Getting ideas, products, or brands to become popular is not a matter of luck since now we know that there is a science behind why certain things catch on while others don’t.
Studies have now proven that word of mouth marketing is far more effective than traditional marketing because we trust our friends more than we trust advertisement and the next question that immediately pops up is how do we generate word of mouth marketing? If you answered online and social media then you should know less than 10% of word of mouth marketing is done via social media which is why you need to be talked about when people are not online. So how is that done? One of the ways to do so is to create content online that gets shared and only then you can get the consumers to think about you in their personal lives when you are not there.
The steps required to get people to talk and share what you have to offer is dubbed STEPPS which stands for Social Currency, Triggers, Emotions, Public, Practical Value, and Stories. Let’s explain what you need to do as part of each step, shall we?
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Social Currency: Make people feel like insiders by giving them status for using your products or services or supporting your ideas so that they want to share it with others.
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Triggers: Link your idea, product, or service to a unique thing. If you know NLP then this means anchor yourself and associate what you want to catch on with something that is a part of the environment. For instance link your personal brand to a common word or a specific style of dressing or associate your product or service to a specific day or location so that anytime people encounter it they would think of it!
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Emotion: You need to discover the emotional reason why people should like what you offer. By asking why a few times in a row to know what is the emotional benefit that we can provide, what is the reason for others to use it, and how it could catch on. For instance, why would someone want to buy this luxury product? Because that would make him feel rich; so why does he want to feel rich? Because that would make him feel special and superior? Why does he want to feel special and superior? Because he needs the admiration of the people around him! Having asked why three times in a row we discover that our prospective customers need to be admired so by making them believe that they will receive admiration by using our products and including that in our ad campaign we can effectively get good customers.
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Public: People can only imitate what they see so you must make sure that you or what is associated with you is as public as possible. Obscurity equals failure in marketing and branding. Thus, find any means necessary to get more and more people to see your product, brands, services, logos, testimonials, etc since you need to be as visible as possible!
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Practical Value: People have a tendency to share what has strong values for them personally and that is why we need to create useful information and then let it get shared so that our brand comes along for a ride. So instead of just posting ads online or renting billboards you can create useful informational videos, offer free seminars or events, or any other free means of adding value to the lives of others and your idea, product, or service will get advertised in the process!
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Stories: People have a hard time remembering facts but they remember stories very well so instead of listing good features embedd them in interesting stories. Good marketing and advertising does not look like advertising but instead you want to tell Trojan horse stories that narrates a story includes good features about you while not directly about them! The indirect approach always work best when it comes to demonstrating your good features and story telling is the way to do it!
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By using the aforementioned STEPPS you can get any idea, product, or brands to catch on!
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Dan’s Action Plans
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Obscurity is the worst thing that can happen to any idea, product, or service because people don’t necessarily buy what they like but what they know!
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Include free stuff in promoting your product or service, free tips, free videos, free podcasts, free donuts, free trials, etc so as to take your brand in for a ride!
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The value of your brand is a function of what others think not necessarily its real value so focus on marketing and advertisement as much, if not more than, enhancing its quality and using STEPPS can help you to do just that!
Daniel Molgan Official 