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Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
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Word of mouth gets a boost from new media
Part one of a two-part series
CONSUMER-generated media is fast becoming an undeniable driver of the "new-media" marketplace. It's an important factor in designing an effective marketing strategy in just about every industry and niche.
Consumer-generated media is the combination of comments, reviews, critiques, and complaints generated by customers and devoured by prospective buyers in the new-media marketplace of blogs, forums, and social networks.
When you boil down consumer-generated media to its essence, it's really just word-of-mouth. But now, powered by business blogs, podcasts, and other new-media tools, word-of-mouth marketing has been put on multimedia steroids.
Understanding the trends in the new-media marketplace is what gives you the competitive advantage.
Here's a practical example from the auto industry to help drive this home for you:
Marketing studies in the automotive industry reveal that the Internet is now inseparable from the purchase cycle. Nearly 75 percent of customers cite word-of-mouth recommendations as the most influential factor in their car-buying decision. More of that is shifting online every day.
This is where the consumer- generated aspect of the new media comes into the picture.
What can car and truck buyers teach us about marketing with blogs and the new social media?
In a ClickZ article "Who's Behind the Wheel Now?" Pete Blackshaw outlines how auto shoppers increasingly rely on the digital trail of high-impact consumer-generated media.
» Consumer Generated Media (CGM) impressions: The Web hosts over 100 million auto-related comments from consumers. This barely factors in the explosive growth of experience-rich blog commentary. A growing percentage of these public blog posts and comments are fortified with highly persuasive multimedia imagery such as photos or videos
» CGM reach: Comments act as de facto ad units. They're served in a highly targeted manner against nearly one-billion auto-related searches every year.
» CGM hot spots: Millions of comments provide specifics on auto-related fraud, lawsuits, and safety problems.
» CGM impact: A growing percentage of auto shoppers walk into showrooms with a stash of Internet commentary, blog reviews, Edmunds scorecards, and more to increase negotiation leverage. Data equals power.
What's happening with the auto industry is an advanced view of the new-media marketplace that all business owners, sales professionals, and marketers are going to have to deal with. It's happening all around us right now.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.