Word of mouth is still the most important marketing channel in existence. Not paid influencers. Not SEM or SEO. Not PR. Word of mouth reigns supreme.

If you want more of it, answer this one question: does your product make people awesome?

Not, "My product is awesome." (says you)

But, "I'm awesome when I use this." (says your customer)

Most businesses compete on product features. In a world of extreme feature parity, you're just more noise.

For example. You have:

• Feature A

• Feature B

• Feature C

• D

• E

• etc.

Your competitor also has those same features, except for C and E. Someone might care about those differences, others might not.

But how long will it take for your competitor to match your features? Probably not long if they're important enough.

What if you compete on customer results instead?

Because nobody competes on user results. Yes, they show testimonials and other types of proof, but they're usually generic and indistinguishable from others (btw, many companies could improve their testimonials with more specificity and better storytelling).

• So, what are your customer's BIG results?

• How have you helped them transform?

• Is it something you're proud of?

• More importantly, is it something they're proud of?

Small shift? Boring. Big change? Exciting!

The more drastic the change, the more they will talk.

An A—B change is not really talk worthy.

A—M? People are talking

A—Z? Everybody's talking.

The more dramatic the shift, the more they will talk. The more awesome people think, feel, behave after your product, the more they will talk.

Transformation Categories

Here are some categories for transformation:

• Functional (if you offer a phone, and making phone calls is one of your features, how can making phone calls make people more awesome?)

• Emotional (change in emotional state)

• Social (change in status, either personal or professional)

• Financial (save or make more money)

• Productivity (gets more done)

• Safety & Security (feels more secure)

• Convenience (easier and faster)

• Health and wellness (improve well being)

• Sustainability and environmental impact (better world)

• Aesthetics and design (beauty)

• Personal growth and development (better person)

• Reliability and durability (long lasting)

• Customization and personalization (made for "me")

Get more word of mouth

Does your product or service produce user awesomeness in any of those areas?

Are you missing an opportunity to hone in on a specific result that you, and only you can get unlike others?

Are you getting people consistent results in any of these other areas that you're currently not acknowledging?

In other words, how do you make people more badass?

More badass people, more word of mouth. It's that simple.

Paul