Lately, I’ve been describing ways to bring a concrete reality to an "experience" or "feeling" that your business sells as a way to avoid "commoditizing" your business or products.
Coincidentally, I just finished reading Creating Customer Evangelists by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. Their book describes case study after case study where businesses and organizations did just this – created a customer experience or a cause in order to make customer feel a part of their community – and those customer went and told their friends. Creating your experience gives your customers more to talk about…
And it really does work. The same folks that wrote this great book (which is on my recommended list), posted some telling survey results on their blog just last week. Here is an excerpt:
According to the study, the top three marketing practices that consumers want are:
* Marketing that is short and to the point: 43%
* Marketing I can choose to see when it is most convenient for me: 33%
* Marketing that is personally communicated to me by friends or experts I trust: 32%
Of course, the last item is key: Marketers should understand how their products, services and marketing generate word of mouth.
Wow, that’s telling. Now, go! Create experiences for your customers.
