Harnessing the Power of Conversational Marketing

Inside You’ll Learn:

• Conversational Marketing basics

• How to engage customers and build affinity

• Tips on individualizing marketing tactics to deliver greater results

Great Marketers are Good Conversationalists
Good conversationalists are people you enjoy talking with.

Consider this scenario: You arrive at an after-work cocktail party. You see Joan from the office heading in your direction. Mark, another co-worker, walks in behind you. Who do you speak to first?

From past experience, you know Joan will talk about her winning golf game, her genius son, and the long hours she’s been putting in for the company. You also know her eyes will be scanning the room throughout the conversation.

Mark, on the other hand, will ask about your family. Both of you love travel, and the two of you could trade trip stories for hours. Mark will listen to your thoughts and opinions with interest. He won’t rush through the conversation.

You will choose Mark. He is a good conversationalist. Good conversationalists engage you. They pay attention to what you have to say. Today’s best marketers follow the same practices. It’s called “Conversational Marketing”.

Conversational Marketing Basics
Successful Conversational Marketing strategists establish a give-and-take relationship where both the marketer and the consumer share information and realize benefits. The basic principles of Conversational Marketing success are simple:

• Listen and React
Consumers value companies that care about their interests, just like they value a good conversationalist. Savvy marketers take the time to get to know the needs and desires of their prospects by going directly to the source. They respond with value-added services, benefits and promotions that directly appeal to those needs and desires.

• Enlighten
Conversational Marketing is about dialogue, and consumers want to know there is substance behind your brand, in other words, that the people behind the brand care about their thoughts and opinions. By openly providing information on company history, background on company leaders, philanthropic and volunteer endeavors, and the like, businesses foster a connection with their customers. This connection equates to loyalty, trust and repeat business.

It’s a lot like relationships between people. We place a higher value on relationships with those that offer a common bond, who are genuinely interested in us, and who openly share things about themselves.

Modern Day Marketing and the General Store
Conversational Marketing is not new. It is an age-old technique that has been re-energized thanks to the need to reconnect with a skeptical public jaded by traditional mass marketing.

Think back to the days of the general store. These one-stop shops were once the center of activity in rural towns throughout America. A general store was the place to go to purchase everyday necessities and to trade a little friendly gossip. The store owner knew all of his customers by name. He stocked his shelves based on their specific needs. Before there was direct mail or telemarketing, the general store owner had perfected the art of Conversational Marketing.

The proof of this success is evident today. I live in Maine, and we are lucky enough to still have traditional general stores in nearly every town. Though you might save a few dollars by going to the nearest grocery chain, most of us still prefer to pick up our sundries at the local general store, where they still call all their regulars by name.

My local store sells Pepsi products, not Coca-Cola. They have an exclusive arrangement with the Pepsi distributor. However, the store owner has a ‘secret stash’ of Coke products out back in his walk-in cooler. He knows that I prefer Coke over Pepsi so he told me just to ask for Diet Coke whenever I come in, and either he or one of his employees will get one for me. He cares about me, and he cares about providing me with the brand that I want. I am loyal to him and his general store for that reason.

The Power of People
Though the basic principles of Conversational Marketing have remained unchanged, technology has vastly extended its reach. We can now communicate across the globe at light speed. People are talking again. Blogs and forums have enabled us to exchange opinions about anything, from our favorite brand of ice cream to the President’s performance, for the world to read. Databases allow us to track information about our customers so we can group them in niche segments and communicate with them on a more personal level.

People expect to receive information and messages that are relevant to their interests. Consumers have more power than ever before and there is a distrust of many companies, particularly those that do not treat them as individuals.

Word of mouth is more powerful than ever before. According to a recent Simultaneous Media Usage Study of more than 15,000 consumers conducted by market intelligence firm BIGresearch, more than 30 percent of those surveyed said word of mouth most influences their decisions when it comes to purchasing a car. More than 42 percent said word of mouth drives their decisions when purchasing electronics.

