wom: viral psychology 101 - 12 secrets of successful word-of-mouth programs

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12 Secrets Of Successful Word-Of-Mouth Programs

Jim Calhoun, CEOPopularMedia, Inc.

www.popularmedia.com

Viral Psychology 101

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WOM 102Creating Messages that Travel: Ideas, Items and Actions People Want to Share

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WOM 102Creating Messages that Travel: Ideas, Items and Actions People Want to Share

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WOM 102Creating Messages that Travel: Ideas, Items and Actions People Want to Share

• Create programs that people want to share• Make the sharing process easy and fun• Make people feel good about sharing

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The secret toSTARTING THE CONVERSATIONAsk people to tell their friends about you

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Motivation & Self Image

1. Motivate on a personal and social level

Two factors determine whether I’ll tell my friends:

• Do I like your offer, product, service, or content?• Will telling my friends make me look good – or bad?

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Motivation & Self Image

1. Motivate on a personal and social level

• Benefit to me• Benefit to my friends• Novelty and utility• Additional social benefits

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Cognitive Load Management

2. Choose the right time to pop the question

Don’t interrupt someone when they’re trying to remember something or they’re focused on a task:

• Making a purchase• Comparing products or offers• Trying to get help• Reading an article• Watching a video• Starting a download

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Cognitive Load Management

2. Choose the right time to pop the question

Map your process and look for ideal times, then make telling friends an integral part of the process:

• Post-registration• Post-purchase• After creating a wish list• At the end of an article or video• During downtime while files are downloading

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Automaticity

3. Make it so easy that I can do it without thinking

Model your word of mouth tools on familiar tasks and interfaces:

• E-mail forms should match standard interfaces• First name, last name optional

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The secret toMAKING IT VIRAL

Invite your audience to tell more than just one friend

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Anchoring

4. Never say “tell a friend”

When coming up with a number or amount, we look for a reference as a starting point, then shift up or down from there

• Suggested donations• Length of comments based on size of text box

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Anchoring

4. Never say “tell a friend”

Provide a high anchor point when prompting for referrals

• “Tell your friends” – not “tell a friend”• Multiple address fields• Suggest telling five or 10 friends• Experiment with exclusivity: “you only get five

invitations”• Test and measure this KPI to manage it up

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Aided Recall

5. Provide tools that access contact lists

Recall is harder than recognition

• 347 people in my address book• I remember 40 of them• Of those, I can think of four who like “X”• Show me my list of all 347 contacts, and I’ll find ~35

who like “X”

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Aided Recall

5. Provide tools that access contact lists

• Provide tools that integrate with existing e-mail address books

• Infrequent contacts can be great WOM targets• Respect friend’s privacy

• Where possible, you should prevent users from sending messages to those who don’t want to receive them

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The secret toKEEPING WOM SPREADING

How do you motivate a friend of a friend of a friend?

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Social Obligation

6. Accountability = Obligation

When someone sends us a personal message, the social contract obligates us to respond to it or pass it along to others, even if we’re not personally interested.

• Virus warnings• Product warnings• Chain letters• E-mail petitions

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Social Obligation

6. Accountability = Obligation

Make the receiver accountable to the sender

• Personalize messages• Require response: Accept or Decline an invitation• Give both parties feedback when one acts• Prompt people to remind friends who haven’t acted

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Reciprocity

7. Start by doing something nice

Delight me, entertain me, compliment me, or give me a gift, and I will go out of my way to do something nice for you in return.

• Can be tangible or an experience• A token gesture is enough• Should come before the pass-along request• No strings attached

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Reciprocity

7. Start by doing something nice

Make your message into a gift that the participants can give to all their friends

• Coupon codes for discounts, samples, freebies• Invitations to my personal network• E-cards and “thinking of you” messages• Amusing or poignant content

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The secret toKEEPING IT POSITIVE AND ON-BRAND

Help people feel the brand love

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Social Modeling

8. Set a positive example

We figure out how to act by observing those around us. Online, we look for “evidence” of other peoples’ actions. If we see evidence that others are sharing content or positive WOM, we’ll tend to do the same.

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Social Modeling

8. Set a positive example

Model the behavior you want people to take

• Provide a sample message• Use mapping tools to show how far a message

has spread• Highlight “most shared” or “most viral” content• Show comments or testimonials

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Consistency

9. Get people to play along

Think you act the way you do because of what you believe? Actually, it’s often the other way around. We tend to shift our attitudes to match our behavior, regardless of why we did something in the first place.

• Works best when there’s no incentive or payoff• Escalate requests gradually

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Consistency

9. Start by doing something nice

Start by asking for a simple act of brand advocacy. Even if people initially do it just to play along or be nice, the act will actually increase their brand commitment and set the stage for larger actions in the future.

• Sign a petition• Forward a message• “Why I love… in 25 words or less” contests

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The secret toNURTURING YOUR NETWORKMake sure it’s a rewarding experience

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Conditioning

10.Use positive reinforcement

We do things that are rewarding, and avoid things that have negative consequences.

• Tangible: prizes, incentives, samples• Experiential: fun content, happy song• Emotional: feel-good moment, connectedness, gratitude

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Conditioning

10.Use positive reinforcement

Emotional rewards are the best way to inspire viral WOM. Find ways to give people a warm, fuzzy, feel-good moment every time they share your message.

• Personal thank-you• Good feeling from helping friends• Public recognition • Unexpected tangible rewards

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Consistency

9. Start by doing something nice

Delight me, entertain me, compliment me, or give me a gift, and I will go out of my way to do something nice for you in return.

• Can be tangible or an experience• A token gesture is enough• Should come before the pass-along request• No strings attached

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Consistency

9. Start by doing something nice

Make your message into a gift that the participants can give to all their friends

• Coupon codes for discounts, samples, freebies• Invitations to my personal network• E-cards and “thinking of you” messages• Amusing or poignant content