Building Your Brand - The ‘Amplification Effect’

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In one of my latest lawyers training, I decided to check one of the principles I believed dearly in while practicing “Attentional networking” [see more in my book?“The Attention Switch” ].

I have asked all the hundreds of attendees 2 questions:

First, how did they hear about the event, and second based on what they decided to join this event?

Not surprisingly, many of the attendees heard about the event from their contacts, friends, online discussions on social networks, etc.

And the positive words and sharing about the event made them decide almost immediately to join and experience it for themselves.

This is very interesting.

Without the need for big budgets,

without the need to have every person in your immediate social network,

without the need to oblige people to share,

you get amazing results.

Moreover, a room full of like-minded people that enjoy sharing time, knowledge and resources with each other.

This is definitely something you want in your professional practice and you need to pay ATTENTION to it!

It is not a secret that one traditional concept works across all industries and professions and has been a king for a long time –??word-of-mouth (WOM).

WOM has been an effective component of the business development and marketing armory for many professions and entrepreneurs for decades.

WOM has been an effective component of the marketing armory for decades! CLICK TO TWEET

But we are now in “the connecting age” and the power of referrals and personal recommendations have of course now taken on a completely new and far-reaching persona in the shape of social media networks.

(IA: I refer to both online and offline social networks).

One of the biggest social media business development buzzwords in the last few years year is: ‘Amplification’.

What is the ‘Amplification Effect’?

Amplification is the concept of taking a positive action – a purchase, a light-touch interaction or a full-on review – saving it and then sharing it far and wide.

After all, 90% of us trust recommendations from friends – so surely it makes sense to push the genuine endorsements we do receive to their absolute limit!

The ‘Amplification Effect’ works for your practice by getting your message promoted (amplified) through employees, clients, business partners, friends, and thought leaders in your industry.

Each individual share?extends your messaging to their personal network, who can then promote it to their network and so on. We name them ‘amplifiers’.

Obviously, the exposure that your message and content get very much depends on the kind of the ‘amplifier’ who has shared it.

The exposure that your message and content get very much depends on the kind of the ‘amplifier’ who has shared it. CLICK TO TWEET

When done correctly, by the right people (choice obviously is a very important part of the process)??‘social amplification’ can build your brand’s authority in your industry.

This is very powerful!

If done correctly, it is a genuine method to create brand awareness and get more referrals to your business.

So you probably asking: What is the difference between ‘social amplification’ and WOM? right?

Let me explain.

Social Amplification vs. WOM

If I ask you to identify your most outstanding source of new business?

I bet many of you will identify it as word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals from satisfied clients.

Correct?

Now, ask yourself the following question – how many of your own buying decisions in everyday life are influenced by what you heard from your friends, family, and contacts or even from your social media connections or a social media post?

It is important to repeat it:

WOM referrals from clients had the largest impact on clients’ growth.

WOM referrals from customers had the largest impact on clients’ growth. CLICK TO TWEET

While traditional WOM is built on one-to-one relationships,

‘Social Amplification’ is one-to-many relationships.

So actually - ‘Social Amplification’ is WOM on steroids.

Now, what if I tell you that even if your practice aims at B2B, WOM is extremely important to you.

With no doubt, WOM can be a powerful tool for your business development activity.

To some of you may be the only tool needed to boost your firm's growth and your authority.

I based my assumption on an astonishing fact –

91% of B2B purchasers said that their buying decisions were influenced by WOM.

This with no doubt makes this form of engagement vital for all professionals and professional firms – no matter their market sector.

In their paper ‘Shopping and Word-of-Mouth Intentions on Social Media’ Patrick Mikalef, Michail Giannakos and Adamantia Pateli state:

“An equally important aspect of the shopping experience is the sharing of information that a consumer will proceed to after he has engaged in the shopping process. Referral marketing as it is also termed is an aspect that is cited by practitioners and scholars at an increasing rate.”

“Additionally, users tend to share information on a product that they have seen and would be of interest to friends and peers, a typical action of post-browsing. Being familiar with a product and aware of recent product trends also leads to relatively high levels of WOM activity. Thus, a product browser might be considered as a socially integrated consumer. This creates new implications for marketing managers since consumers are generators of informal campaigns to their circle of acquaintances. The ease of sharing information is greatly increased through Internet technologies and especially by use of social media.”