Corporate America can no longer rely on mass marketing to sway public opinion. If businesses are to remain competitive, they must personalize their relationships with customers, transitioning from mass marketing to one-to-one marketing solutions.

Soliciting consumer input and tailoring strategies to address their reactions is the key. Even large companies are successfully using this bottom-up approach to gain significant market share. Here’s how they are doing it:

• Personalized Communication
Thanks to advancements in database management software, an expanded number of e-communication tools, and customized direct mailers, it is easy and cost effective to personalize marketing efforts to appeal to the unique affinities of individual customers.

XMPie is one of several brands of software that enable marketers to create highly customized marketing pieces. As part of a recent giving campaign for a small private school in Florida, the software was used to include text and photos relevant to the age range of each individual recipient’s child. Families also received different appeal letters and personalized phone-a-thon messages based on their giving history. This campaign resulted in record revenues and participation.

We use a software product called ACT! at our agency to keep track of our contacts’ information and preferences, as well as our conversations and correspondence with them. This helps all of us in the agency access information on the evolution of our relationships with key contacts. As a result, many of the people we do business with feel that our agency offers a highly personalized level of service.

Individualized Recommendations and Offers
Customized benefits let your customers know you are really listening, just like a good conversationalist.

Grocery store chains have adopted a process of generating coupons for specific customers based on items they have purchased in the past.

Mail order DVD rental service Netflix and Internet shopping resource Amazon.com give purchase recommendations based on past sales and browsing history.

In our ACT! database, we keep track of how the journalists like to receive press releases, whether it’s by e-mail, fax, or postal mail. They appreciate the fact that we provide information to them in the format that they can use.

Keeping the Conversation Going
Those you have already won over are your most powerful marketing tool. Therefore, it’s important to give customers a reason to continue spreading the word about your company and buying your product.

Skilled marketers keep them coming back by including new information customers will value in every promotional piece. Specialty retailer Williams-Sonoma includes appealing recipes made with featured cooking gadgets in its culinary catalog. Longfellows Greenhouses, a family-owned business in central Maine, includes seasonal plant care advice and notices about specials and sales in its regular e-newsletter.

Encouraging interaction is a must. Requesting testimonials, utilizing customer service surveys, and hosting contests relevant to your product are all effective ways of generating customer involvement. The Jones Soda Co. features photos of customers on its ever-changing soda bottle labels. How’s that for building affinity?

Varying your method of contact reinforces your message and maintains interest. This also prevents the impression of over communication. Many retail companies send out quarterly catalogs through the mail and then reinforce their main sales piece by e-mailing notices with gift ideas, sales notices or special offers several weeks later.

It’s also critical to respond to customer queries promptly. Remember, Conversational Marketing is a dialogue. To continue the dialogue, a customer’s needs and concerns must be addressed in a timely, professional fashion.

Reward Loyalty
Give your devoted customers the royal treatment. They already like you. Now make them love you. What do you do when you find something you really love? Talk about it!

Consider them ambassadors of your product. Treat them to special discounts, membership in a “V.I.P.” club, advance information on new products and promotions, birthday cards, and rewards that communicate they are part of a select, highly-valued group.

Let the Customer Control the Process
As Donna Baier Stein and Alexandra MacAaron stress in their book, The New Marketing Conversation, the customer should be able to dictate how, and how often, you contact them. Let them decide on print versus electronic, or monthly versus weekly.

Also, make it easy for contacts to remove themselves from your mailing list. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting valuable marketing dollars on direct mail pieces tossed in the trash and e-communications relegated to the junk mailbox. The secret to effective marketing is focusing on high-probability contacts. Why waste time reaching out to those that do not value what you are selling?

Elements of a Conversational Marketing Campaign
As with any marketing strategy, a comprehensive approach will generate far more results than putting all of your eggs into one basket. Following is a list of standard marketing strategies we’ve approached from the Conversational Marketing perspective:

• Surveys
Get to know your customer first. Don’t make the mistake of assuming. Find out what they think about you. Discover their passions and needs. Determine what drives their buying decisions. Use this information to establish your key messages.

