Forget cold calls.
Do away with direct mail.
And for the love of God, PLEASE stop wasting your money on advertisements.
This stuff doesn’t work.
Allow me to introduce you to your company’s greatest marketing ally: Word of Mouth.
She’s very pleased to meet you.
FACT: if you leverage, monitor and practice word of mouth through interaction, (not interruption) marketing, you win.
And you win BIG.
There’s a reason I know that. See, my entire career as an author/speaker has been built (and continues to be built) on word of mouth.
If you’re a first time reader, allow me to explain:
My name is Scott. I’m that guy who wears a nametag 24-7 to make people friendlier. (Faithfully since November 2, 2000.) I write books, give speeches and publish online learning tools that help businesspeople make a name for themselves, one conversation at a time.
Truthfully, it all started out as sort of an experiment. But after a few years, when experimental became experiential, I noticed something.
People started talking.
I didn’t ask them to. They just did.
And for a long time, I wasn’t sure why it was happening. I’m just some dude who wears a nametag! Why would anyone want to talk about that? I thought.
So I studied. I researched. Spent the next few years observing, reading books and attending seminars on the properties of word of mouth, creativity and idea stickiness.
Which brings us to today. Seven years later. (And people are still talking!)
I’ve put together a list called 12 Secrets of Sticky Ideas. As you read through them, relate them to your own ideas, products and websites. Brainstorm ways that you could increase your level of stickiness as well.
1. A nametag is INARGUABLE. It’s impossible to deny it: nametags are fun. And they work, too. Sigmund Freud wrote that a person’s name is the single context of human memory most apt to be forgotten. Sure is nice to have that handy reminder staring you in the face!
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Which of your products are impossible to object?
2. A nametag is UNEXPECTED. Most people wear nametags at conventions, churches, events and meetings. But at a dance club at 10 PM on a Friday night? Or at a sushi bar for lunch in the middle of the week? Or at a wedding? That ain’t right! So, the nametag breaks people’s patterns. It violates their schemas. And that’s exactly why they notice it. Because the most basic way to get someone’s attention is to break their pattern.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are five patterns of your target customer’s regular behavior? How could you break them?
3. A nametag is INTERESTING. In the book Made to Stick, authors Chip and Dan Health revealed that sticky ideas endure if they generate interest and curiosity. In other words, surprise is not enough. See, surprise ATTRACTS customers’ attention, but interest KEEPS their attention. Think McDonald’s sings. Think, ‘97 billion burgers sold.’
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What remarkable characteristics of your business encourage fans (not customers) to come back on a regular basis?
4. A nametag is VISUAL. Humans remember what they SEE three times as well as what they HEAR. In a situation when nobody else is wearing a nametag, it first stands out in person, then stands out in people’s minds. Thus, stickiness is about mindshare, not marketshare.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What word do you ‘own’ in the minds of your customers?
5. A nametag INSINUATES instead of IMPOSING. A nametag is non-threatening. It doesn’t force anybody to do anything. It’s just a symbol. An act of friendliness. People can choose to say hi or ignore it. No hard feelings. The nametag is there if you want it. It’s the difference between interruption and interaction. The difference between music and noise.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you interrupting or interacting with your customers?
6. A nametag is EMOTIONAL. People don’t do what they think; they do what they feel. When a stranger interacts with me because I’m wearing a nametag, that person feels playful. If they make a joke at my expense in front of ten other strangers on an airplane, they feel clever. And when they used my nametag as a memory tool, they feel relieved. Whatever the situation is, the nametag evokes some kind of positive, memorable emotion. Because ultimately, the only thing people can judge you on is how engaging with you makes them feel.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What core emotion does your company sybolize?
7. A nametag is a SOCIALIZATION. It creates encounters that otherwise would not have existed. It’s an icebreaker. A conversation starter. Not unlike the way cigarettes bring unacquainted smokers together in a group environment. It generates common ground.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How can you exponentially increase activity level and encourage community among the people you serve?
8. A nametag is SIMPLE. There’s not much to it. Nametags = friendly.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Is your idea simple enough that a five year old could understand it?
9. A nametag is RELATABLE. Everybody wears nametags at some point in their lives. Most everyone has accidentally left it on after some event. And partly everyone has exclaimed, ‘I wish everyone wore nametags!’ I can’t even tell you how many people come up to me and said, ‘Man! I wish I’d thought of that!’ And what’s funny is, they probably did. They just didn’t do anything about it. And THAT is the fine line between execution and extinction.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What existing worldview does your idea match?
10. A nametag is STICKY. I know, very funny. But I’m not just talking about the adhesive. The idea is sticky, too. Even if people don’t like it, it’s still sticky. Here’s what I mean. 90% of the people who hear about the nametag idea – from me, from others, from the Internet – respond with, ‘That’s the coolest idea I’ve eve heard of!’ On the other hand, 10% of the people who hear about my idea say, ‘That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard!’ Interestingly, both groups still tell their friends about it. It’s just that sticky.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do people tell their friends about your ideas, even if they don’t agree with you?
11. A nametag is COOL. Sure, cool is a difficult word to pin down, yet customers seem to know ‘cool’ products, ideas and companies when they see them. In fact, cool seems to be the most common word used to describe my nametag idea. Which is good. Customers are attracted to cool things. And they also like to tell their friends (and complete strangers!) about those cool things. Because cool rules.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
On a scale from 1-10, how cool is your product?
12. A nametag is CURIOUS. According to my calculations, over the years I’ve probably met about 100,000 new people because of wearing a nametag. And I’d say at least 50% of those people commented or inquired about nametag because they just HAD to ask. They HAD to know. So, my nametag appeals to a human’s inherent curious nature. It’s not just the ‘Aha!’ but the ‘Huh?’ that precedes the ‘Aha!’
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How often do people say to you, ‘OK, I just HAVE to ask…’?
