobile subscribers
.
-
Source: comScoreeMarketer/Ipsos Reid/Nielsen

The 3rd Law of the Social Net - Authenticity
“In a world of incressingly paid-for experiences, authenticity is what we increasingly crave from each other and our brands.
Joe Pine, Author of Authenticity and The Experience Economy

You don’t “Do, Kill, Buy, Trade in Social, YOU BETTER BE AND LIVE IT”

A Genuine Culture Change is Required
MASS
MARKETING
DIRECT
MARKETING
SOCIAL INFLUENCE MARKETING
Control
Hype
Decisions
Features
Collaboration
Transparency
Dialogue
Purpose

Top Reasons – Social Media
Why Now Business Executives?
#1 The Need for Authenticity and Transparency -42%
#2 The rise of social networks - 38%
#3 Increasing role of wireless/mobile - 35%
#4 Customers/people waning attention spans - 25%
#5 Media fragmentation - 22%
#6 Change in mass marketing effectiveness - 20%
Agent Wildfire -The Buzz Report 2010

Successful or Not?

The 4th Law of The Social ‘Net
– Customer-Ness
The way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
Socrates

This is What Today’s Customer Wants

Customer Experience Reigns
- Who Knows Better Than Your Customer -
Executives who believe the Customer Experience is the new battleground
- 95%
Executives who believe they are delivering a positive customer experience - 80%
CUSTOMERS WHO AGREE - 8%

Great Brands Are Like
Great Sports Teams…

Sports teams put their fans to work…

The best brands treat customers like valued fans
Scout/
Mystery
Shopper
Thinktank/
Sounding
Board
Turning Users, Customers and
Consumers
User
Customer
Consumer
Into Authors, Producers, Scouts, Testers and Collaborators & Broadcasters
Collaborator/Producer
Community
Member/
VIP Insider
Brand Fan
Evangelist/
Ambassador/
Advocate
Seeded
Adopter/
Beta Tester
Into True Fans, Community Members, Advocates, Ambassadors
and Evangelists
AdvisoryCouncil/
Cause
Torchbearer

Do Brands Belong in Social? You betcha…
85% of people want companies engaging with their customers in social media
- Twitterers are three times more likely to embrace brands than average population
Visual : The Atlantic

Where to Start with WoM and Buzz?

Elwood:Er.. what kind of music do you usually have here?
Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got Country, and Western.

WOM Comes in More Than a Few Flavours…
Evangelist Programs
Brand Community
Collaboration / Co-Creation
Buzz
Viral
Social Media
Influencer Marketing
Social Network
Badging
Customer intervention
Grassroots/ cause marketing
Experiential
Pass along Referrals
Recommend-ations
- Social Influence
Visual- Intersection Consulting

What are the biggest elements to WoM?
Tools used /platforms built?
Customer Experience?
Audience who participates?
Incentives for referral?
Great Product/Brand?
Conversation Worthy Idea/Concept?
Strong process?
Culture/employees of a company?
Creative/design used?
Method of interaction?

Top 10 Ranked WoM Elements
Great ideas that spread are rare and valuable
#1 Conversation Worthy Idea/Concept* 36 triggers
#2 Great Product/Brand
#3 Customer Experience provided
#4 The Audience who Participates* 6 types
#5 Culture/employees of a Company
#6 Method in which it interacts w/ its audience 30 tips
#7 Incentives for referral
#8 Strong process* 8 steps
#9 Creative/design used
#10 Tools/platforms built* 15 tools

W
F
I
I
L
R
D
E
Process
Agent Wildfire – an 8-step WILDFIRE playbook
WOM
OVERVIEW:
WILDFIRE
Fan the Flames
Rebroadcast content, expand
referral, share testimonials
What the Big Idea?
Buzzworthy, Spreadable,
Repeatable, Visual, Online/Offline
Incubate the Conversation
Ongoing dialogue, moderation,
content and incentives
Influencer Recruitment
Find, connect and invite the connected, savvy opinion leaders
Research and Insight
Monitoring, feedback, analysis,
adjustment and action
Lay the Foundation
Develop the platform,
forum and tentacles for content and activity
Expansion
Fuel larger geography, portfolio,
activity, features and/or scope
Deliver an Experience
Online, cause-related, event,
incentive or VIP experience

