Now that we know how WOM works and who’s working it, what can you do to tap into the Power of WOM?
* Engage in “on-line reputation management,” says Henry Harteveldt, with Forrester Research and a highly respected Internet travel observer. He explains, “You don’t have to deny anything that’s bad, but look at it in the aggregate. If there is a consistent negative pattern, it’s time to think about whether you’re guilty of over-promising or under-delivering.”
* Andy Sernovitz , president of the Word of Mouth Marketing
Association, said that WOM in travel is a little different in that it
often involves “after-marketing” – after people have already returned
home. And that means long-term relationships – calling people, writing
a note.
“It’s amazing,” says Sernovitz, “how few travel providers will do
something like send a thank you note or make a follow-up call – this
after a customer spends five or ten thousand dollars.”
* Reach out to the influencers: The influencers are not necessarily
celebrities or the proverbial “hipster influencers” (generating all
that buzz about beautiful women and handsome men being paid by
marketers to order expensive vodka at the hottest bar).
Sernovitz says influencers are regular folks “like you and me. “We all
know someone we ask about computers or cars or travel. The first step
to get WOM is to find the right people to talk. First and obvious are
happy customers. Second are travel professionals – and sometimes those
are inter-related. You should encourage your customers to tell not only
their friends but heir travel agents.”
* Influencers are not always the big spenders, says Sernovitz, who
points out: “If somebody goes to the same restaurant every week, they
don’t talk to their friends about it. But somebody who goes for a
special occasions for the first time – they will tell everybody because
they are happy new customers.”
* WOM tools are not necessarily all that sophisticated, says
Sernovitz – and can be as simple as an e-mailed newsletter “one of the
most awesome WOM tools ever invented.”
* Create ambassador programs. Invite your best customers to get
special access to information so they can spread it around. –
frontload promotions by offering coupons to these folks.
* Some travel guru’s have fan bases – like Rick Steves and Karen
Brown – people organized around authority figures in travel. But you
don’t have to be well known to be authority figure.
Larry Pimentel, CEO of SeaDream Yachts, is a firm believer that
advertising is less believed today than ever, that public relations is
far more powerful at the upper end. Journalists are a prime target for
SeaDream because of the power of third party endorsements.
* Bug the Bloggers: Karen Weiner Escalera, president of a marketing
communications firms that specializes in luxury travel, deals
regularly with bloggers and says “you have to work with them in a
different way. They don’t want a press release; they want an exclusive
item that reflects the tone of the resort - -and it can be irreverent.
It’s more about subjectivity as opposed to traditional media, which is
more about objectivity.”
And Escalera offers what is most crucial about WOM: “you have to be honest and have a product that supports the WOM.”
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