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Branding
Brand Experience and Its Future
Over the past few years, brand experiences have made leaps and bounds into new territory. In the past, branding was all about creating a solid visual identity that would be recognizable and memorable. Today, brands are focusing on creating experiences that are engaging and impactful. Brand experience design takes many forms, but they all share one common goal: connecting with customers on a personal level. There are many factors that contribute to the evolution of brand experience. One of the most important aspects to pay attention to is the rise of digital media. Digital media has made it possible for brands to reach a global audience with ease. It has also created new opportunities for brands to interact with their customers. With the help of social media, brands can now create two-way conversations with their customers. This interaction is critical for building relationships and solidifying brand loyalty for years to come.
What Exactly is Brand Experience?
Brand experience encompasses the ability your brand has to connect with your customers and evoke emotion. It’s true what they say: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Your customer’s first impression of your brand will shape the way they interact with it. It’s crucial to remember that you’ll never be able to appeal to everyone. No matter what niche or industry you’re in, there’s always someone who will have a negative perception of your brand. Whether that means hatred for a cookie brand that isn’t gluten-free… Or a dislike for a car brand according to a bicycle enthusiast, it’s simply inevitable. The good news? You don’t have to please every customer that comes across your brand to provide a great experience. Customer experience branding is all about focus. You need to focus on your target market and what they want from your brand. This can be accomplished in several ways, but it all comes down to identifying and understanding your customer’s needs and desires. Ready to take your home service company branding to the next level? Our marketing experts at Wizard of Ads® have all the tools you need to build an unforgettable brand. Book a call with us to get started!
Brand Experience vs. Customer Experience
Most companies think brand experience and customer experience are the same. In actuality, they’re two separate concepts. Understanding the difference between the two will allow you to improve customer experience and your brand overall. When it comes to the customer experience, there are four factors to take into account.
- Product: The product itself is at the forefront of the customer experience. How does it compare to similar products on the market? Does it have a strong brand identity that resonates with customers? If they don’t connect with it, they won’t buy it.
- Features/Benefits: Features and benefits go hand in hand with the product. Features refer to the product from a descriptive perspective—think of this as the exterior. Benefits are a level deeper—what do those features do for your customer? How does the product solve their problem or make their life better?
- Pricing: The price of the product is another integral part of the customer experience. Price can positively or negatively impact sales. Lower prices mean higher accessibility for a variety of customers but could indicate lower value. As the price increases, the perceived value rises with it, and the percentage of affordability to consumers decreases.
- Digital Experience: This last element refers to the customer’s interactions with a brand or company through digital channels. This can include a brand's website, mobile app, social media platforms, and any other online touchpoints. A positive digital customer experience is essential for building customer loyalty and driving sales.
Every business needs to provide a great customer experience, whether they’re product or service-based. But, if the branding doesn’t go beyond that, it can be easy for a brand to be forgettable. Brand experience, on the other hand, appeals to the emotions and senses of the consumer. Here are the critical components to consider:
Perception
Perception includes how every aspect of a brand interacts with the consumer’s senses. The combination of visual elements, the brand colors, and even the brand voice impacts how the brand is perceived.
Participation
Inclusivity and immersion are crucial to an effective brand. If your customers aren’t able to interact and be part of the brand, they could lose interest altogether. Consumers want to know they’re valued and their opinion matters.
Personalization
Personalizing your brand is another great way to create an experience. Create marketing campaigns that close the gap and connect with your customers. Use the way they engage with your brand on social media to gain valuable insight into what they might need.
Prioritization
Focusing on creating a brand experience that works for everyone can only hurt more than help. Be intentional about the factors you focus on, optimizing them as you collect data and your business grows. Remember, different metrics work for different brands. Consider what works for you and, most importantly, your customers.
