On October 30th, I had the pleasure of attending SWOMfest in Austin, a conference organized by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell from Church of the Customer blog who created the Society for Word of Mouth network. In addition to the points made in the video above (created by Jay Ehret), there were plenty of other takeaways worth noting:

Defining Your Purpose is at the core of breeding word of mouth:

• People vote for candidates that share the same values, they want to buy from companies that do as well
• Companies who establish a purpose outperform other companies by 5 to 1.
• A purpose is not a cliche, empty “mission statement”. It is a defined reason for a business to exist other than profits.
• A purpose can also be defined as a definitive statement of the difference you want to make in the world.
• But… your purpose must be relevant to your audience.
• Advertising is not a differentiator. A purpose is.
• Purpose fosters meaningful innovation… Do not innovate just for the sake of innovation.
• Look at every opportunity and ask: “Does it help fulfill the purpose?”

A story is essential in delivering your message through word of mouth.

• Stories are packets that you give to customers that help word of mouth spread.
• You must provide your customers with a story and make it easy to tell yours to others.
• The story must interest, amuse, instruct, and inspire.
• A story is an account of events…with vivid, specific details.
• A story must have a “neat” element that makes it worth telling.
• 4 Elements of a story: Character, Setting, Problem, Resolution.
• The “theme” of your story aligns with the defined “purpose” of your business.

Using social media to spur word of mouth is more about process than technology.

• Select customers to become “customer evangelists.”
• Make them the face of your business, reward them, champion them.
• Listen to the online conversation.
• Join the online conversation and tell your story.
• Start small, don’t wait, fly under the radar if you must.
• Effective marketing through social media and WOM is 10% technology and 90% process and execution.