If you live and breathe marketing so much that you make time to read about it here and elsewhere throughout the blogosphere, chances are you already know a thing or two about referral marketing. It’s the idea of asking your customers and constituents to turn on their friends, relatives and colleagues to whatever it is you may have to offer.
Book and CD clubs, auto dealerships, banks, professional services providers and many small businesses rely on such referrals, often bestowing deep discounts, cash incentives and free this-and-that upon those helping to extend their brands.
In fact, asking your constituents to spread the word for you can be so effective, it really is quite surprising that more organizations haven’t put referral marketing to work for them.
But, according to a story appearing on the front page of The Boston Globe earlier this month (“Guard Pays Members for Enlisting Others, $2,000 Bonuses in Recruiting Drive” by Michael Levenson – January 5, 2006), the Army National Guard is wise to the benefits of this tried-and-true marketing technique. From this Globe story:
It is one way that phone companies and health clubs attract new customers. Now for the first time in its history, the Army National Guard is taking a similar approach to recruit soldiers: If Guard members get a buddy to join, they can earn cash rewards of $2,000.
With combat deaths mounting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guard’s traditional recruiters are running into resistance from people increasingly wary of slick sells and star-spangled television ads, Guard officials say. But a soldier talking to a friend, co-worker, or cousin can offer a credible, powerful, and personally tailored message, soldiers say.
“Word of mouth is the holy grail of marketing,” Major Winfield S. Danielson III, a spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard, said yesterday. “It’s like when your friend says, ‘Hey, that was a really cool movie.’ There’s a lot of believability in that. You look at it as an unbiased source, or at least biased to what your friend likes or your friend’s interests are.”
To read this story in its entirety, click here.
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I would be curious to hear how others are going about word-of-mouth marketing…the original “viral” marketing strategy. I have been perusing but have not yet joined WOMMA (Word Of Mouth Marketing Association). My hesitation lies in wondering if we can actually plan a word of mouth campaign, or if that is something that by its very nature is organic. I don’t believe womm (to borrow their acronym) is necessarily the “wave of the future” because I think it’s been the “wave” all along… all these “little” companies, and “little” movies, and “little” products that go BAM! in the marketplace and become household names do so because of womm and yet we act surprised every time it happens. So if womm an organic form of marketing and all you need to make it happen is a likeable product/service and exposure to just a few of the right people, then how much of a strategic campaign can be planned around making it happen? How do you identify the key players for spreading the word? How do you measure it for success?
In response to Natalie’s post… you should check out the successes that Boston-Based Bzz Agent, Inc. is having (www.bzzagent.com). CEO & Founder, Dave Balter has not only managed to make WOMM happen for best-selling authors, and companies like Dunkin Donuts, Black & Decker, Monster.com, AirTran, March of Dimes and Sun Microsystems, to name a few, but has just secured $13.75 million in venture capital to “rock on” with this awesome concept (see:http://www.bzzagent.com/pages/Press_Releases.jsp). They have it down in terms of identifying “key players.” I’m one of their “Bzz Agents” and actively take part in 2-3 campaigns a month. It’s great to see how it’s done, experience their CRM, watch the results – and get some freebies of the products along the way! WOMM works, and this example is just one of many that prove it’s here to stay.
P.S. And check out the great marketing quotes that are scattered on BzzAgent’s web site – truly inspirational, and good reading!