I recently sat in on a presentation by Jay Baer, who gave some really great insight on how to get your customers to willingly tell your story.
Organic social content from brands often fails. Facebook is moving away from “broadcasting” and towards social connecting/networking. If your customers aren’t telling it, your story won’t be heard.
What is a “Talk trigger”?
Jay described a “talk trigger” is an unconventional, operational choice that causes conversation.
What are the 4 components that are required when creating a talk trigger?
It must be a story worth telling…hence “talkable”
Example: The Sip-n-Dip lounge in MT features live human mermaids from 9pm-midnight; people post/talk about it because it is unique and different.
A talkable trigger must be repeatable. A talk trigger is NOT about going viral. “Going Viral” rarely happens. Every single customer must be able to experience the talk trigger.
Example: The AZ State fan base created the “curtain of distraction” during free-throws. Studies have shown that there have been a 3% decrease in free throw shots made by opponents, and ticket sales up 220% since this tradition was created.
It must be reasonable. You can’t “shock” people into something without creating suspicion/untrustworthiness.
Example: CVS receipts are absurdly long, which causes people talk about it on social media.
A talkable trigger must be relevant. If you rent an elephant and walk it down main street, people will talk about the elephant, not your business.
Example: UberConference has crazy on-hold music that tells a story about being on hold.
What are the 4 types of talk triggers?
Talkable Generosity
Example: In an attempt to increase sales, WindsorOne, a trim board manufacturer, stamped all of their boards with: “Call Kurt for a Shirt”. Then, Kurt himself, a sales rep, answers these phone calls and talks to the customers about their projects, recommends products, and sends them a shirt & product samples.
Talkable Speed
Example: Bogdanoff Dages and Co. CPAs Tax & Accounting firm in Indianapolis replies every phone call or email within 5 minutes. How many people talk able how much they love their accounting firm? Not many. But Bogdanoff Dages and Co. has figured out a way to make people talk. Almost everyone one of their reviews mentions their speed. Make a mental note: Competency keeps customers, it doesn’t gain customers. You need to find a way to gain customers. Then, use your competency to keep them. The goal is brand loyalty.
Talkable Usefulness
Example: Joe Manausa Real Estate in FL wrote an article on “how to sell a home without a realtor in FL” and put it on his website as a free download. This free download ends up being his #1 source of leads after people read the article and realize halfway through how much more difficult it is to sell a house than they originally thought. Later, when friends of Joe’s clients mention they are thinking about selling their house without a realtor, Joe’s clients share their experience and endorse Joe.
Talkable Empathy
You think your industry is tough? Here is an example for you: Americollect is a collections agency in WI with the tag line “Ridiculously Nice Collections” and they aren’t bluffing. Americollect has a reputation for treating all of their customers with unprecedented kindness and empathy. Want proof? 60% of their current staff of 250 were originally debtors. How’s that for a selling story?
I will leave you with a few facts to keep in mind:
50% of purchases are influenced by word of mouth
91% of B2B purchases are influenced by word of mouth
50% of word of mouth occurs online
The younger the generation, the more influenced they are by word of mouth
If you haven’t read this in one of my articles before, this is what it all boils down to: People trust people, not brands.
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Please reach out to the NewPoint team. If you are interested in more food marketing topics, please visit our Food for Thought page or check out NewPoint’s Patrick Nycz’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.
To identify and isolate areas for improvement in shopper marketing program strategies and tactics to further your CPG brand growth against set KPIs:
Maximize the economic performance of your CPG brand shopper marketing investment
Increase velocity at retail and consumer brand affinity
This shopper marketing audit will detail and contrast your CPG brand shopper marketing and messaging versus that of industry standard competitive practices and will include, but not limited to:
Target market reach, integrated retail marketing support, promotional continuity & awareness, offers and incentives, and tactical execution timing
Go-to-market launch strategies, timing, and tactical execution
Deliverables
Marketing Communication Audit Report
The deliverable will be a white paper with NewPoint Marketing findings and recommendations related to marketing activities in one retail partnership or DMA/market as defined by the client.
Brant brings 20+ years of experience to NewPoint as chief brand communicator and marketing-plan contributor.
Brant’s specialty is bringing an outside, investigative perspective that can feel alternately “rigorous” or “exasperating” depending on your point of view. Yet, he never fails to uncover a business’s unique selling proposition—one which can serve as a brand foundation for marketing that is compelling, creative and “sticky.”
Throughout his career, Brant’s applied his skill set to a broad range of business applications along the food supply-and-service chain. His services have provided vital clarity for all types of operations, from the more conventional food and food equipment manufacturers to the adjacent enterprises that partner with them, such as the Purdue University College of Agriculture.
Stephanie Bossung
Food industry marketing expertise—from retail to food-service and food-service equipment— is a natural outcome of having deep knowledge in every facet of a business’ operation. With 10 years in branding and business development, preceded by 15 years in mass media and promotions, Stephanie is an FMI Emerge mentor, holds an executive-level expertise in sales, marketing, media, and production management.
This exceptionally diverse skill set adds value for NewPoint clients by providing a full complement of perspectives on food-industry brand management endeavors.
Wired for a hawkish attention to detail while also maintaining a high-resolution view of the big picture, Stephanie is uniquely able to provide astute branding direction and simultaneously apply the business principles necessary to squeeze more bang out of every marketing buck.
Patrick Nycz
A member of the Forbes Agency Council and quoted in the New York Times, USA Today and Adweek, Patrick Nycz is the author of Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain: Marketing Strategies to Grow Local and Regional Food Brands. He is an FMI Emerge mentor, an American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award winner, and the Founding President of NewPoint Marketing, a full-service food industry marketing firm focused on food industry brands On a mission to grow.
Patrick’s vision for NewPoint emerged from his team’s success using this proven model for food industry clients and is fueled by NewPoint-funded food buyers and food manufacturers research around tracking consumer, industry, and ongoing food trends.
Kristy Blair
Since starting her 20-year career in commercial graphic design at one of the foremost catalog retailers in the world, Kristy’s visual branding skills have organically narrowed into the food-industry niche.
In that time, she’s directed graphic identities for snack food and restaurant startups, print materials for multiple agricultural seed companies, display graphics and merchandiser signage for major food-equipment manufacturers and everything in between.
Today, as one of the key brand architects for NewPoint clients, she continues to lead our visual research & development team, always working to find the innovative median between the best practices worth honoring and the accepted rules worth breaking.