7 Owned WoM Tools – Your Home Game
WOM
OVERVIEW:
WILDFIRE
Monitoring Tools
Social
Dashboard
Online
Community
Wiki/
Collaboration
Blogs
Apps
Email
Awareness
Perception
Targeting
Traffic/SEO
User Content
Engagement
Purchase
Referral
Evangelism
Thought Leadership
Measurement
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8 Shared WoMTools – Your Away Game
WOM
OVERVIEW:
WILDFIRE
Social Bookmarks
Location based
Ratings/
Forums
Photo Sharing
Awareness
Perception
Targeting
Traffic/SEO
User Content
Engagement
Purchase
Referral
Evangelism
Thought Leadership
Measurement
1
3
2
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Some of these people are not like the others….The Influencer Matters

1690 – John Locke
"We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.”

1844 – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Who shall set a limit to the influence of a human being?"
"The best efforts of a fine person is felt after we have left their presence.”

1991 – Geoffrey Moore
“This consumer is part of the herd. They're word-of-mouth creatures
... They're asking their friends and colleagues, 'Are you using that camera yet? Me, neither.'
But if they ask around and people say, 'Yeah, I use it all the time,' then they'll rethink and try it out.”

2002 – Malcolm Gladwell
The Law of The Few:
“The answer is that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.”

2008 – Seth Godin
“The new opportunity is that it's easier than ever to find, organize, and lead a tribe.
The Web has enabled an explosion of all kinds of tribes -- and
…created a shortage of people to lead them. This is the growth industry of our time.”

The open web has not reduced, but instead, exposed the importance of influencers….

Influencers Answer Questions
0.7% of Wikipedia
users edit…
50% of the articles
1.7% of Wikipedia
users author…
70% of the articles

Influencers Stay on Top of What’s Current
2.2% of Twitter
users account for…
58% of the tweets
1.7% of Twitter
users have …
More than 1,000 followers

Influencers Fan, Poke, Pic, Share…
0.7% of Facebook pages have…
More than 100k fans
8.7% of Facebook
Users …
Update their status daily

Influencers Hire and Network
0.8% LinkedIn members …
Visit each day
1% of LinkedIn members…
…are responsible for 34% of the site’s traffic

Influencers Generate Lots of Content
High authority bloggers post …
300x more frequently than low authority bloggers
Only 9% of top blogs…
Get over 10,000 visitors per month

Influencers are Big Online
13.8% of online
population…
…create 80% of the online influence posts
6.2% of online population…
…create 80% of the online influence impressions

Influence ≠ Followers

Influence ≠ Popularity

Influence Can’t Be Peddled

Influence is Interest Specific

And now we can provide the raw evidence

Should we care?
Why do we care?

Influence Benefits - “Helping Grow Stuff…”
Brand Advocacy - as a marketer, Influencers are your “people market” multipliers
Brand Buzz- as a media person, Influencers are a grassroots complement and amplifier
Brand Perception – as a PR person, Influencers are game-changing allies

Influence Benefits- “Helping Build Stuff”
Brand Content – as an agency or innovator, Influencers are potential creative partners and crowdsourced sources of solutions and ideas
Brand Insight - as a researcher or innovator, Influencers are a savvy alchemy of outsider wisdom and feedback
Brand Support- as an organization, committed Influencersare extraordinarily effective and valuable brand ambassadors and customer service agents

The marketing influence model is being turned upside down

Influence is not Distributed Equally…

Spreading messages effectively on the social web happens in two steps …
The
Crowd
The
Influencers

You can’t chase everybody…
“The suggestion that a firm merely needs to participate in a conversation is a little naive.
Microsoft was mentioned 2.5 million times in the blogosphere the previous year, and we have eighty-nine thousand employees.
How can you realistically be expected to operationalize a response to all of them?”

Why are they so damn valuable?

E
C
S
R
Four sources of Influencer power
x
x
x
=
Reach
Exposure
Credibility
Suasion

E
C
S
R
Reach – deep and wide circles of influence
x
x
x
=
Reach
Exposure
Credibility
Suasion
More intimate/close friends
More colleagues and associates
More affiliations to groups of interest
More links to other influencers
More amplification channels of connection

E
C
S
R
Exposure – more opportunity to flex influence
x
x
x
=
Reach
Exposure
Credibility
Suasion
Exposed to more interests
Adopt earlier/pay more attention to trends
Make sense of the world more easily
More prolific content production
Receive and pass along more recommendations

E
C
S
R
Credibility – they are perceived to be…
x
x
x
=
Reach
Exposure
Credibility
Suasion
Better informed
More authoritative
Honest and care
Relevant and Timely
Accreditized by trusted others

E
C
S
R
Suasion – able to convince the others
x
x
x
=
Reach
Exposure
Credibility
Suasion
Passion and commitment to subject/brand/topic
Likability
Reciprocation and involvement
Expressiveness/strong communication
Confidence in messenger

Who are they?

