Google ‘The Ultimate Question’ and Fred Reichheld’s new book currently comes in at #3. The first two slots are excerpts from the unconventional travel guide, The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, which explains the little-known truth that the Earth is in fact a giant organic super-computer tasked with finding the Ultimate Question (to which the answer is of course, 42).
Fortunately, we now have Fred, which means we now know that the Ultimate Question is ‘Would you recommend us?’ But does this Ultimate Question (UQ) make understanding the Ultimate Answer of 42, or any other number that pops out of a Net Promoter survey for that matter, any easier?
That’s the problem with raw numbers, and some say NPS results; they’re of limited diagnostic value. Sort of like your doctor telling you your cholesterol level - but not telling you what do about it.
Fortunately, we now have Fred, which means we now know that the Ultimate Question is ‘Would you recommend us?’ But does this Ultimate Question (UQ) make understanding the Ultimate Answer of 42, or any other number that pops out of a Net Promoter survey for that matter, any easier?
That’s the problem with raw numbers, and some say NPS results; they’re of limited diagnostic value. Sort of like your doctor telling you your cholesterol level - but not telling you what do about it.
As the marketing director of a big brand FMCG group kindly pointed out to me recently, he personally couldn’t give a pair of fetid dingo’s kidneys about knowing his net promoter score; what he wanted to know was what he could do to improve it – and thereby unlock growth, in order, ultimately, to get a bigger bonus (some marketers do candour).
Now of course, doing well on the UQ all comes down to delivering brand experiences that exceed expectations (the key to triggering recommendations), which is why customer experience management and innovation are key.
Unfortunately for many marketers, optimising customer value (and thereby boosting recommendability) too often falls outside their remit – marketing today is often synonymous with managing marketing campaigns – promoting stuff rather than improving it.
So does this mean that the UQ and the NPS are about as useful to marketers as the aforementioned pair of kidneys? No, I don’t think so – because promotion is part of the brand experience.
If your marketing campaigns deliver delight by exceeding expectations, and thereby get talked about, the overall recommendability of your product or service (NPS) should improve. And if this happens, your campaigns will drive revenue growth, and you’ll get a bigger bonus.
So with a view to finding marketing-based Ultimate Answers to the Ultimate Question, here’s a starter checklist for campaign tactics likely to boost your NPS.
1) R&R Pre-Testing: Send your agency back to the drawing board if campaigns don’t score well on ‘remarkability’ and ‘impact on recommendability’
2) Push Buzz Buttons: Use the psychology of buzz – embed the 6 buzz buttons that increase recommendability into campaign material
- Authority – as used by expert
- Likeability – as used by celebrity
- Majority – the most popular
- Scarcity – limited edition/offer
- Reciprocity – helping you to do what you do
- Consistency – for people who (do what you do)
3) Viralize your Ads: Post your ads online when they pass the FUSE test (fun, unexpected, sexy or exciting), in a pass-along format, just before they go into traditional media
4) Viralize your Ads 2: Use the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines on media contagion – infectious communications that trigger word of mouth/copycat effect
- Repeated exposure
- How-to information
- Sensationalist language
- Graphic imagery
- Attractive user-imagery
- Results focus
- Simplistic Explanations
5) Digitalize PR: Make sure you add new media influencers (bloggers, webzine editors, forum moderators) as key PR interlocutors – and post materials to a campaign blog
6) Listen with DM: Add a simple questionnaire to direct marketing campaigns – by showing you are a ‘listening brand’, you’ll increase recommendability
7) Co-create: Get lead users and prospects involved in producing promotional material – involvement creates loyal stakeholders only too ready to recommend
8) Up-weight sampling: Re-align your promotional mix in favour of the one tool that most directly drives recommendability – product sampling
Can you think of any more? Ideas welcome! Please post a comment below.
Blogmaster note: Dr. Marsden is author of Advocacy Drives Growth.
Now of course, doing well on the UQ all comes down to delivering brand experiences that exceed expectations (the key to triggering recommendations), which is why customer experience management and innovation are key.
Unfortunately for many marketers, optimising customer value (and thereby boosting recommendability) too often falls outside their remit – marketing today is often synonymous with managing marketing campaigns – promoting stuff rather than improving it.
So does this mean that the UQ and the NPS are about as useful to marketers as the aforementioned pair of kidneys? No, I don’t think so – because promotion is part of the brand experience.
If your marketing campaigns deliver delight by exceeding expectations, and thereby get talked about, the overall recommendability of your product or service (NPS) should improve. And if this happens, your campaigns will drive revenue growth, and you’ll get a bigger bonus.
So with a view to finding marketing-based Ultimate Answers to the Ultimate Question, here’s a starter checklist for campaign tactics likely to boost your NPS.
1) R&R Pre-Testing: Send your agency back to the drawing board if campaigns don’t score well on ‘remarkability’ and ‘impact on recommendability’
2) Push Buzz Buttons: Use the psychology of buzz – embed the 6 buzz buttons that increase recommendability into campaign material
- Authority – as used by expert
- Likeability – as used by celebrity
- Majority – the most popular
- Scarcity – limited edition/offer
- Reciprocity – helping you to do what you do
- Consistency – for people who (do what you do)
3) Viralize your Ads: Post your ads online when they pass the FUSE test (fun, unexpected, sexy or exciting), in a pass-along format, just before they go into traditional media
4) Viralize your Ads 2: Use the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines on media contagion – infectious communications that trigger word of mouth/copycat effect
- Repeated exposure
- How-to information
- Sensationalist language
- Graphic imagery
- Attractive user-imagery
- Results focus
- Simplistic Explanations
5) Digitalize PR: Make sure you add new media influencers (bloggers, webzine editors, forum moderators) as key PR interlocutors – and post materials to a campaign blog
6) Listen with DM: Add a simple questionnaire to direct marketing campaigns – by showing you are a ‘listening brand’, you’ll increase recommendability
7) Co-create: Get lead users and prospects involved in producing promotional material – involvement creates loyal stakeholders only too ready to recommend
8) Up-weight sampling: Re-align your promotional mix in favour of the one tool that most directly drives recommendability – product sampling
Can you think of any more? Ideas welcome! Please post a comment below.
Blogmaster note: Dr. Marsden is author of Advocacy Drives Growth.
Comments