Continue to query contacts often. If their perception changes, for the good or for the bad, you need to know about it. Plus, their positive remarks and suggestions for improvement are important indicators of what’s working and what’s not.

To garner a high response, provide an incentive for completing the survey. Finestationery.com, for example, recently offered existing clients 10 percent off their next order in return for completing a query on what customers desire in an online stationery company.

• Message Map
Formalize your key messages in the form of a message map. A message map ensures everyone is speaking from the same page when it comes to company identity. It keeps the conversation consistent, boiling the company philosophy down to concise sound bytes that communicate main points to be driven home to stakeholders. I call it the ‘song sheet’ that allows everyone in an organization to sing together in harmony.

Ensure that everyone in your company, from the CEO to those on the front line, understands its significance and posts the map prominently in their personal space.

• Special Events
Special events create a sense of involvement for the consumer and create a fresh news angle for the media, giving people something to talk about.

On July 4th, hot dog purveyor Nathan’s hosts a hot dog-eating contest on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. The contest draws thousands of spectators and garners significant national and international media coverage every year. It has become a widely accepted Independence Day tradition. It allows consumers to connect with the company on a very personal, not to mention fun, level.

• Media Relations
Humanize a company by telling the stories behind it through a trusted third party – the media. To generate results, provide a steady stream of targeted, newsworthy story ideas; be truthful and accurate; and be willing to give journalists direct access to company decision makers.

Here’s an example of how one fast food chain used this technique to its advantage: S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the Chick-fil-A, started out with one chicken sandwich shop in 1946 and is now estimated to be worth $900 million. The humble Cathy, now in his 80s, represents the American dream. The many nationally distributed one-on-one interviews and news features about his inspiring life story have built widespread respect and trust for the Chick-fil-A brand.

We work with clients on a day-to-day basis to increase access between their organizations and the media. We see ourselves as liaisons between journalists and our clients. We realize that the media will not publish every bit of information we provide to them on behalf of our clients, however the media knows that our clients are interested in a dialogue with them, and that we will work to get them the information they need on our clients in a timely manner to meet their often-urgent deadlines.

• Direct Mail
All effective direct mail campaigns are highly targeted. We’ve already mentioned software programs that enable individualization. If you do not have the budget for individualized pieces, segment your contact list, and craft a message that appeals to the motivations of an individual niche.

An upscale wine store that knows its customers come to them for hard-to-find labels as opposed to low prices might send out a postcard promoting a special offering of rare, vintage wines. On the other hand, a discount liquor store might cull all wine purchasers from its database and mail them a flyer advertising its annual wine inventory clearance sale.

• Telemarketing
Telemarketing does not have to involve cold calling. It is also a means of following up with existing customers. With e-mail as the communication method of choice for many marketers, a human voice on the other end of the phone has almost become a novelty. As long as you are respectful of dinner times, bedtimes, and weekend free time, customers will truly appreciate an occasional phone call to ask, “How did we do?” Keep the conversation short and to the point. If it’s not a good time for the person on the other end of the phone, ask for a more convenient time to call and be sure to follow up.

• Face-to-Face Contact
Politicians know the value of face-to-face contact. That’s why they make the rounds at parades and community events before election time. So what are you waiting for? Get your decision makers and company experts out there.

Set up editorial board visits with targeted newspapers, and be ready for an open discussion about your company and industry issues. The next time the paper is looking for a resource, they’ll be more likely to turn to you. If there is a crisis, the credibility established at this face-to-face meeting could help minimize negative publicity.

Journalists tend to be suspicious of those that hide behind spin doctors or prepared statements. During television and radio interviews, special events, and press conferences, put key people front and center. Media training will give them the skills they need to handle it like a pro.