Consumers’ Conceptions of Brand Experience
The way consumers view your brand can make or break your success. If you don’t make a point to consider your customers in everything you do, it’ll be hard to succeed. Based on a 2009 [study published by the American Marketing Association](https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/4243/Brand Experience and Loyalty_Journal_of _Marketing_May_2009.pdf), there are four major brand dimensions that the consumer encounters.
Sensory
The first dimension involves the five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound. Marketing campaigns have the ability to affect consumers at a deeper level, even if they don’t use all five. Understanding the different methods you can use to communicate with your audience is key to building a memorable experience and keep the audience engaged. How is a sensory experience achieved? The use of compelling, interesting visuals is the most impactful method. What emotions do the colors in your brand evoke? Does your brand voice resonate with your customers? How do your products make people feel? Let’s take a look at an example of what sensory reactions a specific company evoked for consumers.
Apple
Arguably one of the biggest technology giants of this generation, Apple is an extremely recognizable brand. Apple's sleek products and evolving tech help it stand out against competitors. So how do consumers perceive them?
- Sight & Touch: Consumers are thrilled with the way Apple products look and feel. With each generation of products, the appearance seems just as important as the specs. Releasing products that the customer actually enjoys will only encourage them to keep buying.
- Feel: Consumers noted how Apple makes them feel like they’re smart or included in an intelligent community. The brand’s ability to improve the consumer’s perception of self will unquestionably stand the test of time. It was also recognized as intriguing, a brand that truly draws the audience in. This sentiment is indicative of the second branding dimension.
Affective
The second dimension is called affective. This has to do with feelings and sentiments that arise in the consumer in relation to the brand. How do your products make people feel? What memory does your brand stir up in consumers? Let’s take a look at another example.
MasterCard
When you think about credit or debit cards, MasterCard is likely one of the brands that come to mind. Consumers noted how the brand makes them reflect on the finer things in life. They also love how youthful it feels compared to other credit card brands. Creating experiences that affect the consumer in this way will point you towards success.
Intellectual
Intellectual experiences inspire customers to think and problem-solve. They invoke curiosity and truly engage the customer’s mind.
Home Depot
I’m sure everyone has had to build a piece of furniture at some point in their life. But depending on the brand, it can either be a proud moment, or a frustrating one. According to the study, consumers appreciated how comfortable they felt. Any type of home project requires tons of research, quick thinking, and even trial and error. Consumers noted feelings of confidence in their project after their encounter with the brand. Every customer interaction is a great opportunity to provide a positive experience.
Behavioral
The last brand dimension is based on how brands make consumers act. How do consumers interact with your brand? How do they talk about it? What kinds of behavior does it inspire in consumers? This behavior can take many forms. It might be something as simple as talking about the brand to friends and family. It could be wearing a piece of clothing with the brand’s logo on it. Or it could be something more extreme, like getting a tattoo of the brand’s logo. No matter what form it takes, behavior is often the most important indicator of how strong a brand is. That’s because behavior is proof that consumers are actually engaged with the brand on a personal level.
Nike
Nike is another global brand that likely everyone is aware of. With a signature logo and activewear style, Nike encourages consumers to be healthy. It was noted that the brand inspired one customer to work out, down to the way their store was set up. This shows that they really executed the experience they present to their customers in an effective way. So what were the results of this study? Consumers ultimately provided their individual conceptions of different brands. There was a trend of the way brands with a strong experience made consumers feel, compared to weaker brands. The stronger brands evoked sensations, feelings, and behaviors. They brought the experience into something more tangible and three-dimensional. On the other hand, the weaker brands abandoned the deeper connections entirely. Walmart, for example, was only recognized for its emphasis on low prices instead of regard for consumer feelings.
