More go for less dough

My friends are all talking—and by talking, I mean posting statuses and links—about a new Dallas restaurant called Dough. It’s a pizza place at Preston and Forest that is, according to all accounts, really yummy and really popular. Just like nearby Liberty Burger at Forest and Inwood, Dough is building a pretty good business around modern “word of mouth” promotion. People have a positive experience at Dough and tell their friends. We all show up and eat. Then we tell our friends, too. The restaurant has spent almost no funds on paid advertising, getting—in the words of an old gas station sign—“more go for less dough.”

 

Brand advocacy like this is, and always has been, at the heart of public relations. In fact, all we’re really trying to do as PR people is to get others to talk (positively) about our company or service. In this sense, we’ve worked with traditional media to advocate on our behalf and—as digital interaction becomes more and more prominent—we now try to get “citizen journalists” to do the same.

It’s a process that goes beyond simply name recognition or a catchy tagline. The things that gives a brand longevity and power are all the intangible elements that make up an experience with that entity. PR is about working to create and reinforce that experience.

While there are countless tactics which can contribute to the development of brand advocates, three key concepts rise to the top:

1.       Engage

Put simply, you need to have a two-way conversation with your audience members. Think of the last few lectures and presentations you’ve attended. Think about your favorite talk show. The most interesting—Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres—were those in which the speaker asked questions of the audience and actively responded to the answers. Even if most of the audience (including you) just listened, they probably felt more of a connection to the presenter and her content because she made an effort to engage.

 

Modern media works the same way. We don’t want information dumped on us; we want to have an interactive experience. And the research backs it up. According to an article on consumer-brand identification in the current issue of International Journal of Research in Marketing, there is a “strong causal relationship” between drivers like “warmth” and “memorable experiences” and a consumer’s brand loyalty. We want to strive to make those connections at every available touchpoint.

2.       Ask

Once we’ve established a positive relationship, we shouldn’t wait for our new friends to endorse us. We need to actively ask them to do so. Dan Zarrella, author of The Social Media Marketing Book, says that tweets containing the phrase “please retweet” are FOUR TIMES more likely to be shared. It’s a simple but deliberate call to action that turns your followers into advocates—and it’s a highly effective tactic on personal media channels like Facebook, where people trust the recommendations of their friends and acquaintances.

Don’t have that many followers? Try influencing your audience’s influencers, says Bill Kula, Director of External Comms at Verizon. Identify the top voices in your industry, whether they be bloggers, industry journalists, columnists at key publications or simply individuals who carry a lot of clout. Then engage with them on driving conversation around who you are and what you do.

3.       Recognize

Finally, as my mother (and Dale Carnegie) always said, make people feel important, no matter who they are. Acknowledge their contribution to the conversation. Show respect for them and their opinions. Feature their ideas, even if it’s just a simple retweet or customer quote. Making a big deal—or even a little deal—out of one person’s mention will encourage others to follow suit. Pretty soon you’ll have a whole bunch of people saying nice things about you.

And, in the end, isn’t that really what public relations is all about?