Some companies get it and others just don’t. Word-of-mouth promotion of one’s brands, activities and innovation initiatives is one of the most powerful, motivational and effective tool in a company’s arsenal. It’s viral, cost-effective and credible.
So how does one build the kind of goodwill that turns your stakeholders into brand and activity evangelists? Well you begin by understanding that you should finish the conversations that you initiate. What’s the good of conversing when there is no positive outcome for either party? The dynamic has shifted and the message now needs to be moderated and created as you go. It can no longer be controlled, dictated, persuaded – it isn’t a unilateral communications channel anymore; the engagement is multi-level, multi-modal, multi-media, multi-dimensional and must played within the new rules of today’s marketing. Stakeholder expectations demand it.
The next level of this conversation requires engagement, pro-action, fast responses and real results.
Word-of-mouth that your organization walks-the-walk is what’s going to distinguish your marketing and innovation activities from those of competitors. That your organization talks is not enough for your stakeholders, especially now the external ones joining the fray – just like you, they are looking for results from their participation. If their experience in the innovation process and platform that you’ve invited them into does not deliver desired results, they won’t be back – that’s a problem. Especially if they tell others via Facebook, Twitter or any of the many instant dissemination platforms out there. Viral marketing is a double-edged sword.
Companies that engage their participants at all levels of the innovation process in a rewarding fashion will not only win the battle for the best new ideas, but are also well on their way to establishing the stickiness required to win the war of affinity. Whoever has an army of dedicated, imaginative, energetic, resourceful, collaborative and loyal co-creators will have a critical and sustainable competitive advantage so long as they maintain the equitable balance of giving and taking.
The key for organizations is how they respond and evolve with their stakeholders – it’s no longer a command and control relationship; to grow you success, the relationship has to become symbiotic. You use each one another to get what each wants out of the relationship. Organizations have to demonstrate the capability and will to change based on your customer’s vision, whether those clients happen to be internal, external or both. The organization has to be actively seeking and delivering change, or else its just talking. And we all know that talk is cheap.