One of the fundamental Five Ts of word of mouth marketing I teach in my book is “Tracking.” Because word of mouth often involves a lot of testing of topics and trying new things, you need a tracking component to help you identify what works and what doesn’t.
One of the brightest minds in tracking and measurement is Olivier Blanchard. We were lucky enough to have him join us at our last Word of Mouth Supergenius event, where he shared a bunch of practical ways he coaches brands on how to determine the ROI of their programs.
A few of his big ideas:
- Nothing a company does is free. It’s easy to think social media is free because the tools are free, but in reality they take manpower, technology and time — all of which are limited resources.
- Establish a baseline. Start measuring by evaluating the results of what you’re already doing. Not everything, just focus on what’s important based on the objectives you’re trying to accomplish.
- Create activity timelines. Every activity you do (press releases, events, etc.) should be plotted on a timeline that you can then compare to the volume of both positive and negative mentions.
- Look beyond digital figures. Olivier recommends looking at offline figures too, like in-store foot traffic, to get a full view of what your word of mouth and social media programs are really adding to the bottom line.
If you like this presentation, check out our upcoming Word of Mouth Supergenius event in New York on July 20.