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Word-of-Mouth of course.  If you disagree, please, I’d love to hear why in the comments below.  Word-of-mouth is the most authentic and effective because for it to occur successfully, there must be more than a minimum level of trust established.  Let me explain.

If I don’t trust you I will never take your advice on anything, let alone a product I will be purchasing.  On the contrary, if I trust you a lot (an influencer in my life) I will take your word on what I should buy over any marketing message no matter how clever it is.  

Trust = influence.

As fast as we can share our opinions on Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc. I can’t fathom why more businesses haven’t created incentives for customers to share their delightful experiences online for others to see.  EXAMPLE: Foursquare is becoming a very useful tool for me, now that people are sharing their opinions openly when checking in.

Your brand isn’t your website, store, logo or your OWN perception of your company.  Your brand is what other people say about you and the internet makes it much easier to say anything about your company, positive or negative.

This is your warning, it’s only going to increase, how are you encouraging positive word-of-mouth?

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Have you experienced this yet?  A random number texts you “HUGE SALE ON (Insert product), BEST PRICE IN TOWN, LOOK NO FURTHER FOR YOUR (Insert product) NEEDS!”

It has happened a couple of times now and I don’t like it.  Here’s why if you use text-message advertising we’re both losing.

1.  I have not given you permission to interrupt me on my phone, doing so makes me strongly dislike whatever the message is you want me to read.

2.  You seem lazy and disrespectful, I want to return the favor.  I’ll call you back or MySask411 your number to see who you are and when I find out I’ll realize how elementary your understanding of marketing really is.  I will not forget this.

3.  The more niche focused your text-message deal is, the better your chance of it being completely unrelated to my purchasing patterns.  EXAMPLE: Niche focus, “HUGE SALE ON GRANITE”   Broad focus: “HALF OFF ICE CREAM AT COLD STONE” – The first one you lose all credibility, the second only works if the person receiving the text sees value in what you’re texting.

Moral of the story?  Lay off the Spam sandwiches, you’re hurting your personal brand and wasting my time.

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The other day I filled out a survey from the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission (RROC) asking about what they are currently doing and what they could do better, it got me thinking.  Now I’m not being critical of RROC, I think they’re doing a great job, especially when you see them picking up talent such as Grant Langford who I worked with on the Saskatchewan Pavilion project.  I’m writing this as an idea generator, without knowing the ins and outs of RROC this is how I would go about marketing our beautiful city.

First, I would put packages together making it SO incredibly easy to come to Regina that you would literally need to click your mouse three times on the website, enter a credit card and WHAMMY you have your holiday booked.  Why?  Because humans are lazy and the easier you make it for people to come here, the better your chances are of actually getting them here.  I know there  are some offerings through the Stay and Play promotion but I think they could take it a step further.

Second, put packages together that allow tourists to experience Regina in a different light.  We don’t have World renown attractions but we do have some of the best people ready to put on a show for whomever is in the audience.  There are some very unique things that people would be more than delighted to experience in our fine city.

For example:

• Hotel accommodations, a massage, dinner at La Bodega, then off to a Redsox game?  Or maybe to the symphony?
• A round of golf then off to Globe Theatre for a performance and a catered meal.
• How about a ghost tour of old Regina ending at Cold Stone for ice cream?
• In the different seasons, put packages together surrounding events which would include hotels, some meals, transportation and various activities.
• The “Fire and Ice” or “The New Years Eve” package in the winter.
• The “Summer Invasion” or “Patriotic” package in the Summer.

Plan everything out for our lovely out of town visitors so they don’t have to worry about a thing once they arrive.

Third, enable every visitor who has had a great experience in Regina to share their story somewhere online.  Be it a blog, a video-blog, a picture story on Flickr or on the RROC Facebook wall, somewhere that will allow RROC to amplify the story.  Soon enough that blog, video-blog or Facebook wall will be filled with authentic stories from people who had a wonderful experience in Regina.  Those stories will be available to anyone searching for a vacation in Western Canada and soon become the most powerful marketing tool for potential visitors to our city.

Ok, I’ve shared, now it’s your turn.  How would you market Regina?

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A long, long, time ago advertisers would interrupt people to get their message in front of them.  Commercials interrupting your favorite show, coupons in your mailbox, awkwardly placed billboards, branding of anything and everything, commercials interrupting the top 10 countdown on the radio, telemarketers trying to sell you something, sales people showing up at your door, and video billboards promising even more interruptions than static billboards.

There was no permission established so eventually these were bound to fail once the market was saturated with messages competing for the next chance to interrupt you.

Enter Seth Godin coined term “permission based marketing“.

I need to be friends with you for you to show up in my Facebook newsfeed or to be able to post on my wall.

I need to be following you on Twitter to receive your tweets.

I need to subscribe to your e-mail newsletter to receive it.

I have never been forced to watch a Youtube video, I choose what I want to watch.

I can’t force you to read my blog, it’s your choice.

Notice a trend here?  To communicate with people you must have their permission, no matter what medium you use.  Marketing hasn’t gone anywhere since “social media” took over, it just got smarter.  The winners now will be the ones who understand permission based marketing and come up with the newest innovative way to acquire permission.  It’s the next generation of word-out-mouth.

On the other hand, I hate to hear campaigns talking about “mass-text-messaging” services and mass e-mail marketing.  Just further attempts at interrupting more people to tell them a message they don’t want to hear.

If you want to delve further into the topic pick up this book:

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