Word of Mouth marketing has existed since the dawn of time. If villagers liked their blacksmith, people talked about him/her throughout the region. Those in need of his specialist services, creating swords to strike a blow against the invaders, would travel from afar to obtain his particular brand of steel. When a baker was found to be short-shifting the locals, he’d be run out of town eventually; but not before suffering a slow decline in sales due to everyone talking about his sneaky ways. The power of stories when it comes to recognising those we want to do business with, vs those we should steer clear of is not to be taken lightly; especially in the age of social media marketing.
DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD Maybe it’s just a very disgruntled maiden, paid off by the king to undermine the truth. Look at what happened to Anne Boleyn. A few well-placed rumours circulated by Henry VIII or his loyal cronies cost her her head. There are PR specialists, driving expensive cars on the strength of their ability to bury a negative story. These people may even earn more than their counterparts, those paid to boost a good story. It’s a clever skill and knowing how to bury or raise your ploys can mean the difference between the survival, or the death of a career.
But what happens if something goes wrong?
A mere whisper of wrongdoing, in this current age of #metoo and similar campaigns, is made even harder to manage by the sheer speed of a story breaking.
Where there’s smoke there's fire, right?
When it does, you need to be ready for it.
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The only way to effectively do this, is to counter the bad with the good. A heavy dose of positive news will often drown out the negative news. My business as a specialist publishing coach to non-fiction game changers and thought leaders is heavily reliant on my authors getting excellent reviews for their books. Often a reader is unaware of just how powerful their thoughts can be. They may be a perfectionist that feels a FIVE-star rating is just too high, regardless of how much they thoroughly loved something. On Amazon, positive reviews and five-star ratings can have a tremendous impact on sales and promotion - so it pays to get it right. The actual written reviews are also just as relevant - and need to be meaningful, bright, and sincere.
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