The Influencers –
Word of Mouth Powerbrokers

The front of the influence curve…
“The Message Creators” – 1.1% of the population
- Creators, The Vanguard, Prosumers, Innovators, Activists, Trailblazers, The Edge, Mavericks
“The Message Radar” – 0.7% of the population
- Conversations Starters, Alphas, Coolhunters, In-the-know, Early Adopters, Style hounds, Culture savvy,
“The Message Sellers” – 1.9% of the population
Evangelists, Salespeople, Persuaders, Change agents, Rainmakers, Proselytizers, Bellwethers, The Momentum

…the back of the Influence Curve
“The Message Credibility” – 3.6% of population
- Gatekeepers, Databanks, Authorities, Filters, Gurus, Torture Testers, Filters

“The Message Magnets” 0.8% of the population
- Endorsers, Mega Hubs, High Priests, Fame Magnets, A-Listers
“The Message Spreaders” - 1.8% of population
- Organizers, Sneezers, Bees, Social Glue, Converters, Chatterers, Promiscuous, Connectors

Get your influencers in the right sequence…

Find Your Real Hardcore Fans
Invite them into The Front Row or On Stage

Why We Word of Mouth?
36 Reasons

The Short Version - The Three Basic Reasons Why Ideas Spread through Word of Mouth
“It’s Who THEY Are”
“It’s WHAT You Do”
“It’s Who YOU Are”
10 Audience Attributes
15 Buzz Firestarters
11 Inescapable Traits

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF WORD OF MOUTH
– THE 36 REASONS WHY PEOPLE BUZZ -
The Brand/Product
The Experience
The Person
Intrinsic-ally Motivated
Passionate About the Topic
Rallying Cry
Authentic
Altruistic
Intimacy
Likable
Influence
Involved/
Committed
Brand Experience
Trustworthy
Logo Lovers
Tight Boundaries
Extrinsic-ally
Motivated
Ritualistic
Social Currency
Edgy
Social Brokers
Network Effects
Innovative
Feedback Seekers
The Best At What You Do
Memes
Self-Expressives
Easy to Talk About
Visibility
Remarkable/
Outrageous
Ego-Driven
Scarcity
Explicitly
Motivated
Fame
Expertise
Knowledge Seekers
Sensory
Bite-Sized Participation
ReciprocityDealers
Liberating/
Problem Solving
VIP treatment/
Customization
Rewards
$$

The
Who

# 1 – Passionate about The Topic
# 2 – Logo Lovers
# 2 – Logo Lovers
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. – p.s. just survived an intentional parachute failure at 10,000ft”
Tactic: Publish Manifesto (Naked Pizza)
/Employee Blog (Graco)

# 2 – Logo Lovers
“D’OH! The Simpsons’ effect on TV is like the Beatle’s effect on music. We will buy them until they have nothing left to do.”
Tactic: Build Community (JetBlue TrueBlue)/
Use video sharing/Host user-generated video contest (Nike The Chosen)

# 3 – Knowledge Seekers
“Just another day of blowing something up”
Tactic: Topic-based blogs/Aggregated Advice
(Mint.com/ Amex Open Business Forum)

# 4 – Social Brokers
“You wanna hug it out?”
Tactic: Host events/organize groups/tiered membership and roles/team wearables
(Canadian Breast Cancer)

# 5 – Altruistic
“Move that bus!”
Tactic: Personal Appeal /Meetups
(Wikipedia fundraising /Wiknics)

# 6 – Involved / Committed
“We're not the only people on this island and we alllllll know it!"
Tactic: Meritocratic communities/Challenges/Milestone Celebrations (Mozilla Firefox)

# 7 – Seeking Feedback
"What does that mean when the fitness instructors are ahead of the mayors?"
Tactic: Beta test Influencers (Lululemon)

