Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

TELL THE WORLD: THE SPONSORED REVIEW

Take the lease or purchase of a new vehicle, for example. What would happen if the dealership or manufacturer in question specifically asked for a review of the purchase process as well as an account of the actual consumption experience? What if the purchaser was specifically asked if they had a blog, a Facebook profile, a channel on Youtube, an account on Flickr, or the like? What if they were asked to cross-post this review on the brand’s web site, blog, or message board as well, and incentivized with some kind of value added for their review?

Where’s the offense that comes from the lead sentence, “I was specifically asked by company B to talk about my experience buying this car . . . so here goes.” What’s the worst that could happen? They give a negative review and you’re responsible for it? Is that really what we’re so scared of? And if so—why are we producing products and delivering service in the first place that yield detractor-type results? What about the flipside? What if the review is positive? Hey, it could happen . . .

The sponsored review is a powerful and direct method to produce as many reviews as there are customers—in other words, to obtain a critical mass of representative and accurate reviews. It’s a surefire way to generate an entire layer of content that will help future customers make informed decisions and make existing customers feel like they matter to the brand and its ultimate legacy.

Of course, it’s not for ...