Also encourage company representatives to actively participate in forums that give them direct contact with stakeholders. These include speaking engagements, industry-related conferences, and fund-raising events supported by target audiences.

Or, create your own forum. A new state economic development office director recognized he was not in touch with the local business community, so he proactively set up one-on-one appointments with key business leaders throughout the state to openly discuss how his office could better serve businesses. The rapport he established through these meetings set the framework for a very productive first year.

• Newsletters
Newsletters sustain and strengthen customer affinity. Use them to introduce value-added information that can increase sales. For example, Cold River Vodka of Freeport, Maine publishes new Cold River Vodka cocktail recipes in every issue of its newsletter which we created for them to help launch their brand in November of 2005.

The best newsletters are interactive, so be sure to include a call to action: Invite readers to participate in a year-end sale, take first advantage of new product arrivals, or enter to win a prize. It’s also a good idea to give customers the opportunity to submit testimonials, questions, pictures and stories related to your product. Let’s face it; everybody likes to see their name in print.

Also, don’t just send the newsletter to customers and prospects. Add on your vendors, employees, possible referral sources and industry partners. They all contribute to the word-of-mouth machine. Do all you can to get people talking!

• E-Mail
E-mail is a great way to continue contact with niche audiences without the expense of direct mail. Encourage customers to continue reading and receiving your e-mails by ensuring the content always provides an added benefit. One of my employees is a frequent shopper at Athleta, a manufacturer of women’s fitness apparel. Because she indicated that she’d like to receive e-mail notices, she always finds out about the good deals weeks before those that only receive the catalog.

Also, when your update your Web site with new information, e-mail your customers. It will give them a reason to visit your site again and again. Every positive impression strengthens the relationship and your customers’ brand loyalty.

Web Sites
High impact Web sites offer interactive content driven by the customer’s needs and desires. By appealing to our practical and emotional sides, Web sites can be a powerful tool in building affinity.

Good sites are well-organized. They clearly and concisely convey a company’s identity and make it very easy for individual audiences to find what interests them. Canada-based luxury travel company Horizon & Co. does it right. As soon as you open the Horizon site, it clearly communicates “luxury travel.” Trips are segmented by travel style, and each style includes a profile so you can clearly identify where you fit in. Individual trips are broken down by destination and theme, so if you know what you are looking for, it’s very easy to find it. In addition, “My Horizon” provides registered users exclusively designed content based on their personal profiles.

Other innovative and interactive sites offer live chats, surveys, contests, forums, Web casts and the opportunity to sign up for an e-newsletter. These elements encourage return visits and generate interaction.

However, if you don’t have the budget or time to maintain an extensive site, it’s better to stick with the basics. A Web site may have all the bells and whistles, but if it is not frequently updated and customer queries are not answered in a timely fashion, it’s more likely to end the conversation than keep it going. The most important thing is for people to be able to find your site on the search engines, and a basic site with well-written copy will help you achieve that goal.

• Blogs and Forums
Word of mouth drives the considerable influence of Web logs (a.k.a. blogs) and Internet forums.

A blog is a journal-like Web site where an individual author submits entries on a given topic. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has established a large cult following and a great deal of media attention with his posts on celebrity sightings and gossip. There are also thousands of blogs devoted to more serious topics – ranging from the latest technologies to world politics.

Establishing a blog can help position you as an industry expert. Like an opinion piece or letter to the editor, it gives your stakeholders the opportunity to relate to your unfiltered point of view. Accepting questions and posting replies really gets the conversation going, the lynchpin of a successful Conversational Marketing Campaign. It also gives direct access to an authority, building trust and affinity. Before you start a blog, however, be sure you have the time and energy to keep it updated and relevant. There’s nothing worse than an out-of-date blog.

Forums are open discussion boards to which numerous users contribute. Forums incite passion. Write into foodie forum Chowhound about virtually any culinary topic and you’ll have a lively on-line discussion on your hands. Establishing a forum gives customers an opportunity to generate excitement about your product.