# 8 – Ego Driven
“Show me someone without an ego, and I`ll show you a loser.You’re Fired.”
Tactic: Social dashboards/leaderboards/gaming (Empire Avenue)

# 9 – Reciprocity Dealers
“But we can only offer this level of programming with your help.”
Tactic: Affiliate/crowdsourcing revenue sharing (Amazon)

# 10 – Self – Expression
“SOME PEOPLE THINK BEAUTY IS SOMETHING YOU'RE BORN WITH......AND NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN CREATE......HOW NAIVE!!!!”
Tactic: Crowd designing platform/challenges/themes/profiles (Threadless)

The What

# 11- Social Currency
Tactic: First to know/Top Stories/Trendwatch
(Gawker/Gawker Stalker)

# 12- Brand Experience(s)
“I think it’s really down to the wire, and we’re afraid we’re last.”
Tactic: Testimonials/Employee Flipcam Profiles/CEO blogs/Publish Core Values (Zappos)

# 13 – Fame
“I genuinely believe with all my heart that we have found (a worldwide star) with you.”
Tactic: Customer competition/Performance stage (Squad 6)
15 Minutes of Fame (Maynards)

# 14 – VIP Treatment / Customization
“Sophie gets what Sophie wants and Sophie is always right”
Tactic: Front of the line Incentives/exclusive access/updates
(American Express)

# 15 – Scarcity
” Watch out—I’m coming to town and I can’t bring all my friends, so I’ve decided to look for a new BFF. I need a best friend who is hot, who can keep up with me, and most of all, who is real and won’t be a backstabber.”
Tactic: Restricted access/gifting
(Google Gmail / +1)

# 16 – Influence
“You can only vote for him, you can't actually adopt him. Call now."
Tactic: Collaborative innovation/fan clubs/meet employees
(Lego)

# 17 – Intimacy
“Will you accept this rose?”
Tactic: Twitter time response/local venue and interest-specific social hubs (Whole Foods)

# 18 – Visibility
“The top 10 CNN heroes -- remarkable everyday people changing the world -- were revealed by CNN's Anderson Cooper. All were nominated by CNN viewers inspired by their hard work and commitment.”
Tactic: Identity embeds itself into product/packaging (Maynards)

# 19 – Tight Boundaries
“Yeah, I'm obnoxious, yeah, I cut people off, yeah, I'm rude. You know why? Because you're busy. “
Tactic: Vetted member only access/Launch parties/Special deals/niche labels (The Gilt Groupe)

# 20 – Rallying Cause
“And remember you can make a difference”
Tactic: Matching Incentives/Partnerships/Product Badging/Bold Targets/Red Friends (Join Red)

# 21- Rewards
“DEAL OR NO DEAL”
Tactic: Group-based deals /Countdown clocks /real-time feedback/Social Integration/referral incentives (GroupOn)

# 22 – Expertise
“So now America, with an open heart and an empty stomach, I say unto you in the words of my uncle: Allez cuisine!”
Tactic: Well-curated forums /multiple communities /answered vs. unanswered questions/Grant compeitions (Intuit)

# 23 – Bite-Sized Participation
“There’s no such thing as 110%. It stops at 100.”
Tactic: Petition wall /matching donation wall (Sharpie)

# 24 – Network Effects
“Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.”
Tactic: Recently joined lists/ best members/interest-specific groups/live chat (Facebook)

# 25 – Memes
“No soup for you!
There was shrinkage!
Man hands
Vanderlet Industries!
The bro and manziere. Happy Festivus. Yada, yada, yada.”
Tactic: Label members, activities, objects, Chirp Conference, 85 word, Twitter Glossary (Twitter)

# 26 – Innovative
"The following takes place between ??:?? and ??:?? pm"
Tactic: Augmented reality, partner integration , local mapping, training routine, mixes (Nike Plus)

# 27 – Remarkable/Outrageous
“What's the quickest you've ever knocked anyone out?
18 seconds including the ten-count. I think you're gonna break that today. “

# 28 – The Best At What You Do
“That was unbelievable.”
Tactic: Provocative demonstration/contextually relevant tests
(Will It Blend)

# 29 – Authentic
“This is NOT fashion camp!”
Tactic: Authentic collaborators/product centric multimedia
(Burberry – The Art of Trench)

