Word of Mouth Marketing Works

ord of Mouth (WOM) marketing has peopletalking…not just marketing people, but salespeople…not just customers, but potential cus-tomers…and they are talking about products andservices offered by dozens of companies. "Word ofmouth marketing works. That's the bottom line,"says Beck Ag Com CEO John Finegan, winner ofNAMA's Ag Communicator of the Year Award in2000. "Savvy marketers want marketing and salesstrategies they can measure and tactics that generateresults. Word of mouth marketing offers several thatare measurable and truly do move the market."In an era when companies are looking for moreefficient ways to market, Beck Ag Com heads intoits tenth year of successfully consulting with vari-ous organizations on how to effectively develop andimplement WOM marketing and sales strategies.Beck Ag's AgTelecom®programs unite a group ofsimilar ag professionals on the telephone. Whetherthey are apple growers, soybean farmers, golfcourse superintendents or veterinarians, AgTelecom®participants learn through talking with their peers Educationally based, the forum provides partici-pants the opportunity to learn from peers or evenindustry experts who have tried the specific offer-ing. Finegan says, "It's through sharing experiencesthat individuals are able to move from awareness ofa product to trial, adoption and increased usage ofthe product.""The power for word of mouth marketingcomes from the fact that it totally enables the partic-ipant," explains Stephanie Liska, Beck Ag Compresident. "WOM unites a group of people talkingabout a product because they want to be talking –learning more about what works, how, whenand why, for whom and where." Liska adds, "It'sinteractive. It is flexible. It answers questions andprobes situations among a group of peers or at timeseven gives participants access to top level experts.""Repeatedly, we've seen word of mouth marketingstrategies that use peer-influence selling tacticsaccelerate the participant's decision process. Liskasays, "And let's face it, the prime objective is to getcustomers to adopt our products BECK AG OFFERS MULTIPLETACTICS FOR WORD OF MOUTHMARKETINGIn his book The Secrets of Word of MouthMarketing, (AMACOM 2001) George Silvermandefines Word of Mouth marketing as, "Commun-ication about products and services between peoplewho are perceived to be independent of the compa-ny providing the product or service, in a mediumperceived to be independent of the company.""Word of Mouth marketing is the umbrellaunder which several tactics are housed," says BeckAg Com President Stephanie Liska. "Because theword of mouth revolution is very young, its manyterminologies are often confused. Beck Ag Comtactics under the WOM umbrella include:1. AgTelecom®Programs – small group (10 - 12participants) educational teleconferences target-ing agricultural professionals like producers,retailers, farm managers, consultants, veterinari-ans, golf course superintendents, PCO's etc.designed to accelerate product adoption. Theseprograms are interactive and allow for in-depthdiscussions, questions, and on-line participantpolling and result in accelerated adoption.2. AgTelePanel Programs – large group (20 - 250participants) educational teleconferences thatprovide participants with access to a panel thattypically includes expert guest speakers andproduct/technology peer advocates. These pro-grams allow for an orderly Q & A, on-linepolling and result in increased awareness andadoption.3. AgSpeaker Programs – large group education-al teleconferences provide participants withdirect, interactive access to a company represen-tative or an expert guest speaker who is typical-ly recognized throughout the industry. Theseprograms, professionally moderated, allow foran orderly Q & A on-line polling and result inincreased awareness. This Word of Mouth tacticcan also be used internally within organizationsfor efficient information sharing 4. AgTeleLearning Programs – integrated pro-grams designed to engage high value customerparticipants in an educational forum on topics ofgreat interest to participants. These programs canbe offered as a way to enhance relationships withkey customers or market influencers throughvaluable education.5. Ag TeleExpert®Calls – one-on-one calls toprospective customers by seasoned Ag profes-sionals. Beck Ag Com uses veterans of the agri-cultural industry to engage prospective cus-tomers in a problem solving dialogue. Thesecalls are much more than typical telemarketingcalls and require professional TeleExperts within-depth knowledge of the target audience andproduct or technology.6. Peer Experience Audio Recordings – digitalrecordings created from specific advocacy tele-conference programs that can be delivered to tar-get prospects. These recordings provide highimpact peer-to-peer discussion of product fea-tures and benefits. The recordings have proven tobe an excellent educational resource to generate.7. AgFocus Programs – efficient (geographicalrestrictions of in-person focus groups are elimi-nated) teleconference focus group programsusing a moderator to facilitate the discussion.These programs eliminate geographic limitationsof in-person focus groups and include on-linepolling. Both quantitative and qualitative feed-back can be provided.8. Surveys and Outbound Telemarketing – sur-veys and outbound telemarketing by our Agknowledgeable personnel to insure highly pro-fessional and appropriate calls to the proper tar-get audience.All Beck Ag Com Word of Mouth Marketing andSales tactics can be supported by web based toolswhen appropriate. Web based tools can utilize theInternet to deliver graphics to supplement the discus-sions. Our web platform allows for a leader to con-trol visuals or appropriate pre-recorded audio and areespecially effective for product/concept training.These programs are unique and are a particularlyeffective way to entice more technology savvy cus-tomers into a productive dialogue "EDU-TAINMENT"Finegan says, "Participants actually enjoy ourprograms because they offer "Edu-Tainment"…wefacilitate learning and product verification in anenjoyable, interactive way. He explains that unlikethe Internet exchange, teleconferences involvevoice-to-voice communication in a third party, non-threatening way. Finegan says, "It is very much likea conversation at the coffee shop with like-situatedpeers – yet the first name basis helps keep enoughconfidentiality to allow participants to speak verycandidly. Our moderators help get that dialoguerolling and keep it focused on specific objectives. Itis through that dialogue that a transformationoccurs. Participants' understanding of a product orscenario in which that product is used is changesbecause of that shared experience, idea or learning.There is a progression in their state of understand-ing and their comfort level with the offering."Beck Ag's conference moderators typically havemore than 15 years of experience in ag industry seg-ments such as crop protection, forestry, nurserycrops, fruits and vegetables, animal health andequipment. One Beck Ag moderator, Ken Rounds,is a farmer from Elm Vale, Ontario, and a CanadianOutstanding Young Farmer. A diversified innova-tor, Rounds says he truly enjoys being part of thelearning that occurs during Beck Ag Com programshe facilitates in Canada and the U.S.As an ag community leader, Rounds says he par-ticipates in focus groups, meetings and various agindustry forums, in his community, state and nation.But according to Rounds, "Beck Ag's word ofmouth marketing forums are the most efficientexchange of information I've ever been involved in.It's about convenience – one hour vs. a whole daydriving. It's meeting with individuals on their turf."Because of these factors, Rounds says, "The credi-bility of message is very high because farmers tellthe good and the bad about products They share their overall experience of how a prod-uct works in a real life situation. Brad Osborne, aCanadian farmer and recent participant in one ofKen's conferences commented "This is a way to getseveral years of experience into one conversation.WHAT WOM USERS SAY"We see word of mouth marketing work for bothus and our customers," says Rebecca Bull, formerElanco marketing associate for Veterinary Products."We started using word of mouth marketing severalyears ago. We used word of mouth and I will con-tinue to use it for years to come. There are endlessways to keep the conversation fresh and to keep thepeer to peer education continuing.""Typically, you see increased sales say threemonths following an individual's participation in apeer to peer program. Long-term, this is a relation-ship builder. Through these programs, we providecontinuing education credits to veterinarians, andwe can help our overall sales effort. The combinedbenefits of education and sales means stronger rela-tionships with customers and better long-termsales," Bull explains.David Flack says, "While I was North AmericaGroup Vice President with The Scotts Company, weexecuted 10 or so programs with Beck Ag Com andexperienced excellent results in terms of deliveringour product message and generating solid leads forthe sales force to close." Regarding word of mouth tactics, Flack adds, "Itis simply amazing to listen to a customer sell aprospect based upon his experience with your prod-uct. A high profile customer used as a peer will sellmore product in an hour on the phone than our salesforce will all week."