Brand Experience and Its Future
The way brands interact with their customers has drastically changed over the past two and a half years. Pre-covid, brands excelled at the in-person experience with pop-ups and community events. When the covid pandemic hit, experiential marketing took a turn. The popularity of virtual experiences has soared. Offices moved to Zoom and WFH (work from home) lifestyles gained traction during lockdowns. People craved interactions that would remind them of what now seemed like a distant memory. Brands had to pivot entirely if they wanted to stay afloat. Thus began the “insperience” movement: bringing those physical experiences straight to your living room. VR and augmented reality has melded with industries like fashion, creating brand collabs that were unheard of before then. So what has this sudden change of pace helped brands achieve? For one, brands were now able to create virtual communities without limitations. Events were held at a capacity impossible in venues or stadiums. It increased brand reach by allowing every customer to participate from all over the world. The rise of reel videos and in-stream media forced brands to think outside the box. Brands were no longer confined to a specific type of customer interaction. The shift to digital experiences essentially leveled the playing field, giving brands a fresh slate to try something new.
The Future Is Here
As establishments begin to reopen, there’s no doubt the in-person experience will pick up again. But, post-covid, there’s also no doubt brands will make decisions a bit differently. The future of a mixed consumer experience is here. Brands will now have to master both in-person and online experiences to cater to every customer. Without it, there’s no way to keep up with the dawn of this new hybrid digital lifestyle. Pretty soon, we’ll all be walking around with VR headsets Ready Player One style. Brand experience is the way a brand makes its customers feel. It's about creating an emotional connection that goes beyond simply selling a product or service. Increasingly, businesses are realizing that brand experience is the future. In our increasingly connected world, customers have endless choices and they're not afraid to switch brands if they're not happy. So it's more important than ever for businesses to create an impactful brand that customers can connect with on a deeper level. There are lots of ways to create a great brand experience, but it all starts with knowing your customers and what they want. Once you know that, you can start creating experiences that will resonate with them and leave a lasting impression. It all starts with you contacting Wizard of Ads® today to bring the future of improved customer and brand experience to your business.
Advertising
A Dollar a Person a Year
Do you want to reach 100% of your marketplace with 10% of your message, or do you reach 10% of your target market with 100% of your message?
More than half a million people have read the book, seen the video, or attended the seminar in which I say, “Involuntary long-term memory, or 'branding,' is dependent upon saliency (relevance of ad copy) and the ratio of ad repetition to listener sleep".
Sleep erases advertising.
A message of average saliency needs to be encountered by the same individual approximately 3 times within 7 nights' sleep, every 7 nights for at least a year if you plan to call it a branding campaign.
Then I go on to say, “The second most common cause of advertising failure is TRYING TO REACH MORE PEOPLE THAN YOUR BUDGET WILL ALLOW.” Attentive businesspeople immediately begin writing on notepads in front of them as they instinctively grasp the wisdom in reaching 10 percent of the people and convincing them 100 percent of the way rather than reaching 100 percent of the people and convincing them 10 percent of the way.
Hearing pencils on paper, I always wait expectantly for someone to finish writing, raise a hand, and ask, “But how can I know how many people my budget can reasonably reach?”
**Believe it or not, that question has never once been asked.**For those who are curious, the short answer is that you can correctly reach about the same number of people in a year as you have dollars in your ad budget; hence, “a dollar a person a year.” But like most short answers, this one is not to be fully trusted.
Here are the areas where you've got to be careful:
- We're talking about reaching the exact same person approximately 156 times within 52 weeks for one dollar. Nothing less will do unless your ads carry an impact quotient that significantly exceeds the average, because
- An increase in the saliency of your message reduces your need for repetition.
- You've got to count everyone you reach. We're not talking about reaching a tightly targeted demographic 156 times for a dollar a person a year.
- When made aware of this “dollar a person a year” guideline, most sellers of advertising will crunch the numbers and immediately tell you that it's impossible. These people are wrong.
- Never agree to purchase a broad rotator (6A-11P, etc.) on television or radio. In calculating your reach and repetition, the computer will always assume much more advantageous scheduling than you're actually going to receive. In my experience, when you rerun the analysis based on actual, not theoretical, scheduling, you're reaching between 1/4 and 1/3 as many people as you were promised.