Developing a forum or blog does carry some risks. Both open the door to negative comments. If you’re not ready to take the risk, don’t enter the realm. However, allowing constructive criticism can lead to improvement and build trust.

The key is carefully monitoring your site. If a single negative comment receives no support from others, you may want to let it be. If the comment begins to gain momentum, it should be dealt with just as you would respond to a negative phone call, letter or editorial – respectfully offer to help resolve the discontent.

• Emerging Technologies
New technologies are enabling people to receive only the news and information they want when they want to receive it. These include: Wireless messaging, which broadcasts information via a cell phone or other mobile device; Podcasts, which are audio or video files downloaded for playback on mobile devices and personal computers; and RSS feeds (RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication), which deliver headlined information summaries to Web browsers or desktops.

The challenge with many of these new means of communicating is establishing an audience. Start by querying existing contacts to create a subscription list. Build on the list by posting notices in your newsletter and on your Web site. Sending out a press release about the transmission and incorporating a newsworthy hook can also draw in new subscribers.

To elevate interest, don’t forget the basics of Conversational Marketing. Invite feedback to your transmission and provide an e-mail address and phone number for people to respond. Answer select queries on your Web site or as part of your next transmission.

• Advertising
In Conversational Marketing, advertising involves highly specialized ads placed in niche publications that serve a specific audience.

We work with Houses and Barns by John Libby, a small custom design and construction firm in Freeport that builds exclusively in Maine. The company constructs heirloom-quality structures built to endure for generations. Through research, the company has discovered the majority of their clients hail from New England. These individuals have an affinity for authentic design and solid construction and are willing to pay more for it.

The company advertises exclusively in a handful of upscale New England-area home magazines. The ads convey a feeling of timelessness and endurance – attributes to which the company’s select group of prospects will relate. (http://www.housesanbarns.com)

Focusing on specialized publications enables you to tailor advertisements to the needs and desires of high probability prospects. A great Conversational Marketing advertisement speaks directly to the individual for which it was intended. You can’t accomplish this with a mass media advertising campaign.

Closing Thoughts
When paired with advanced information technology, Conversational Marketing presents all businesses, from large corporations to small companies, with the unprecedented potential to attract, engage and motivate large numbers of customers on a highly individualized basis.

It is also raising the bar in terms of product performance and customer service. Consumers are wiser and more demanding. When it comes to making a buying decision, they have more sources to consult, and the most trusted source is often other consumers.

Marketing strategists can harness the power of Conversational Marketing to get a pulse on consumer needs and desires. They can use it to weigh the effectiveness of promotional initiatives and programs. However, true success is contingent upon on the authenticity of the brand and the quality of the product they represent.

Conversational Marketing is not about controlling the message. Successful Conversational Marketers start out with a strong brand and a great product. They gain market share and establish affinity by empowering consumers and giving them an active role in the process.

Resources:

BIGresearch (18 January 2007). “The Consumers' Control of Media Continues to Grow
Empowered Consumers Disrupt Old Advertising Distribution Model and Impact ROI for Marketing Campaigns.” Press release. (http://www.bigresearch.com/news/big011807.htm).
Campanelli, Melissa. “Marketing Forum Speaker: Word of Mouth is Consumer-to-Consumer Marketing.” Weblog entry. DMNews. Courtenay Communications. 10 May 2006. (www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/shows-assns/36716.html) 25 January 2007.
Diesel Marketing. “Building Strong Brands by Leveraging Conversational Capital.” White Paper. Montreal QC Canada: Diesel Marketing, 2005.

Stein, Donna Baier and Alexandra MacAaron. The New Marketing Conversation: Creating and Strengthening Relationships Between Buyers and Sellers. Mason, Ohio: Thompson Business and Professional Publishing, 2005.

XMPie Inc. “Case Study: One to One Gulfcoast for Out-of-Door Academy.” New York, New York: XMPie Inc. 29 November 2005.


