Living Case Study of Buzz2009

We’re using buzz to spread the word about Buzz2009. (It would be kind of disingenuous if we didn’t, don’t you think?) So here’s a living case study of our work on Buzz2009, organized using Andy’s 5 Ts of Word of Mouth Marketing Worksheet.

Talkers–Find people who will talk about Buzz2009

• Invite a prestigious group of advisors to ensure the program is something they’d talk about.
• Connect with association bloggers and give them link love and flair.
• Reach out to providers and partners working with associations and give them a reason to spread the word.

Topics–Give people a reason to talk about Buzz2009

• Put together a program that is so outstanding, people will want to talk about it.
• Get big names and recognizable brands on the program, like Guy, Andy, NatGeo…
• Keep adding content, like this living case study, to the Buzz2009 blog and see what sticks.
• Give advisors, speakers, and vendors their own discount codes (here’s ours) so they’ll have something extra to talk about.
• Make parts of the event free–like the webinar and the happy hour–to include more people.

Tools–Help the message spread faster and farther

• Blog–We’re posting regular blog posts with new content to feed our outposts. We’ve given readers RSS and email subscription options.
• Outposts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YAP)–We’ve set up a Twitter hashtag. We’re feeding blog content into our personal Twitter accounts, the SocialFish Facebook page, and the SmartBrief Facebook page. We’ve added Buzz2009 to LinkedIn Events, and the Buzz2009 Happy Hour to Facebook and YAP.
• Sharing Tools–We’re using Tell-a-Friend on the Buzz2009 website. Our registration system, Eventbrite, also includes links to share with social spaces online.
• Search Optimization–We’re looking at keywords that people might type to find Buzz2009, and trying to figure out how to get better ranking on Google for those keywords using the blog and inlinks.
• Email–Too old school for you? Email is an awesome tool for spreading the word. We’re using the email lists we’ve carefully cultivated to let our fans know about Buzz2009. And we’re making sure every email is worth sharing.

Take Part–Join the conversation

• Naturally, we’re commenting, tweeting, inviting, and talking to everyone in social spaces about Buzz2009
• Our participation year-round in YAP, ASAE, NTEN, and other communities makes it easy to talk Buzz2009 right now.

Track–Measure and understand what people are saying

• We’re monitoring conversations using Twitter Search and Google Alerts, and responding where appropriate.
• We’re also tracking link traffic using bit.ly and referral sites using Google Analytics, so we know which outposts are working.

We call this a “living” case study because it’s a work-in-progress. We’re open to ideas and suggestions. What do you think? Are we missing out on some important buzz?

Tagged as: buzz2009