After moderating a fantastic event “How to Turn Word of Mouth and Social Media into Sales” in NYC, I asked Abbey Klaassen, editor of AdAge, what she thinks the trick is to convert a passive fan into an active brand advocate. Someone who goes out of their way to tell everyone how wonderful your product is.
Klaassen said a great way to convert fans to advocates is to simply delight them in completely unexpected ways.
As an example, she told a great story of receiving a free burrito at a Chipolte restaurant. Klaassen had always been a customer and a passive fan of the chain of Mexican restaurants, but one day, out of the blue, she received this special unexpected treat. A free burrito!
It was an element of surprise and delight that took Klaassen off guard in a positive way. The net result is she came back to her office and told everyone about it. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I like it,” said Klaassen.
-David Spark, Social Media Journalist, Spark Media Solutions
David Spark
Spark Media Solutions
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Sometimes it is the little things that can make all the difference. Many businesses (large and small) are clueless on this point. Often times they are too stingy as well. Cost of free burrito to Chipotle: $.50, benefit in terms of WOM and advocacy: Priceless!
I am going to start working this into my client consults…”You know, sometimes all it takes is a free burrito
”
@MediaLabRat
Yeah, I agree. A free burrito for me would result in a lot of Word of Mouth.
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