“I can’t believe I found the same product for a cheaper price…I can’t wait to ‘share’ it with all my friends so they can take advantage of this great bargain.” That’s sharing…
“WOW, I can’t believe how well Company X treated me during my entire purchase…what an incredible experience…I can’t wait to ‘tell all my friends’ about it so they can enjoy the same experience.” That’s Word-of-Mouth…
If you can’t see the difference, that may be part of the problem with creating the Long Tail of Word-of-Mouth. Word-of-Mouth contains passion and trust and commitment to stand behind an experience, a company, or a person. Sharing is providing information but without a personal connection/recommendation. You shared some information with your audience that you know about, not necessarily that you support and trust.
Creating a company to get more “Shares” is very different than creating a company that is built around getting more “Word-of-Mouth.” The key word that is missing is TRUST. I can share something I don’t trust. I won’t spread word-of-mouth about something I don’t trust.
Think about all the places you are passionate about and trust. These are the places you would be happy to spread the word about and tell people…and with passion.They can’t go wrong buying from this company or this person. This is why word-of-mouth is so valuable…shares aren’t nearly as valuable.
Ask yourself the tough question…”Is your company (and people) getting trusted word-of-mouth from your customers or are they getting shares about special deals or simply products?” The answer to this question you will give you much better insight into how much your customers Trust you and your employees.
