{"id":13291,"date":"2022-02-15T01:21:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T01:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/15\/how-to-get-businesses-to-talk-about-your-brand\/"},"modified":"2022-02-15T01:21:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T01:21:32","slug":"how-to-get-businesses-to-talk-about-your-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/15\/how-to-get-businesses-to-talk-about-your-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Get Businesses To Talk About Your Brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"1bell\"Think about the last business purchase you made \u2014 how did you decide what to buy? Did you weigh all the pros and cons? Did you do a careful cost-benefit analysis or pore over a 50-page analyst report?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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No, of course you didn\u2019t. I bet you did two things: First, you simply made a list of the initial options that came to mind, and then you dropped a line to your peers who might have used the products and asked, \u201cAny good?\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re influenced by the opinions of people we trust more than even the most polished copy on a beautifully designed website. According to Forrester,<\/a> 70% of U.S. adults trust brand or product recommendations from family and friends online, while just 10% trust ads on websites and only 9% trust text messages from companies or brands.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s certainly not the whole picture, a good word from someone you know is likely to tip the scale when everything else is relatively even. So, what drives peoples\u2019 desires to tell stories about brands, whether it\u2019s spontaneously or in response to, \u201cAny good?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tI\u2019ll start with a personal example: I recently subscribed to SparkToro, an audience intelligence platform. What initially piqued my interest was that it was launched by Rand Fishkin, CEO and Co-founder of SEO software Moz. But what made me spontaneously tell others about it was the email I got shortly after signing up.<\/p>\n

It read: \u201cSaw your SparkToro subscription come through today and wanted to reach out with our thanks. Also visited your site and love the mission to rid the world of crappy B2B content… Oy vey have I felt that pain point myself! If there’s anything we can do to help you\/your team get the most from SparkToro<\/a>, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. We’re pretty darn fast on email.\u201d<\/p>\n

The email was signed off by Rand Fishkin himself \u2013 the man of Whiteboard Friday<\/a> fame, which is a big deal in my world, and author of \u201cLost and Founder.\u201d<\/p>\n

This email showed me two things: He\u2019s looked at my website and he\u2019s taking the time to make a connection.<\/p>\n

Now, the cynical part of me knows how this kind of email can be created quickly but the thing is, that doesn\u2019t matter. It gave me a reason to talk about SparkToro to others \u2014 and I did.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the heart of successful word-of-mouth marketing in B2B. Ultimately, it\u2019s the challenge of getting inside your customers\u2019 heads. Why would someone talk about your products and brand, and in what context? What\u2019s in it for them? How can we help power that conversation?<\/p>\n

Here are three places to start:<\/p>\n

1. Show What You Know<\/h4>\n

In business, there\u2019s value to being the person others look to because you have all the answers. If I\u2019m talking to a client and casually drop a relevant insight about one of their challenges and namecheck a recent article in \u201cHarvard Business Review,\u201d even though I didn\u2019t write it, I\u2019m going to come off as the trusted advisor who knows the stuff they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

2. Make The Complex Simple & Easy To Remember<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s one thing to look clever, but it\u2019s another to apply that knowledge in the real world of business.<\/p>\n

Most challenges are complex and nuanced. They are dominated by ifs, buts and it depends, and many people simply don\u2019t have the time to work through all the variables. Therefore simplified models tend to be shared so often.<\/p>\n

Gartner<\/a> is a master of this: Its Magic Quadrant presents complex data as a simple graph, showing the relative position of competing technology players within a particular market. Providers who come out on top like to share it far and wide.<\/p>\n

3. Offer An Exclusive<\/h4>\n

Who doesn\u2019t want to be first to get hold of something juicy? It elevates us from a face in the crowd to one of the chosen few.<\/p>\n

While most marketers tend to be shy of taking this approach, there\u2019s a lot to be said for giving your best-connected customers privileged access to information, people and experiences.<\/p>\n

This is less about the tired old track days and rounds of golf. It\u2019s more about inviting customers into your office to give them a sneak peek of upcoming products, pre-launch beta access or even share content pre-publication to get their thoughts and feedback. They will feel special as a result and be far more inclined to drop your brand into conversation with people they want to impress.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, getting people to talk about you is an exercise in truly understanding what they stand to gain. This can be something material, psychological or both. Get this right with your most connected customers and you stand to significantly extend the reach and impact of your brand.<\/p>\n\n

Jason Ball is the founder of B2B marketing agency Considered Content<\/a>, whose clients include Google, Oracle, AT&T, EY and Microsoft. Ball is also behind Prolific, a first-of-its-kind managed content service created for the B2B sector. He helps ambitious marketers differentiate their brands, generate demand and reduce friction from the buyer journey.<\/em><\/p>\n

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