Even though this “dollar a person a year” guideline is my own invention and I trust it implicitly, any mathematical analysis of the human mind always reminds me a bit of what Terry Pratchett had to say about height, width, depth, and time – “It is now known to science that there are many more dimensions than the classical four.
Scientists say that these don't normally impinge on the world because the extra dimensions are very small and curve in on themselves and that since reality is fractal most of it is tucked inside itself. This means either that the universe is more full of wonders than we can hope to understand or, more probably, that scientists make things up as they go along.”
Pratchett goes on to say, “But the multiverse is full of little dimensionettes, playstreets of creation where creatures of the imagination can romp without being knocked down by serious actuality.”
I hope you're finding plenty of those playstreets of creation this summer.
Marketing
Is There a Limit to How High You Can Climb?
Do you know your category's market potential in your trade area? Can you name the degree of your market penetration?
Last week a client achieved 42 percent of his market potential. Never before had I seen a business break the 40 percent barrier. It was kind of like seeing someone run a four-minute mile. I knew it was possible in theory, but I never thought I'd actually see it. Ben had come to Austin for his annual marketing retreat. After the usual pleasantries, he said, “Traffic is flat, sales are flat, and I'm not happy.” “Ben, you've done everything that can be done. You've trained your staff, created a tantalizing compensation structure for them, advertised relentlessly, added every conceivable product line that might increase your attractiveness to your customer, refined your purchasing methods so that your prices are visibly better, built a fabulous new store for the comfort of your customers, and through it all, not one of your competitors has awakened.” “Are you saying that 3 and a half million is all that can be done in my town?” he bristled. Looking him calmly in the eyes, I carefully enunciated a single word: “Evidently.” Business owners, I tell Ben's story to give you a glimpse of the Realities of the Marketplace:
- Impact Quotient. How powerful is your message compared to your competitors'? This is the Impact Quotient of your message, whether it's delivered through mass media, face-to-face by your salespeople, or word-of-mouth by your customers to their friends. Advertising is more effective when you have something to say.
- Market Size/Ad Budget Ratio. How big is your town relative to your ad budget? The more populated the trade area, the more expensive it is to advertise. How able are you?
- Competitive Environment. How good are you at what you do? More importantly, how good are your competitors, and how many of them are there? Each of them is going to retain some customers regardless of what you do.
- Market Potential. What is the potential of your trade area? The total dollars spent in your product category is not a number you're likely to change. The question is, what percentage of that total will be yours?
Do you know your category's market potential in your trade area? Can you name the degree of your market penetration? Until a business achieves 4 to 6 percent of their market potential, they usually lack the financial steam to sustain a serious move on the marketplace. But when they've accumulated sufficient cash and courage, the ride to 25 percent is wooly and wonderful. Growing from 25 to 33 percent is much harder than the jump from 5 to 25. And creeping from 33 to 40 happens only when you're blessed with very weak competitors. Ben's total trade area contains 125,000 people. Statistically, they'll spend 67 dollars per person/per year in his product category. This gives Ben a market potential of 8,375,000 dollars. Growing from half a million to 2.1 million was fun and easy. Growing from 2.1 to 3.5 required Ben to stretch his comfort zone far beyond what most business owners would have been willing to consider. No stone has been left unturned in the 7 years we've been working together.“Ben, the way I see it, you've got four choices:
- Fire us and hire an ad firm that will tell you what you want to hear.
- Start a new business in an unrelated category in your town.
- Launch your existing category in another town.
- Shut up and be happy with what you've accomplished.”
I knew that Ben would never do number 4. I figured he'd go for number 2, or possibly even number 1. To my surprise, he immediately picked number 3. “Roy,” he said, _“You may not remember it, but you told me three years ago when I built the new store that I needed to be thinking about what I was going to do next. You said building that store was the final thing I might do to improve volume in my town. It looks like you were right.” We spent the rest of that day evaluating towns for an excited Ben to visit in 4 different states. He's on the road picking one now, and then we'll start climbing again. Business can be fun when you work with people of courage. Do you?
