Because so many companies have been burned by spreading a false or stealth message, WOMMA and other WOM experts advise being completely transparent with your consumer interactions. What does this mean, and why is there so much confusion about just posting some cool info?

It’s kind of like that uptight guy in your office who worries about every little thing. After a meeting he asks you, “Did I come across as too bossy?” “Was that guy trying to upstage me?” “Why did Mr. Nelson sit in a different chair than usual?” The thing is, he worries so much because he can’t find the easy blend of transparent and cool. Fortunately, we fired him, so now everyone at MGH is completely cool, hip and perfectly transparent.

The moral of this story is quite simply, you don’t have to lug your baggage into the conference room and dump it on the table for everyone to know you, like you and trust you. You just have to play it cool. Be who you are, don’t hide behind masks or make up elaborate stories to get in with the crowd, just chill.

BEING TRANSPARENT IN WOM CONVERSATIONS

• Don’t create an alternate personality for yourself.
• Don’t get into a conversation that forces you to lie.
• Play it cool, say what you came to contribute and don’t try to control the conversation
• Give yourself a crash course in life outside of work… don’t remove yourself too much from your consumer/human side.
• Don’t enter the conversation if all you can bring is a corporate mouthpiece; we see that enough in ads.
• Use a genuine, honest identity when talking to consumers in any context… pretend every discussion is one you would have at the grocery store with a neighbor.
• Don’t put pressure on yourself to disclose everything about you. No one cares.
• Don’t let your boss control every word you say; you may as well keep quiet if you can’t be real.

BEING COOL IN WOM CONVERSATIONS

• Don’t pretend to know about things you don’t, you’ll get eaten up alive.
• Don’t ask questions just to solicit answers.
• Go with the thread. Online or offline, don’t be a social ninny.
• Know what you have to contribute and lay it out there.
• Nobody likes a brown-noser, don’t compliment the heck out of everyone.
• Be yourself.
• Benefit by using your own personality.

If you want more, visit a high school. I think this “cool cat” is pretty much the clichéd popular senior everyone tries to hang out with on Friday night. I always said hormones make you savvy.

Getting people to talk about you is easy. Accepting what they think/say is a different story.

Many people are gun-shy about launching a word of mouth campaign because they fear they’ll get diarrhea of mouth instead. The truth is, having people talk about you (good, bad and ugly) is better than silence.

Sure, you may find a few comments that are off-message, give raw feedback or incorrect information altogether. But the truth is, at least people are talking, and if you’re a part of the conversation you can gently help eliminate mis-communications as they’re uncovered.

At MGH, we’ve developed a support program for clients who are dealing with, living in fear of and on the path to recovery from “word-wounding syndrome.” We know it’s hard to put yourself out there and it’s harder still to pour money into an outreach that makes you vulnerable to the world. We like to believe that our support gives clients the tools they need to defuse issues, redirect problems into solutions and find ways to benefit from customer feedback. It’s that kind of agency love that makes our word of mouth campaigns seem less threatening and completely manageable.

A FEW THINGS WE’VE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY

You CAN have a good measure of control: When you start a word of mouth campaign, you aren’t signing your life over to the masses. Instead, you’re developing a campaign that allows you to get as close to your consumer as possible. Sometimes this means building controls into communications (user-only posts, no-post messages, ambassador program vetoes, etc.) to make you feel comfortable. Also, quality of message, selection of target audience and careful monitoring make a big difference in the peace of mind you’ll get from a WOM campaign.

You won’t be alone: MGH is always scanning, reporting, revising, reevaluating and completely monitoring your WOM outreach. Whether it’s a blog, a forum, ambassador program, street team, podcast or viral email… it’s best to have hands on deck to identify and solve problems as they arise.

You know your consumer pretty well: The thing most people forget is that these bloggers/social network avatars and Facebookers are no different than the core consumer you target through traditional outreaches daily. You already know these people, you just haven’t learned to speak their social language. Instead, you’ve spoken yours. It’s like having a neighbor you grill with on the weekends and one day bump into him at his corporate office. It’s the same guy, just in a slightly different environment. Two settings, same dude. Same goes for WOM

Bad and ugly turn warm and cuddly pretty quickly: Marketers tend to pucker up and get nauseous when they hear so much as a “I’m not crazy about the screen resolution” or “That flavor isn’t as good as grape” from consumers. These are not negative comments, they are opinions…and they’re great. If you let it ride, consumers will interject their own thoughts and experiences naturally. Sometimes honest fans will emerge to sway the group in your direction. Credibility like that can’t be contrived and it’s frequently more powerful than unidirectional messaging.