# 30 – Liberating / Problem Solving
“Dead body, Bonus!”
Tactic: User generated uses/Advisory Council/Lists
(Wd-40)

# 31 – Edgy
“Move forward. This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened”
Tactic: Underground evangelism/targeted sponsorship
(Pabst Blue Ribbon)

# 32 – Trustworthy
“I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a f***king game”
Tactic: Link a cause/movement to your brand – link to purchase (Tom’s Shoes)

# 33 – Likeable
“Just go up to somebody on the street and say "You're it!" and then run away.”
Tactic: Don’t charge for extras/respond to people in real-time (Porter Airlines)

# 34 – Easy To Talk About
“You’re engaged ?”
Tactic: Making the invisible, visible and talkable online and offline
(Movember)

# 35 – Ritualistic
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”
Tactic: Fake history, strategy guide, faux rules, personality profiler
(World Rock Paper Scissors)

# 36 – Sensory
“Who will speak for Planet Earth?”
Tactic: 3D Tours of Region
(Nimmo Bay Lodge)

Summary - The 36 Reasons Why People Word of Mouth

30 Hard-Won Tips to WoM
The best preparation? The top ideas?
The right squad? The golden touch?
Avoiding the potholes? Building relationships?

#1-5 Live in the tribe ….
- Find your lifestyle target, read their content, listen to their exchanges
- Make a scouting report about their likes, dislikes and interest
- Know who they hang with
- Link to their content, credit their work
- Go easy - Make a friendly first connection

#6- Understand desired level and degree of engagement that they want and you can support
Face to face
Video chat
Phone call
Chat service (AIM, Skype)
E-mail
Facebook message
Facebook wall post
Tweet
Are you listening to me?
Highest engagement
Lowest reach
Lowest engagement
Greatest reach

#7-11 Get a BuzzworthyWoM-able Idea
Is your idea in the top 1% of awesome, sociable, authentic and customer-driven concepts you’ve ever seen?
Does it combine your brand traits, with motivating activities and a primed audience?
Does it max out on a few of the 36 reasons why people word of mouth?
Does the experience and follow up match the promise that’s been set up? Does your buzz have longevity?
Does it live offline and online?

#12-15 Do You Have The Right Team….
Do they have adequate levels of reach, exposure, credibility and suasion?
Are you grabbing the right type and combination of influencer (tastemaker, trendspotter, opinion leader, expert, social ringleader, celebrity) at the right time and motivation?
Do they feel connected to your brand or mission for reasons beyond the freebie – social connection, shared values, ability to express?
Do you truly know who the top 100 (small business), 1000 (mid-sized) or 10,000 (big) of them are for your business?

#16-20 Treat Influencers like VIPs….
Tell them stuff the general public doesn’t know yet/give them experiences that aren’t publicly accessible
Celebrate their talents and the new tribe they’re in
Let them know “why” they’ve been chosen
Involve them in what you’re doing, before you do it
Make them look good to others

#21-25 Don’t be a burden…flirt before you go steady
Be clear about what’s involved – no strings attached
Give them tools and forums to make their participation easy
Set up content so that is easily shareable and customizable
Thank them, regardless of outcome
Get the most passionate, progressively more involved

#26-30 Invest in Success – A Commitment not a Campaign
Keep effort fresh along the way – new stuff min. every 4 weeks
Provide unexpected surprises along the way
Create milestones, celebrate upon achievement
Expand/tier/refresh circle of influencers over time
Offer opportunities to certify and officialize their link to the brand

Never Forget – Humans are Hard Wired Social and Influential Animals
They crave things that are awesome, social, authentic and customer-driven to talk about…
Some among us will talk a lot more than others…
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Let’s Start The Conversation…
Inquire: sean (at) wiki-brands.com
smoffitt(at) agentwildfire.com
Phone: 416-458-2818
URL: www.wiki-brands.com
Blogs: http://BuzzCanuck.typepad.com/
Explore: The Buzz Report (e-newsletter)
Signup at www.AgentWildfire.com
Learn: Executive Seminars

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http://paper.li	70
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	4
http://tweets.seocmo.com	3
http://www.linkedin.com	2
http://www.twylah.com	2
http://a0.twimg.com	1

Creating Buzz/Engaging Influencers -Social Media Masters - Toronto

by Wikibrands on Oct 07, 2011

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Creating Buzz/Engaging Influencers -Social Media Masters - Toronto Presentation Transcript