Marketing
The Great Ad Myth
There's no good way to tell a bad story. It doesn't matter how good you are with nouns and verbs when the core message itself is boring.
Ads are like houses. You can do a good job constructing a badly designed house, but when you're through, you've still got a badly designed house. It doesn't matter how good you are with a hammer and a saw when the blueprints themselves are faulty. Likewise, it doesn't matter how good you are with nouns and verbs when the core message itself is boring. There's no good way to tell a bad story. Ultimately, it is the core message of your campaign – the blueprint – that determines the success of your advertising.
- The core message of your ad matters more than how well it is written.
- The core message of your ad matters more than how well it is produced.
- The core message of your ad matters more than the spokesperson who delivers it for you.
- The core message of your ad matters more than your choice of media.
- The core message of your ad matters more than the target it reaches.
Give a powerful core message to an average writer and a mom'n'pop business can leap from Main Street, Mayberry, to the New York Stock Exchange. But give an average message to a powerful writer and you've got blah, blah, media filler. But you already knew that. One of my great failures as a human being is that I don't know how to make small talk. I'm being totally serious with you. I've never been able to master the art of talking without saying anything. I suppose it's why the people I meet in social situations often get the mistaken impression that I don't like them. My awkward inability to make small talk makes me a horrible party guest, but a better-than-average ad writer. Let me speak frankly: I've been extremely successful as an advertising consultant because I've been able to convince courageous businesspeople to throw caution to the wind and say something in their ads that actually matters. Do you remember a chapter in Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads called “John Young's Fortune?” John Young and his business partner, Jim Abrams, have been clients of mine for a number of years. Here's an ad they recently let me write for one of their franchises. It's a good example of what I'm talking about: You just sit there… waiting for the plumber to show up… watching the clock… waiting. Until he finally calls to say, 'We're going to have to reschedule for tomorrow.' Next time, call Benjamin Franklin, the Punctual Plumber. If he isn't there when he said he'd be, he pays you five dollars a minute. That's a dollar for every twelve seconds you have to wait. Heck, if Benjamin Franklin makes you wait as long as most plumbers do, you'll get your problem fixed for free and make a few hundred bucks. Dependable. Honest. Hardworking. Benjamin Franklin, the Punctual Plumber. He pays you if you have to wait.(Plumbers, don't steal that ad. It's copyrighted.)_Now let's be honest. The power of that ad isn't in the writing. It's in the message, “they pay you five dollars a minute. That's a dollar for every twelve seconds you have to wait.” There's just no way to say a thing like that without it being powerful.
The secret to successful marketing isn't copywriting, it's strategy.
Great ads aren't born in the hearts of great ad writers. They're born in the hearts of great businesspeople. Do you have the courage to stand apart from the crowd, to truly be different, and then to shout that message from the housetops? If you do, get ready to see your advertising begin to really pay off. If you don't, get ready for business as usual.
Advertising
New Ways of Looking at Old Ideas
Do you want to keep up with the times, and get ahead of the curve? Grasp the new ideas. Learn the new words.
Old ideas are carried by old words.
New ideas are carried by new words.
Old words keep you inside the box.
New words help you escape it.
If you want to remain inside the box and fall behind the pack, just keep talking about target customers, demographics, gross impressions, and unique selling propositions.
Do you want to keep up with the times, and get ahead of the curve? Grasp the new ideas. Learn the new words.
These are the new ideas. These are the new words:
Felt need: A desire in the heart of the customer. To speak to an unfelt need is to answer a question that no one was asking.
Relevance: A message has relevance to the degree it speaks to a felt need.
Credibility: A message has credibility to the degree it is believed.
