This is the sequel to an overview ofn the book, Contagious, which is a book about the social science of what makes things go viral. Here is why this matters to you: you want to increase your positive word of mouth. The more positive word of mouth you have for you and your products, the more sales you will make. Not only that, but customers acquired through word of mouth tend to have a higher average order because there are not so many barriers to trust. Word of mouth also opens the door to directly ask for recommendations and is the easiest way to gain control over the growth of your business. So can you control the word of mouth? Yes, you can do specific things to increase it and then act upon it.
If you caught last week’s post, then this is review. If you missed it, let’s get you up to speed.
What makes things go viral?
- Social currency: How does it make the teller of the story look when they talk about it? Does it make them look cool, or “in the know?”
- Triggers: These are stimulators to get people to think about it. For example when you think of peanut butter, you think of jelly.
- Emotion: When we care, we share.
- Public: People talk about things they can see others using. If you can’t see it being used, it doesn’t get talked about. Maybe this is why there had to be a Superbowl commercial on IBS. It’s something private and so the word of mouth is just not spreading.
- Practical value: People share things that will save others time, money or help their health. This might be why you are so passionate about sharing your product.
- Stories: People love to tell stories of what happened, or even better, what happened to them. The story then acts as the conduit to the product’s message.
Public
One thing we already know is that people make inferences on what other people are doing. They take shortcuts to make decisions. So let’s say that someone is trying to decide what restaurant or bar to go to on a busy street. Many people will choose the one with the biggest line out the door because, “if it’s that busy, it has to be good!” There is something else going on here, and it’s the visibility of the line. The key here is that people can see the popularity with their own eyes.
I’m sure you all know sports fans. When they are wearing “street clothes,” you aren’t inspired to talk about their team. It’s when you visibly see their devotion, through a shirt, hat, or bumper sticker, that you start talking about the team.
So what can you do to make your product or service more visible? I have a couple of examples of things I have seen that fit here. First, one of my clients carries a backpack with her company logo. That’s only half the story. She has one of those stickers on the back of her SUV that depicts her family, with her product line. It cracks me up every single time I see her car. So it’s two big bottles of essential oils to depict her and her husband, and two smaller bottles to symbolize the kids. I give her a hard time, but I love it so much. It draws attention, and it makes a public statement. So let’s imagine for a second that you have a really amazing customer who is far enough along in their journey with your product, but maybe it’s been a while since referrals have come up. What would happen if once your customers hit a certain amount of purchases, like $1000, you hooked them up with a decal for their car or something. They are deep enough where they would love it, and it would generate word of mouth for that individual. It would be a public way for them to show they use the product. A great example of this at work is Lululemon, who makes athletic clothing. This is one of the examples described in the book. When buyers leave their stores, they have an awesome bag that is like a reusable grocery bag. Their customers use that bag over and over again, making public statements that they support this product. Brilliant.
One of my friends does something amazing with her Facebook page to make her success public. She simply tags someone who decides to join her business in a personal post with a picture of the person. Something like, “I’m so excited to welcome Super Sparkle Barbie to my business team. You are going to rock it!” She tags the person as well. It simple yet it makes her team the place to be because of all of the excitement. It’s sweet recognition but it’s public. I know a lot of people invite potential customers or business builders to private Facebook groups. What a waste! No one can see them in there. This can be done in a way that is 100% congruent with your personality as well. One of my clients has a really great sense of humor, with the undertone of mockery and sarcasm. She cracks me up. If she made an internet meme out of her new “family member” she would get tons of play on Facebook. First, people love memes. It would line right up with who she is as a person and therefore she wouldn’t be “that person.” And it would be public. You know someone would be excited about what their meme would look like, further increasing a buying atmosphere.
Practical Value
People love to share things that while they might not be remarkable, they have incredible practical value. I think about how I always would tell new moms about those things where you suck the snot out of your kids nose, and how it kept Haley out of the hospital instead of the dumb bulb. Or how you can make cake in a waffle maker in 5 minutes. Awesome right? We want to be helpful. I fixate on this, probably a little too much. I can’t shut up about helpful things.
So now you are thinking, “ok Tasha and my product is already super practical so let’s just move on to the next topic.” Hold on, let’s talk about how people love to talk about saving money. If you feel like you got a killer deal, you will talk about it because it has immense practical value. One important thing I need to note though is that people evaluate things based on context and reference points. When you are presenting buying options, it’s a great idea to insert that context so the customer understands what a great deal they are getting. I’ll give you an example of one of my clients who sells meal replacement shakes. Here is how I would build context to show the potential customer what an amazing deal he or she is getting. Ask, “if you wanted a healthy meal with all the nutrients to have you function at your best, and have it ready to rock in less than two minutes prep time, how much would that cost?” If it were me in the customer’s seat, I would use Flame Broiler as context, and say “Eight dollars.” For the sake of simplicity let’s just go with one canister since I don’t have the in-depth product line knowledge that she does. So if I’m looking for 14 meals like that in a month, I’m looking at $112 for lunch for the month that meets that criteria. Now I have context. When my client swoops in with $40 for the canister, she can emphasize that the customer has just saved $72. What a great deal! Now two things have happened. First, I am buying that canister. Second, due to the context, I now understand what a great deal I got. And what do people do when they get a great deal? They tell people about it due to the practical value idea. Now your team is set up for even more sales, even if your customer isn’t a “business builder” because the word of mouth is spreading. Nice, right?
Stories
All of these reasons that people talk about certain things more than others can be summed up in the last point about stories. People love to tell stories that make them look cool, have practical value, or where they are the star. Many direct sales products do invite their customers to tell their story. For example, “I now have a six-pack because of Beachbody.” This concept however is not just limited to stories about themselves. Let’s talk a little about the way you tell stories in a way that encourages others to tell stories. Make a list of cool stories about your product. I wouldn’t make them all overstated stories, although a couple of those kinds of examples are good. One story that I like to tell is one I heard from one of my clients. She shared a story about a biology teacher who diffused a certain bacteria killing essential oil in her classroom. But there was a problem. The petrie dishes didn’t grow because of the essential oil. Oops. This is a very simple story that is remarkable, and carries the message of the product very well. Tell a story like that, and it will be repeated. I’m sure my client doesn’t even know I tell that story. Well, she does now.
Now you understand the theory of what makes things go viral. The important thing though is the practical application so let me summarize some ideas that I shared here at the end. We chatted about ways to promote the sales of your products publicly, like car decals for amazing customers, or tagging new customers or business builders on Facebook in a way that matches with your personality. For practical value, we talked about anchoring the context of your price so the customer understands what a great deal they are getting, making them more likely to share how smart they are. Last, we talked about telling stories that include the message of your product to encourage the story to be told again and again.
So that’s all for this week. I would love to hear your thoughts on what ideas you have to implement these concepts in the comments below.
Looking forward to chatting next week,
Tasha