Let the Customer Voice Be Heard (On Your Site)

Word of mouth about your product happens with or without your participation. KellerFay Group study suggests over 25% of conversations have to do with products and services. How can you be part of the conversation? How can you leverage and amplify your 'influentials' and make your web site part of the conversation?

In this YouSession we'll discuss ways to integrate customer participation within your web site. This includes community, product ratings and reviews, and other strategies related to social media that can blend into your site experience and then be amplified beyond your site.

User generated media (UGM) and the technology behind this phenomenon is changing the way brands communicate with their consumers and the way consumers talk back to and spread their vision of what a brand represents. As rich media technology continues to advance and broadband connection speeds increase, the target customer now has access to all forms of media (e.g., video, animation, etc.) in the online world.

Advertisers can now pick and choose from a list of media that extends far beyond traditional communications channels and consumers can self-express and virally spread their message around the world. UGM and its viral components are the new frontier in the marketing landscape. Other elements, like social networking sites, add fire to this amazing phenomenon.

Through the use of case studies and dissemination of key insights this session will explore

- the value of viral consumer self-expression and how the new user generated medium is changing the communications landscape;
- how advanced rich media technologies complement as well as disrupt traditional media;
- how other technologies – mobile and social networking – can be integrated to create a stronger and more viral UGM campaign.

Name Theory - What's in a name!

There are two types of companies, consumer and business 2 business. Each requires a different approach in terms of how to name a company. Consumers companies tend to do better with unspecific quirky names such as google while b2b companies tend to be better with names that define the business such as my company, BootStrapper.com. People seem to assume I am an expert in BootStrapping as a result of the name...why?

Why Search Marketing & WOMM Go Hand in Hand

Understanding how WOMM affects Search (both paid and natural) and how Search affect WOMM is vital for businesses who have any kind of presence on the web. How blogs, social networking and viral have such an impact - both short & long tail on any type of Search Marketing, is key to understanding how they can impact marketing budgets.

It's one thing to have a marketer who understands search, another to have one that understands at least one form of word of mouth marketing. Finding a marketer who understands how it all impacts, relates and works together can be the difference between a company succeeding on the Internet or failing.

In this YouSession you'll get an understanding what your online marketing department should be looking at and how you can combine Search & WOMM to amplify your presence and manage your reputation on the Internet.

This would be a panel session of Search Marketers and WOMM professionals who've effectively used both mediums to promote their companies, products or services.

Political communications and word of mouth marketing --
trends from mid-term elections: what worked, what didn't?

Messages. Channels. Power of the visual.

I am an adjunct professor at G.W. University and am launching my own strategic communications firm. www.jamesdspellman.com

What is your Internet Business Worth?

What are the key metrics to value your business and when is the best time to sell your company. Learn from case studies on how to buy or sell. WOMM is one of the fastest growing sectors, so find out who is looking to buy in and how to cash out.

The panel would include 1 or 2 WOMM companies that would like to have thier company valued live to the audience. Other panel members could include one that sold their Internet business and one that bought one. I would be glad to host the panel as an exuctive from ebizbrokers where we specialize in Internet only based businesses for valuation and sale.

When we first opened, we knew that the best way to get our thing going was to create a word of mouth buzz. The question was, how were we to get people talking about our amazing tea company? Here is how we reached positive cash flow in our first year of operation.
1. Product: Our product was worth talking about. It is beautiful design and tastes better than any other tea out there.
2. Super Party: We knew that sales activity was key. In order to exponentially grow, we needed lots of people evangalizing our product. We took inventory of our assets and realized that the lobby outside our mill space was big enough to throw a decent sized party. So we threw several...but they were not ordinary parties. We called every direct (at home) sales rep we could find (Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc...) and asked them if they wanted to set up a table at our open house. We charged $25 to cover food costs and allowed them to set up shop. These sales people are used to finding hostesses for their parties, so we required that they find 4. Each hostess was responsible for mailing 40 invitations. For every 40 invites, 20 people are available and 10 will show up. That means that each hostess is worth 10 shoppers. This also means that 4 hostesses equal 40 shoppers. So each party consultant we bring on brings 40 people with them. Ten tables equals 10 consultants and 400 people are flowing through your building each party. Take into consideration the lazy consultant and we have about 150 - 250 guests each party. Our revenue at the party has always been decent, but the buzz that we create about our product has been priceless. As our wholesale business grows our party business has declined. But we are thankful to all those consultants out there who really know how to throw a party.

Marshall Malone
President, Portsmouth Tea Company

Launching Innovation with WOM

The market launch of innovation presents unique challenges -- including how to drive awareness and education with your potential customers. Putting a great product on the shelf isn't good enough. Word-of-mouth is a critial ingredient to creating the demand that separates market winners from the sea of failed new products launched each year.

This session will include mini-case studies by companies and successful entrepreneurs on how they created and leveraged genuine word-of-mouth support for their new products or services.