Impact quotient: Relevance + Credibility.
Competitive environment: an objective assessment of (A.) the market and (B.) your place in it. Your strengths and weaknesses compared to the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, including location, reputation, selection, product lines, unaided recall (brand awareness), etc.
Limiting factor: anything that’s holding you back.
Unleveraged asset: an ace you forgot you had up your sleeve.
Core competence: what you’re all about, really.
Market potential: the total dollars available in your business category in your marketplace. Easily measured if you know your NAICS code.
Share of voice: An advertiser’s percentage of all the advertising done in their category. Location visibility, signage, word-of-mouth, etc. are included in this metric.
Share of mind: The mental real estate an advertiser owns in the mind of the public. Share of voice x impact quotient = share of mind
Share of market: An advertiser’s percentage of the total business volume done in their category.
Authenticity: Being what you say you are.
Transparency: showing your dirty laundry; admitting a downside rather than ignoring it. Transparency increases credibility.
Personal Experience Factor: Buzz is triggered by personal experience. If the experience of your customer – the word on the street – does not line up with your message, your message has no credibility. Unscripted, unedited, unpolished testimonials have credibility because they carry the credentials of personal experience and the markings of authenticity.
Ad-speak: Cliché’s, empty phrases, unsubstantiated claims, and hyperbole – the language of yesterday’s advertising. Words without weight, having neither relevance nor credibility.
Curse of knowledge: The blinders that come with expertise.
Brandable chunks: vivid, recurring phrases used by an advertiser to help position and define the brand. Slogans and taglines are out. Brandable chunks are in.
Black words: empty words that fail to contribute to a colorful mental image. The objective of every good writer is to remove the black words so that the others shine more brightly.
Were you waiting for me to discuss metrics, unique visitors, page views, and the other jargon of digital media? No need. Those things are already being discussed as much as they need to be.
The 4 keys to a rainbow future are these:
- Relevance
- Credibility
- Speak to a felt need
- Be what you say
That’s it, really. The rest is just bookkeeping.
Marketing
Why Your Word-of-Mouth Ain’t As Good As You Think — And What to Do About It
When marketers and business owners talk about Word-of-Mouth, they only think they’re talking about the same thing.
When marketers and business owners talk about Word-of-Mouth, they only_think_ they’re talking about the same thing. Marketers talk about WOM as “buzz” — i.e., newsworthiness. Therefore they measure WOM in terms of un-earned media coverage. Business owners talk about WOM as referred customers showing up at their door. Obviously buzz ≠ referrals.And from an owner's perspective referrals are far more valuable than buzz. So here’s the thing about referral-based WOM…Business owners often think “word-of-mouth is our best advertising” because:
- They only see it when it works
- They believe they spend no money to get these customers (i.e., WOM is “free”)
- The customers they get from referrals show up mostly pre-convinced
And of those three reasons, only the last is an accurate perception.
Why Your Word-of-Mouth Isn’t Working As Well As You Think
The first reason — only seeing it when it works — inevitably leads to skewed perceptions. Here’s what business owners don’t see:
- You don’t see when a customer could have recommended you, but didn’t.
- You don’t see when a customer’s mediocre endorsement failed to persuade
Because those failure points are invisible, you feel like you’re batting a thousand. But if you could see them, you’d reassess just how well your WOM is working.
Why “Over-Serving” the Customer Is Bad Strategy
Many business owners harbor an unexamined notion that customer service directly equates to customer experience. In their minds, the better the service, the better the experience. And the better the experience, the better the recommendations and referrals. Unfortunately, all of these connections are indirect at best, non-existent at worst.**First, service isn’t experience. Memory is experience.**So unless a service touchpoint has been intentionally crafted to be remarkable and memorable, it likely won’t improve the remembered customer experience. People remember beginnings, endings, emotional highlights and lowlights, sensory “tangibles,” and interesting stories. They don’t necessarily remember service at all.**Second, service costs.**So over-serving the customer becomes an expensive proposition with a rather dicey, perhaps even non-existent, ROI. Now, there are things you can do to improve WOM, but you must first accept that WOM ain’t free. You can make it a more effective and efficient investment by using smarter strategies than “over serving” the customer, but it’s still an investment. Third, everyone’s definition of superior customer service differs. Advertising great customer service almost never attracts customers and always results in unmet expectations and increased complaints.
