Consumer generated media is fast becoming the most important factor in marketing effectiveness for many industries. And for those industries where it’s not yet a major determinant of marketing success, it’s just a matter of time.
Consumer generated media (CGM) is the combination of comments, reviews, critiques, and complaints wielded by consumers and devoured by prospective buyers in the world of blogs, forums, and online social networks.
CGM is nothing more than word of mouth. And word of mouth marketing — which marketers have always desired — is now on multi-media steroids.
As your business coach, I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you of the irreversible transformation taking place in the marketplace of the new millennium. The consumer is in control with all the information, commentary, and comparisons she could want at her fingertips. If you haven’t already begun to adapt your marketing strategies to today’s marketplace, you need to do so immediately.
One example from the auto industry
In the automotive industry, the Internet is now inseparable from the purchase cycle. Nearly 75 percent of consumers cite word-of-mouth recommendations as the most influential factor in their car buying discussion. If you want to think of it another way, over $300 billion in global auto sales are influenced by the recommendations of others.
That’s some pretty serious power behind word of mouth. And this is where CGM comes into the picture. Here’s what you can learn from the big auto makers that you can use to supercharge your small business growth.
In an article Who’s Behind the Wheel Now? Pete Blackshaw outline how auto shoppers increasingly rely on the digital trail of high-impact consumer-generated media (CGM).
* CGM Impressions: The Web hosts over 100 million auto-related comments from consumers. This barely factors in the explosive growth of experience-rich blog commentary. A growing percentage of these public comments are fortified with highly-persuasive multi-media imagery such as photos or videos
* CGM Reach: Comments act as de facto ad units. They’re served in a highly-targeted manner against nearly one billion auto-related searches every year.
* CGM Hot Spots: Millions of comments provide specifics on auto-related fraud, lawsuits, and safety problems.
* CGM Impact: A growing percentage of auto shoppers walk into showrooms with a stash of Internet commentary, blog reviews, Edmunds scorecards, and more to increase negotiation leverage. Data equals power.
The auto industry is just one example of the new marketplace dynamics that companies must deal with. The small business owner who makes stimulating a dialog with consumers and monitoring CGM a top priority now will be the one to establish a firm leadership role in his or her chosen niche.
What you need to do to succeed with your small business
It’s the same thing as big corporations — you need to listen to your target market, and provide them an easy way to communicate with you. There’s a major difference for you though.
In making these adaptations to your marketing and business operations, you have two distinct advantages as a small business owner.
1. You’re already a lot closer to your clients and customers than big corporations can ever hope to be.
2. When it comes to changes and improvements, you can make them a lot faster than larger companies can.
These are BIG advantages held by small business owners, and they’re not to be taken lightly. Consumer behavior, desires, and demands are changing in every industry large and small. You can use the advanced research and tracking of big corporations to adjust and improve your marketing and business growth.
So what are some of the things you can do to put CGM and word of mouth in your corner?
1. Position yourself as a trusted expert. That means positioning yourself and your company in areas that people in your target market visit (online and offline) for information or education related to your industry.
When they see you have a presence where they visit, you’ll be more trustworthy. This is something we’ve seen have significant impact on sales closures for many of our business coaching clients.
2. Make it easy for consumers to learn about you, your company, and what makes you a better choice than your competitors.
That means having a web site that is user friendly and easy to navigate. And in some cases it means providing direct comparisons of your product or service benefits over your competitors right on your own web site. Consumers will find that info on their own anyway, so you might as well save them the time. When done properly, this is another powerful ally in attracting new clients to your company.
3. Open channels of dialog and provide multiple ways of channels for developing a relationship with you. An essential first step is having your own business blog. They’re low cost, easy to manage, and extremely effective in this area.
A business blog provides a less formal area (than your “regular” web site) where people can get to know you and your company. Consumers can interact with you at will. And you can generate a significant amount of trust with prospects and clients by communicating through words, audio, or even video that you can publish to the web in a snap.
Note: If you don’t yet have a business blog and would like to learn how to use one to develop a long-term strategy for attracting more qualified clients, boosting traffic, and building trust with prospects before their eyes or ears ever meet a marketing message — check out the master level multi-media course How to Master Business Blogging.
The most important thing you can remember if you want to succeed in the 21st Century marketplace is that consumer comments, opinion, and satisfaction are one with marketing. There is no separation and you can’t overcome CGM with traditional marketing, not matter how much money you put behind it. (The auto industry has learned that the hard way, so learn from their mistakes for free.)
How to get started today
If you remember those essential facts, your mindset will begin to shift when it comes to marketing and growing your business. Then, with coaching in the right strategies and actions, you’ll be able to establish a firm leadership role in your chosen industry or niche. You can do it on your own, or significantly speed things up with the help of your business coach — but which ever path you choose — start shifting your approach today. If you don’t, I can guarantee one of your competitors will.
John-Paul Micek
The Click-and-Mortar Business Coach
Business Owners Coaching Club
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In doing some research today I came across a great article with charts that Chris Anderson over at 
