Have you heard about Dave Balter? He’s the CEO and founder of the word of mouth organization BzzAgent and has just released the Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II. It’s a primer on word of mouth marketing with plenty of insight for church communicators.
Getting people talking is what the church is all about. The whole Great Commission is based around spreading the word and creating buzz. But most churches are hardly buzzing, and that’s where the Word of Mouth Manual can help. It’s a cover-to-cover look at word of mouth marketing, starting with whether it can actually be manufactured, continuing through its history and examining how you can put it to work for you (and your church). And we’re all about that.
So we’re happy to be able to give away free downloads:
Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II (PDF, 119 pages, 2.4 MB). You can also visit Amazon and buy a print copy (maybe not, looks like the limited print run is sold out).
Here’s what Balter has to say about the manual:
My new book, The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II, is an embodiment of Word of Mouth itself. Every aspect of it was conceived as an illustration of how to get people talking. There are dozens of elements of WOM in action which will become entirely obvious once you see it, read it and hold it.
If you’re looking to hear a bit more, Guy Kawasaki recently interviewed Balter about the manual, and here’s just one gem from Kawasaki’s interview:
Question: How often do companies successfully engineer word-of-mouth marketing?
Answer: The phrasing, “engineer word-of-mouth” is very interesting. Inasmuch as it suggests “force” or “manipulate,” I’d say that no company has ever successfully engineered word of mouth. However, for those companies that guide or inspire word of mouth by empowering consumers, respecting their opinions, thanking them for sharing their input, and making changes based on consumer counsel … in those cases, word of mouth marketing is successful all the time, every day.