How to Effectively & Efficiently Improve Your WOM Batting Average
To improve referral-based WOM, you must address the failure points. That means: a) giving customers greater confidence to refer you, and b) providing customers with the tools to give more persuasive referrals. And the best tools for both aims are:
- Perspective-shaping vocabulary, and
- Story-based talking points and descriptions.
Perspective-Shaping Vocabulary
Two of the more blatant examples of perspective-shaping vocabulary are naming the diseaseandDeBeers use of the 4-Cs.When whisk gave a name to “ring around the collar,” that name shaped the perceptions of millions of housewives, who then wanted the new tool — liquid detergent — to solve that problem. When DeBeers wanted to increase the amount Americans spent on engagement rings — by buying higher quality stones — they gave them the vocabulary necessary to conceptualize diamond quality. This power of vocabulary to shape perception and improve memory and experience was explored by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In one experiment, Vygotsky had young children draw butterfly wings. Sometimes the kids drew while looking at the wings, and sometimes they drew from memory. Curiously, only some kids drawing quality dropped significantly when they had to draw from memory. Others drew about as well from memory as they did while looking at the wings.**What separated them was their vocabulary.**Children who had words for the shapes they saw within the wings — “dot,” “triangle,” “slash,” etc. — were able to draw the wings from memory. But children without that vocabulary struggled. Vygotsky then took some of those struggling children and — in a different context — taught them the words for the shapes. When he retested those newly-taught kids, they too were able to draw the wings well, even from memory. While those who still lacked the vocabulary showed no improvement. It’s the same with adults: the right words shape and sharpen perception and memory. And memory becomes experience. If you wish to improve your customer's ability to recall WHY your provided experience was top-notch — and then articulate that powerfully to a friend months or years later — you must give them the vocabulary to do that.
Story-Based Talking Points and Descriptions
A compelling story can be memorized and retold from one exposure, as exemplified by most any urban myths you’ve ever heard. For example, the one about the Las Vegas tourist who woke up in a bathtub full of ice with a note on his chest informing him that he’s missing a kidney and needs to dial 911. You hear that story once, you can remember and repeat it forever. And that’s what you want — for customers to remember and retell stories that will make their recommendations and referrals more persuasive. And keep in mind: you likely won’t be able to tell customers the story yourself; your people have to know and tell these stories. That makes ease of memory and transference that much more important. If you want your staff to promote word of mouth, give them stories to tell highlighting key components of your customer experience. There’s a world of difference a waiter saying:
“Yeah, we’ve got really great house wine here — especially the white wine — it’s super-premium stuff.”
And
“Our house white wine is Gavi dei Gavi from Italy and it’s probably the most full bodied white wine you’ve ever tasted. In fact, to measure a wine’s body, you measure the quantity of suspended or dissolved solid substances in the liquid — “dry extract” that’s left after the water and alcohol have been evaporated. As you might guess, most reds have twice the body of white wine. Except for THIS white wine. This particular Gavi Dei Gavi has as much body as most reds. Would you like to try some?”
Which one’s more likely to sell a carafe or two of white wine? Which one is more likely to shape the experience of drinking and appreciating the wine? And which one is likely to get at least partially repeated during a review or recommendation?
