Increasing Street Credit
Over the past 20 + years in the PC / CE marketplace we’ve probably learned and relearned our job 40-50 times. Every time the industry changes, every time the communications avenues shift; life / opportunities change. Since the Internet and Web came into their own editorial and promotional outlets / targets have shifted … dramatically. We all read the same studies that WOM (word of mouth) is the most effective marketing / sales tool available. Yet PR people – at cattle prodding of management – target the same reviewers again and again. You know – PC Mag, PC Wld, MacWld, Max PC, Laptop, WSJnl, NYTimes, WashPost, Dvice, Overclocked, Videomaker, Videography…
There are tens of thousands of them in the Americas and around the globe. And they must be breeding because every week a new publication, new review site, new “tech” blog introduces themselves to us. Like good little PR people we check em out and give them a try. BAM! you add another “great review” outlet to your list. Don’t get us wrong … they’re important. But we just received a review from Tom, a regular guy we’ve gotten to know over the past year, and when we read the write up it got us thinking. Professional journalistic reviewers always slip on their techie reviewing cloak when they test / try a product. They test, retest, analyze and then write their reviews very carefully, very analytically. But our “regular guy” user / reviewer in Atlanta is like a lot of user group folks — there are over 300 Mac and PC user groups across the country, people who come together and pay dues for camaraderie and to learn more about using the constantly changing technology. Selectively we work with them to do product reviews. We don’t hold them to strict editorial standards because they’re just regular folks. We ask them if they or a member of their group is interested in reviewing XYZ. If they agree we ask them to:
- write the review for their newsletter
- demonstrate the product at their meeting
- do something extra for us — post the review also in the consumer review sites — Amazon, Cnet, Buy, Newegg.com, others
No we don’t ask to review their review before it is posted. We simply cross our fingers and hope for the results (just as with any review). Tom gave us a 4.5 star rating on one site and 5 stars on another (ok so he didn’t like the length of the USB cord … sheess!). His reviews were fun. They were exciting. They were enthusiastic. They were technically pretty darned accurate. They were credible. They were real! We know people who are considering buying a product visits these and other sites to see what results and comments other folks have about the company, the product, the organization’s service. They read it and make a decision. Then they tell three people. And they tell three people. We still like the reviews Charlie, Joel, David, Walter, Shawn, Gregg, Gordon, etc., produce. We also like the reviews Tom, Bill, Sandy, Bev, Lorene, Bud, Jerry, others do. Add them to your YouTube, Facebook, blog, community sites and … life is good. Hey … think we finally understand that WOM thing … that buzz stuff!