The mini-session format allows the audience to hear from a variety of speakers in a fast-paced,interactive session. From the George Foreman grill story to more recent internet success stories, we would support the recruitment of top-notch and entertaining speakers as needed.

*** To Say & Touché ***

It’s "open mic night" at the WOMMA Summit 2 where any attendee has 2-minutes to rant, rave, or plug away. You could spend your 2-minutes ranting about Edelman’s repeated WOM gaffes. Or you could rave about some takeaways learned from an earlier session. Or, you could plug your company ... your services ... your whatever.

Sign-ups will be on a first-come basis and we’ll do our best to squeeze in as many people as possible in the allotted time we have.

So, what are you going "To Say & Touché" with your 2 minutes?

Word of Mouth Going Mobile: How the new generation of mobile devices will redefine Word of Mouth and Permission Based Marketing.

There are now more mobile phones than computers and televisions combined. Learn the power of the mobile phone and sms text as a word of mouth marketing tool. I will take attendees through the permission based, WOM marketing revolution that will be fueled by the explosion in mobile phone technology. The presentation will site case studies including a Coca-Cola promotion in the UK where over 40% of the respondents were via sms text forwards from friends on mobile phones.

I will cover best in class, permission based mobile promotions that generate product buzz and facilitate word of mouth communication.

As this is Washington, we will discuss how political groups are using text messaging to get out the vote and give supporters instant talking points when influencing friends and voters.

How Blogs and Brand Blogs Influence consumers and their brand relationship? Insights from BaroBlogs.

Although a lot has been said and studied about the typical blogger, no real studies looked at how consumers "consume" information in blogs and in turn how blogs impact thei perceptions of brands. What about brand blogs? Do consumers trust them and how do they impact their relationship with the brand?

We will share exclusive data and insights coming from a US first of this type study looking at how blogs, and brand blogs specifically do drive brand relationship and brand equity. This US perspective will be also complemented by insights coming from Europe sharing how European consumers change and shape their opinions towards brands with the information they find on blogs.

A quick wrap up will provide key directions for marketers that are looking at setting up brand blogs that work.

How Companies and Agencies Can Harness Consumer Powered Media

It is no secret that the marketing landscape is shifting quickly. People are now connected through social networks, blogs, message boards, chat rooms, wikis, recommend engines, online product reviews, social video/photo/bookmarking sites, e-mail, IM, text messages, and of course, good old fashioned face-to-face conversations.

This YouSession explores Consumer Powered Media as a new media channel and explains ways companies and agencies can leverage this channel to create effective, measurable marketing programs.

“How to” Session: Identify the Influencers You Already Have and Give Them the Right Experience to Talk About

Finding your key influencers may be easier than you imagine. In fact, you may even already be speaking to them and not know it. This session will be a step by step guide to start talking to influencers right away.

Learn how to:
•Leverage the 10-20% of influencers already in your database by quickly and efficiently identifying them
•Craft an experience with your product or service that gets people talking
•Develop the right incentives to get the conversation going

Real World Case Studies:
•Food, Personal Care, Entertainment, Automotive

WOM and next generation PR

The rapid rise of social networks and the increasing speed of WOM dissemination are radically altering the field of public relations.

This session will discuss the trends and impact that online WOM is having on PR. What are companies doing to utilize WOM in their PR efforts? What’s effective? Efficient? Reliable? Measurable?

What roles do new technologies and online WOM environments play? “Web 2.0” release design. RSS feeds. Blogs. Social networking sites. Search reputation. How is today’s PR landscape different from the traditional? How can companies harness this change to generate positive visibility and enhance reputation and sales?

PR, good and bad, spreads much faster in today’s hyper-connected world. Can companies monitor and even manage the WOM buzz?

(Nobles Communications is an independent PR consultancy based in Los Angeles. Principal Laura Nobles has 15+ years experience in PR, both at small independent and global, publicly-owned agencies.)

When surveying customers (e.g. NPS surveys) what are good examples of questions to ask that help identify whether they are an "influencer" ie. they have both large social networks and are vocal in talking about the companies they like.

For example, I've heard that you can tell a lot about a person based on their answer to this question:
- How likely are you to (or when was the last time you) danced on a table?

What are other (fun!) behavioral questions that we can ask to help us recognize our more 'talkative' customers.

Helio, Facebook, and MySpace, Oh My
Kids, Tweens, and Teens in the Digital Neighborhood

Word-of-mouth has always played an important role in children’s activities and social development. How have new technologies and the growth of niche social networks online changed the way WOM operates among these younger demographics? We are now speaking to a generation of consumers who have never known a world without the 24/7 connectivity of the web and wireless communications. Time and place shifting are a given for the media they consume and produce.

We’ll review what companies need to know about WOM within these younger groups. How and why do they consume, generate, and pass-along specific types of information and entertainment? Are there significant differences in the ways these three groups act by age, gender, and geography? What sparks their interest? What reward or social currency is in it for them? We’ll review the best practices, rules, pitfalls, and privacy issues in understanding WOM in a kid’s brave new world.