I’m taking a few minutes to write this article about a phrase that many people wrongly associate with marketing: “it doesn’t matter if you like it or not… just talk about it!”
Marketing: it doesn’t matter if you like it or not… just talk about it! You’ve probably heard this phrase before. It is totally wrong… ok, maybe it’s 50% accurate, but the other 50% is so wrong, that I wanted to write what’s next.
Many people around me (maybe around you as well), while viewing this ad for Trivago about 50 times a day this summer, have certainly declared something like: “pff, advertising the only thing that matters is talking about it, in good or bad terms does not make a difference”. Why do we hear this statement? Poor understanding of the fundamentals of marketing, of course: the only mission of marketing is to make people talk. Well, it is very simplistic.
If you are less familiar with marketing, we never ever learned in our marketing classes that to talk badly about something will ultimately be beneficial, and that to achieve this, you’d have to apply the X or Y strategy of miscommunication, and then measure the ROI on the negative talks now circulating about the company… it’s ridiculous!
Let me ask you a question: unless your name is Eric Zemmour (the French may know who I am referring to, see the heated exchange between Mr. Zemmour and Anne Dorval), how can talking badly be beneficial to you? If the answer is that it will allow you to make your voice heard in this environment already saturated with messages, then you are wrong.
How do I know if people are talking well about me?
Here is the analysts’ answer: marketing research! Typical NPS scales (Net Promoter Score (you can read my blog article on the subject) can help you understand the state of affairs of your business.
In one simple question, you can determine a score for your business and compare yourself within the industry while getting valuable testimonials from your current and potential customers.
If surveying your market seems too complex or too expensive, start with an internal investigation. Caution: it must be confidentially. I once interviewed a sales representative while his boss was on the table. At some point, the representative mentioned, “You know, it’s a good company, I will not speak ill of it…” That’s when I realized that his testimony was biased and therefore incomplete because his boss was here.
Talk well about it…but just talk about it!
Marketing managers, both in the context of B2B and B2C, know that reputation is not a matter of “talking about me, no matter what you say.” The times in which we live allows for negative comments to spread faster than any virus. And as the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure for an online reputation.” Finally, if you want to be the main topic of conversation, find a creative way to do so, rather than risk a controversial way, that can prove to be a double-edged sword.
On this analysts’ rant, I wish you a great week … and talk well about Exo B2B… but do talk about it!
What are the ads that you still talk well or ill of from a brand or company?