Improving Word-of-Mouth Motivation & Efficacy
Here’s the thing: customers don’t make referrals because they want to help your business. Not primarily, at least. Customers refer you in order to help themselves first, their friend/acquaintance second, and you third. Customers make referrals to help themselves look smart, in-the-know, connected, and generous. So by giving them the vocabulary and stories to help them look smart and in-the-know, you dramatically increase their motivation to recommend you. And those same tools also make their recommendations much more persuasive.
Amplifying Your WOM Once You’ve Improved It
So here’s the good news: once you’ve created your vocabulary and collected your WOM stories, you’ve actually done all the hard work to create amazing mass media ads. The same stories that would make a recommendation or referral more powerful coming from a friend will also make your radio ads more persuasively powerful when coming from a spokesperson that is perceived as a friend. And the more people already know about you and your stories, the more confident your customers will be in recommending you in the first place. So if the previous steps for improving your WOM seemed daunting, there is a done-for-you shortcut: hire a savvy ad consultant to create a WOM-based mass media campaign. Or you can do the work yourself and grow your business to the point where you can afford mass media. Either way works, if you work it. And anything is better than keeping your blinders on while thinking your not-so-great WOM is “crushing it.”
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Frequently asked questions
Questions? We’ve got answers.
Why Wizard of Ads®?
Are you ready to transform your business into a distinctive, emotionally resonant brand? Here's why hiring Ryan Chute and Wizard of Ads® Services is the game-changer your business needs:
Distinctiveness Beyond Difference: Your brand must be distinctive, not just different, to stand out. We specialize in creating emotional connections with your customers to make your brand unforgettable.
Building Real Estate in the Mind: Branding with us helps your customers remember your brand when they need your service again, creating a lasting impression.
Value Proposition Integration: We ensure that your brand communicates a compelling value proposition that resonates with your audience, creating a powerful brand strategy.
Who Should Work with The Wizard of Ads®?
Wizard of Ads® offers services that start with understanding your marketing challenges.
We specialize in crafting authentic and disruptive brand stories and help build trust and familiarity with your audience. By partnering with Wizard of Ads®, you can transform your brand into one people remember and prefer. We understand the power of authentic storytelling and the importance of trust.
Let us elevate your marketing strategy with our authentic storytelling and brand-building experts. We can take your brand to the next level.
What Do The Wizard of Ads® Actually Do?
Maximize Your Marketing Impact with Strategic Alignment.
Our strategy drives everything we do, dictating the creative direction and channels we use to elevate your brand. Leveraging our national buying power, we ensure you get the best media rates for maximum market leverage. Once your plan is in motion, we refine our strategy to align all channels—from customer service representatives to digital marketing, lead generation, and sales.
Our goal is consistency: we ensure everyone in your organization is on the same page, delivering a unified message that resonates with your audience. Experience the power of strategic alignment and watch your brand thrive.
What can I expect working with The Wizard of Ads®?
Transform Your Brand with Our Proven Process.
Once we sign the agreement, we visit on-site to uncover your authentic story, strengths, and limitations. Our goal is to highlight what sets you 600 feet above the competition. We'll help you determine your budgets and plan your mass media strategy, negotiating the best rates on your behalf.
Meanwhile, our creative team crafts a durable, long-lasting campaign designed to move your brand beyond mere name recognition and into the realm of household names. With an approved plan, we dive into implementation, producing high-quality content and aligning your channels to ensure your media is delivered effectively. Watch your brand soar with our comprehensive, strategic approach.
What Does A Brand-Foward Strategy Do?
The Power of Strategic Marketing Investments
Are you hungry for growth? We explain why a robust marketing budget is essential for exponential success. Many clients start with an 8-12% marketing budget, eventually reducing it to 3-5% as we optimize their marketing investments.
While it takes time to build momentum, you'll be celebrating significant milestones within two years. By the three to five-year mark, you'll see dramatic returns on investment, with substantial gains in net profit and revenue. Discover how strategic branding leads to compound growth and lasting value. Join us on this journey to transform your business.
Ready to transform your world?
(do it - you
deserve this)
deserve this)