Customer-made adverts have been big for a while now – something ideal for adaptation to the small business market.
John Jantsch points to a neat idea (pictured) on his Duct Tape Marketing blog. It gets people involved, creates relevant messages and is, in itself, a point of interest.
How else could you get your customers involved in advertising your business? If you have any examples, let me know and I’ll stick them up here.
{ 3 comments }
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
This idea is so great – and it’s the most genuine type of billboard a business (or politician) could have.
As per the comments on John Jantsch’s blog, I love the trust that Jason Kander is placing in his voters. However, I can see that many businesses would be resistant to this technique out of cynicism, which is a real shame for them.
Dan – Thanks for popping in and I’ll hope to ’see’ you here again
Tamsin – I completely agree. A lack of perceived control over the message would certainly make some businesses resistant – which prompts some good points in itself:
1. Even if it’s not written on a billboard or other customer-made ad, this is the kind of WOM that’s happening anyway. He isn’t creating the conversation, he’s creating a vehicle for it.
Businesses can learn a lot from that.
2. If we talk more generally about customer-made ads (rather than this specific idea) – most people willing to take the time to get involved tend to be fans.
You can try to exercise control as to the output but that inhibits the authenticity …
3. ie, the more you allow a range of voices to take part, the more balanced and believable your marketing appears.
I don’t think that people necessarily expect or even hope for perfection from our politicians or even businesses.
We do want effort, honesty and a willingness to put things right when they go wrong.
Even if every message that goes up on someone’s front lawn isn’t the polished ’sound bite’ that the campaign would issue itself – they will certainly be more believable and interesting precisely because the are authentic and less polished.
They are real.
Thanks again for the insightful comments Tamsin
Mark
Comments on this entry are closed.