WHERE IT FITS IN THEMARKETING MIXBeck Ag's director of business development,Margaret Oldham, says once marketers sit in on aprogram, they realize the power of word of mouthmarketing. "A key element of understanding WOMcomes from understanding where it fits in the mar-keting mix."Just where word of mouth marketing fitsdepends on the product and where that product is inthe product lifecycle. Oldham explains that BeckAg looks at products typically fitting into one offive phases in the marketing lifecycle.1. Launch phase – low advocacy base.2. Growth phase – stable advocacy base andopportunity for aggressive sales increase.3. Maintenance phase – "cash cow" productwith good market position but may be fend-ing off new and aggressive competitors.4. Reposition – may involve an "old" productwith a new use, rate, attribute etc.5. Issues management – opportunity to educatethe customer base with facts regarding anenvironmental issue, labeling issue or a prod-uct that has attracted media attention."Once we know just where that product is,"Oldham continues, "we can then carefully deter-mine which tactic to use to move the marketplacevia word of mouth."Oldham insists that Beck Ag customizes eachprogram. "One of our strengths is the ability to cus-tomize strategies and tactics to achieve our clients'goals. We customize everything from designing theexpert panels, to moderator guides, to reaching theright participants. We customize each initiativebased on the specific objectives. The fact that ourcompany has hired professionals with deep experi-ence across the ag industry helps us consistently doa thorough job at word of mouth from start to fin-ish.

WHERE IT FITS IN THEMARKETING MIXBeck Ag's director of business development,Margaret Oldham, says once marketers sit in on aprogram, they realize the power of word of mouthmarketing. "A key element of understanding WOMcomes from understanding where it fits in the mar-keting mix."Just where word of mouth marketing fitsdepends on the product and where that product is inthe product lifecycle. Oldham explains that BeckAg looks at products typically fitting into one offive phases in the marketing lifecycle.1. Launch phase – low advocacy base.2. Growth phase – stable advocacy base andopportunity for aggressive sales increase.3. Maintenance phase – "cash cow" productwith good market position but may be fend-ing off new and aggressive competitors.4. Reposition – may involve an "old" productwith a new use, rate, attribute etc.5. Issues management – opportunity to educatethe customer base with facts regarding anenvironmental issue, labeling issue or a prod-uct that has attracted media attention."Once we know just where that product is,"Oldham continues, "we can then carefully deter-mine which tactic to use to move the marketplacevia word of mouth."Oldham insists that Beck Ag customizes eachprogram. "One of our strengths is the ability to cus-tomize strategies and tactics to achieve our clients'goals. We customize everything from designing theexpert panels, to moderator guides, to reaching theright participants. We customize each initiativebased on the specific objectives. The fact that ourcompany has hired professionals with deep experi-ence across the ag industry helps us consistently doa thorough job at word of mouth from start to fin-ish

Word of Mouth Marketing Works - To learn more about this author, visit John Finegan's Website.

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