Socialmediaworx

Even with the rollout of a freshly redesigned line of drop-dead gorgeous iMacs, and despite the ridiculous amounts of buzz generated for the iPhone - deservedly so - Apple still remembered to do the most basic thing: ask their customers for their iPhone stories. It doesn't take a million-dollar agency budget to create a simple online form to connect with your customers and get the real story.

As social media continues to grow and word of mouth strategies prove themselves to ever more critical, what is the relationship between traditional ad-buys and social media? The latest report from Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Nielsen's BASES research division suggests that the two go hand-in-hand, and that marketers that "treat traditional advertising and word of mouth management as two separate animals do so in error, since the two are so ...

Okay, so I really want to come back this morning's keynote, but it's time for the next session - looking at generating WOM on college campuses - something we're trying to figure out at BestSemester. From alumni ambassador programs to mobile strategies, we need to do a better job providing our students the tools to share and amplify their story. Gary Colen of Amp, is presenting his work ...

I would imagine there are ambassador programs and WOM strategies starting up and dying every day. Sustaining a WOM strategy is hard work. By starting a WOM effort, it means you are committing to: Listening to what's being said Learning from it Acting on it Communicating what you've learned Asking questions Being honest and transparent Making sure you have the necessary resources to sustain properly You're not just developing one-time transactions, you're developing ongoing relationships. Provide people fun ...

What are some of the roadblocks that kill conversation-launching ideas? Routines Committees Find new channels. Circumvent the committee. Take advantage of the design principles of the naturally sticky ideas Look for themes that cross boundaries

Sticky ideas are Emotional. Important quetions to think about: What stories resonate? How do you appeal to your audience's identity? What do you need to communicate about your organization that appeals to your customer's identity? Be a part of the conversations that are critical to your audience's identity.

Sticky ideas are Concrete. Urban legends are Concrete. They employ tangible, sensory images that sear their way into our brains. Does your messaging and advertising have the same kind of Concrete, sensory imagery that will be memorable? How do you bring your mission statement from the abstract, to the tangible? Be specific Use rich, sensory language Employ engaging, human-centered stories So why is it that we make it so difficult to use the most ...

Chip Heath, co-author of "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die," is now on stage. Is it possible to reverse-engineer ideas to stick? For example, could you develop the strength of an idea as strong as an urband legend, which somehow survive despite lacking a blog or PR agency? Sticky Ideas are:  Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories Ask yourself - is it possible for the goals in ...

All the presentations over the next two days are available online.  (And if you're looking for killer ideas and presentations, don't miss the newly launched www.ted.com) Word of mouth can' be faked or invented. Word of mouth recommendations have credibility - they are consistently the top purchase driver cross-category

Conversations matter. Relationships matter. And in an association built infused with a culture of peer-review, scholastic networking and academic discussion with colleagues, relationships are the lifeblood coursing through this collection of more than 180 campuses around the world. The sharing of knowledge is our service. We facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. But not just one-way, transactional conversations – we’re talking every which way, 3D, globe-encompassing conversations. ...