So, if you understand the power of the ‘Amplification Effect’, let’s dive a bit deeper.

The Different Faces of WOM

Professionals, like you and me, have always been aware of the effect of word of mouth.

And if you didn’t. Now, you are ??

As I discovered during the years, there is clearly an art to effective word-of-mouth business development activities.

Yet the science behind word-of-mouth equity helps reveal how to hone and deploy that art.

Research done by?McKinsey ?outlined 3 sorts of WOM and how they could be amplified for business purposes:

Sort #1: Experiential WOM

50% to 80% of WOM activity is done by Experiential WOM.

This sort of WOM results from a client’s direct experience with a service or a product.

In many cases, it largely happens when the experience of the client deviates from what’s expected by her.

When a client had a bad experience with a service or complains about a service, is a classic example of experiential WOM, which adversely affects the firm’s brand.

On the other hand, Positive Experiential WOM can generate a positive boost to a service or a product.

Sort #2: Consequential WOM

The second sort of WOM is named by?McKinsey ?“Consequential WOM”.

This sort of WOM occurs when clients directly exposed to traditional marketing campaigns pass on messages about them or about the brands they publicize.

By understanding the word-of-mouth effects of the range of channels and messages employed and allocating the business development activities accordingly, professional firms can equip their clients to spread their brand and services and drive their reach and impact.

In fact, McKinsey's research shows that the impact of those messages on clients is often much stronger than the direct effect of other forms of marketing and business development.

Business development activities that trigger positive WOM have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence.

Business development activities that trigger positive WOM have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence.

CLICK TO TWEET

Sort #3: Intentional WOM

A less common form of WOM is “Intentional WOM”.

This WOM was created by marketers by using celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz for product or service launches.

The (positive) effects of this sort of WOM are difficult to measure and it is not so commonly used in the professional industry.

So what this research can teach us about the importance of the amplification effect in boosting the brand of your practice?

Powerful Insight

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful channel of influence, and social will only further cement this reality.

What is clear is that most WOM still takes place offline, but increasingly the digital channel is becoming more important.

Two things supercharge the creation of positive consequential word of mouth for your practice:

One is interactivity and the second is creativity.

Both are interrelated, and particularly important for professional firms as being a relatively low-innovation industry that often struggles to gain clients’ attention.

Professional firms and professionals need to develop this specific referral channel to ensure the positive endorsement that they receive is leveraged and amplified correctly.

For me, ‘social amplification’ is a more advanced version of something we already understand very well—word-of-mouth—and, when harnessed effectively and authentically, it can become the most important connecting channel for your business.

WOM has always been a powerful and vital connecting and connecting technique. In the connecting age and with social media, its power has been amplified.

Building momentum and taking your professional practice to the next level requires people to know your brand.

With the help of the ‘amplification effect’, you can easily turn your target audiences into clients. You can create even more awareness around your firm’s brand and what sets your practice apart.

Here is a word of advice:

Embrace your firm’s brand and don’t be afraid to enhance it.

It’s all about taking control of the conversation and continuing to tell your story across many mediums and forms.

Only then the ‘amplification effect’ will work for you and you can drive results to bolster the position of your practice in the marketplace.

QUESTION: What do you do to turn your connections to become your biggest ambassadors? Please share your ideas and actions in the comments.

If you have any specific questions with regards to building your authority position and your personal brand or building authentic relationships with clients and internally, please send us an e-mail and I will be happy to help.

??Looking for a mentor? I have 2 last places in my new mentoring program. If interested, send me a PM or email to: [email protected]

Until the next edition, SWITCH ON and keep STANDING OUT!

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Itzik is considered the global leading authority on business development, business networking & personal branding. He is a highly sought-after international speaker, trainer, business mentor, & attorney-at-law. He is also the bestselling author of “The Attention Switch ” & Founder of THE SWITCH?? , the leading online training, and education platform for professionals globally. Itzik teaches trains and mentors lawyers, other professionals, and firms to attract and win their ideal clients by becoming seen as authorities in their field, creating and maintaining successful and strategic relationships, and learning to SWITCH their relationships to referrals+revenue+results.

See more information: itzikamiel.com | THE SWITCH?? ?or connect with Itzik via: [email protected]