Case Study: Cold River Vodka Martini Mix-Offs
In November 2005, Maine Distilleries released Cold River Vodka, an artisan vodka made from Maine potatoes and water drawn from the state’s Cold River aquifer. It was initially distributed in Maine and New Hampshire, where affinity for the product would be strongest. From the start, momentum was strong. A significant amount of media coverage was generated in the local press within the first few months of the product’s release, creating a buzz in both states among consumers, bar managers, restaurateurs, and liquor distributors.

Nancy Marshall Communications helped Maine Distilleries continue the buzz and build a strong foundation for distribution in other states by staging a series of Martini Mix-Off contests in key markets in Maine and New Hampshire. Cocktail fans were invited to participate by mixing up their own creative concoctions made with Cold River Vodka.

The contests involved consumers in the Cold River Vodka product development process, giving them a stake in the vodka’s success. As Maine Distilleries principal Bob Harkins aptly stated, the events engaged “the hearts and minds of our loyal customers and people who have been creating cocktail concoctions with Cold River Vodka”.

Contestants were judged on presentation, creativity, originality, showmanship, and taste. The head distiller of Cold River Vodka, Harkins and a variety of V.I.P judges selected the winners.

Every event was aggressively publicized to generate maximum attendance and participation. Winning recipes were forwarded to local media outlets, generating media coverage for the vodka and giving winners the satisfaction of seeing their original recipes in print. As predicted, the buzz continued to grow. Maine Distilleries enhanced the conversation and encouraged customers to try out the winning recipes by posting them in the monthly Cold River Vodka e-newsletter.

The grand finale was a competition among past Martini Mix-Off winners and runners up to select the official “Maine Martini Mixologist.” The finale created a fresh news angle that gave Maine and New Hampshire media outlets an opportunity to cover the contest a second time. It also helped generate renewed excitement about the product among those involved in the final competition.

The Martini Mix-Offs were a great success. The creative recipes submitted by winners gave loyal customers and those sampling the product for the first time a variety of ways to try Cold River Vodka. Because contestants and the establishments that hosted the competitions had face-to-face access to the Maine Distilleries leadership, it helped put a face to the new Cold River Vodka brand. And, as Cold River Vodka distribution expanded out into new markets, the excitement about the product and word-of-mouth support generated through the Mix Offs helped set the stage for successful sales figures in new markets.

http://www.coldrivervodka.com



Case Study: Maine Fall Foliage
With millions of acres of forest and hundreds of miles of scenic byways to explore, Maine is a prime destination for fall foliage viewing. It also has an edge over the rest of New England: Because Maine is the farthest north, it is the place to go for early views of autumn color.

How do you build affinity for such a visual experience? With visuals!

During fall foliage season, our agency contracts with a professional videographer on behalf of the Maine Office of Tourism to shoot footage in areas where the autumn colors are at their most vibrant. The video and an accompanying script that describes what is being shown are then sent out to news stations primarily within the boundaries of Maine’s drive market, which presents the greatest potential for attracting leaf peepers to Maine. New video is captured and dispatched every week so news stations have current images of the state’s beautiful fall scenery to share with their viewers.

The initiative has been very successful in generating recurring coverage for Maine throughout the fall foliage season.

With 24 hours of broadcast time, the Weather Channel is always looking for fresh footage. The network, which is seen in approximately 87 million households, regularly uses the footage in its fall foliage segments and general weather segments. Weathermen and news anchors in Maine’s drive market use the footage to give weekly status reports on the best spots for fall color viewing.

By providing beautiful images that enable viewers to “experience” Maine’s vibrant fall foliage through their television sets, the Maine Office of Tourism is strengthening Maine’s recognition as a premier fall foliage destination, increasing fall visitation, and building emotional ties to Maine’s scenic beauty.

Case Study: Maria Filosa UHU Crafting Blog
UHU is the most widely used brand of glue in Europe. Saunders Manufacturing of Readfield, Maine, UHU’s U.S. distributor, was searching for a creative way to elevate UHU brand recognition and boost sales in their territory.

