Sales Tweets on Twitter
Aaron Cacali’s post “Buying on Twitter – a brief case study” is an excellent analysis of how Ann Handley (aka @MarketingProfs on Twitter), recently used her tweets to sell her followers on attending the all-day Digital Marketing World virtual conference. As Cacali notes, “what MarketingProfs was selling was technically free – there was no cost to register for the conference – and her sales message wasn’t too blatantly salesy,” but her sales tweets nonetheless paid huge Word of Mouth (WOM) dividends for selling MarketingProfs’ resources, onine seminars, conferences, and research.Power of Word of Mouth Marketing
Indeed, Digital Marketing World was so successful that the conference trended second that day on Twitter, through the use of the Twitter hashtag #mpworld. This hashtag allowed Digital Marketing World participants like myself to discuss the conference in real-time. (Anyone who could not participate that day can still “listen in” on the valuable conversations that occurred and can continue the positive Word Of Mouth on Twitter and elsewhere.)
Like Cacali, I, too, signed up for Digital Marketing World, based on my online relationship with @MarketingProfs, who even in the short while I’ve known her on Twitter, has become synonymous to me, with quality and responsiveness. The Word Of Mouth benefits of Digital Marketing World go on, as a summary of the conference I wrote on this relatively new blog, has already received over one hundred hits, in just a few weeks, and as others like Cacali, continue to talk about the conference, so powerfully, in their own blogs, with even wider readerships.
Why Trust Matters in Business
As a consequence of attending Digital Marketing World, I signed-up for the MarketingProfs Business-to-Business Forum 2009, mainly because Digital Marketing World gave me the opportunity to try before buying, with no pressure tactics, at the comfort of my own desk. The content, organization, and speakers at Digital Marketing World were first-rate, and I was almost sold on that alone, but soon after the digital conference, I had the good fortune to meet Ann Handley for the first time, in person.
It was that personal touch, in which Handley listened to my professional interests, advised me on a few Twitter matters (as simple, but important as choosing a username), and suggested a few Twitter users who might share with me similar professional interests, which in the end, sold me on attending the Business-to-Business Forum 2009. All of this interwoven in a casual lunch setting, amidst genuine conversation about our kids, dogs, and contrasting professional experiences.
Ingredients to Twitter Success = Customer Experience
When I consider purchasing a product or service these days, I am buying a lot more than the actual product or service. I am considering buying the whole experience of that product or service, and I am entering into a relationship with that product’s company. It certainly helps, if I like and more importantly, feel inclined to trust, the people who represent that company—and it sure can’t hurt, if those people are enjoyable and interesting to know, even virtually, apart from our professional interests and business goals.
Though MarketingProfs publishes exceptional content and organized a truly rich Digital Conference, I suspect that some strong competitors might do at least as well. The differentiators for me, in signing up for the Business-to-Business Forum, were the near-by location of the conference in Boston, and the level of engagement I felt with the company, via @MarketingProfs (Ann Handley), both on Twitter, and in person.
In 10 Tips for Twitter Un-Marketing, Leigh Duncan-Durst describes the ingredients for Twitter success (and by extension, I think, most social media success) as a willingness to “commit, engage, dialog, serve, and give to others.” –That’s the power of Word of Mouth Marketing, and that’s why the Marketing World Digital Conference continues to be a Word Of Mouth success story.
Word of Mouth Postscript
After I registered for the Business-to-Business Forum, I joined the LinkedIn group for this MarketingProfs conference. I also updated my LinkedIn calendar to show my hundred or so Boston-area contacts that I’m attending the Business-to-Business Forum this June. And maybe they’ll tell a friend or two. So, the WOM success story continues, on and on. I’m just one person, but through my recent enthusiasm for MarketingProfs, I have now spread the word to probably at least two hundred potential customers. That really is successful Word of Mouth Marketing, and it can work for you, too, as long as you provide a complete customer experience.
Photo Credit, Intersection Consulting