Though social media is relatively new in the world of marketing, the backbone of social media is still word of mouth. While we live in a world where the technological barriers to sharing our thoughts and feelings are almost eliminated, it’s still vital to understand what inspires real human beings to share things in the first place.
Ernest Dichter, a research scion of motivational behavior, completed a large word of mouth study almost 50 years ago, and the core results are still true today, with some slight modifications based on Jonah Berger’s new book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
Behold, the main reasons people share things about a brand, and insights you can use:
Delight in Product: The customer experience or experience with the product is so novel and pleasurable that people feel compelled to share.
Insight: How good is your customer service? Is it good or great? If people are not stunned by what you did, they won’t talk about your service. Do you upgrade people to overnight delivery? Did you delight your volunteers with an exceptional experience? Putting out fires on social media is one way to improve customer service, but what are you doing in the day-to-day service that will inspire people to talk about you?
Social Currency: When people share knowledge or opinions, they draw attention to themselves, show an affiliation that enhances their self image, show themselves as early adopters, demonstrate their “insider” status, and seek confirmation of their opinion.
Insight: Staging a product release online with limited invitations can make folks mad, but it is incredibly effective if you let a limited number of users send out invitations on your behalf. Scarcity of access can create a frenzy of folks looking for insiders who could share invites. Further empowering fans or users of your product to serve as ambassadors to answer questions, to show off their life and passions will pay great dividends. Don’t make these insiders into shameless shills. If they love you, give them the stage and step aside.
Communal Belonging: People want to reach out and express neighborliness, caring and friendship.
Insight: People love to wish others well, root for folks exercising, or cheer on those doing great work. If people at your job or volunteers for your organization are helping people or supporting your community, highlight those efforts. Don’t draw attention to yourself, focus on those individuals who are helping. In other words, give your platform over to other-promotion not self-promotion.
High Emotion Message : People will react to a message that is so humorous, distinct or one that causes them to worry.
Insight: This is a tough one to predict, especially if you are going after funny. You’ll need as many heads around the table as possible to come up with ideas, but strive to make your messages stand out from the clutter of your competitors and maybe folks will share it. Try taking information that everyone has and presenting it in a distinctive way. Read your audience’s reaction to the posts. If a style works and fits with your brand, keep doing it. If not, try again in tomorrow’s post. If your product/service or organization deals with issues that cause a great deal of anxiety. Pointing out the issue in clear language (The number of football fields of rainforest removed everyday) will likely cause people to share your message.