The company approached Nancy Marshall Communications with the challenge. They agreed to reach out to UHU’s most important niche market: crafters. Crafters rely on high quality, high performance glue products. They require specialty glues made specifically for individual mediums, like wood or textiles, and they are willing to pay more for a product that works well. UHU, which offers more than 20 types of high quality glue in the U.S., offered the perfect match.

Saunders partnered with professional craft designer Maria Filosa and worked with her to create a blog on crafting with UHU glues. The team chose blogging because the company had a limited promotional budget, and a blog site was far less expensive to set up and maintain than a traditional Web site. It also offered a more personal, interactive form of communicating the benefits of UHU.

The project began with Filosa posting one new project each month on the blog. Each post offered an image of the finished project along with a list of materials, including the specific UHU glue used and directions on how to create it.

The initiative soon expanded to include the designs and feedback of other crafters. Nancy Marshall Communications proactively sought out crafters willing to submit projects made with UHU and review the glue. They began sending out glue samples.

The UHU product reviews were very positive, and company officials were pleased. However, they also valued the constructive criticism they received and used it to make product corrections and improvements whenever possible. The site turned out to be an excellent way to promote UHU and informally gather product research.

The crafters themselves were delighted that UHU was soliciting their input. Soon, more than 40 of them had links to Filosa’s site, and up to 150 people were visiting the blog each day. The site continued to improve because more and more crafters were posting projects. In fall 2006, Filosa’s blog cracked Technorati’s list of top 100,000 visited sites. This is a very big achievement, considering that UHU’s target market is so select, and Technorati tracks more than 57 million blogs!

The Maria Filosa UHU crafting blog has been very successful in building affinity among crafters because Saunders Manufacturing invited them to be part of the UHU process. The site’s popularity continues to grow, and Saunders continues to expand its relationships with crafters nationwide.

http://www.mariafilosa.com

Case Study: The Mirror Lake Inn
The Mirror Lake Inn, a four diamond resort and spa in Lake Placid, New York, wanted to increase Web site traffic, position itself as an authority on what’s happening around the area, and strengthen its reputation as a place where special memories are made. The resort worked with AdWorkshop, also of Lake Placid, to design a blog and forum that would help meet these goals.

First, the team created the Cottage Chat. The blog offers information on everything from skiing and special events to shopping and dining. It is linked to the resort Web site but is a separate entity so bloggers clearly recognize it as a resource, not a promotion for the Inn.

The blog is named after the Cottage Café, a casual restaurant and gathering spot where locals and visitors alike can meet and trade information on what to see and do in the area. The team billed the restaurant as the place to meet in Lake Placid and the new blog as the place to meet online.

At first, traffic grew slowly. Then, the team simplified the process of posting by allowing people to blog without the hassle of registering. Since then, its popularity has grown exponentially. The blog has succeeded in actively engaging residents and vacationers in a conversation about the Lake Placid brand, using the Mirror Lake Inn’s virtual Cottage Café as a conduit.

The forum, Mirror Lake Inn Memories, was created to encourage past visitors to share memorable events that took place at the resort. All stories were posted in the “Gallery of Memories.” After several months of accepting submissions, the staff chose its three favorites. People voted online to choose the winner, who received a weekend package for two at the resort. The forum was very popular. It succeeded in renewing interest and excitement about the inn among past visitors and gave those considering a visit plenty of reasons to solidify their decision.

The steady stream of new information posted on the blog and forum has helped keep the Inn and its tourism partners at the top of the search engine rankings. Plus, the resort has seen an increase in visits to its main Web site. Both initiatives were successful because The Mirror Lake Inn was able to leverage the favorable perceptions of past visitors and local residents to generate positive word of mouth endorsements.

http://www.cottagechat.com
http://www.adworkshop.com




Harnessing the Power of Conversational Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Nancy Marshall's Website.

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