{"id":31899,"date":"2018-07-27T01:36:03","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T01:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/?p=31899"},"modified":"2018-07-27T01:36:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T01:36:03","slug":"jonah-bergers-3-social-influence-secrets-that-all-sales-and-marketing-teams-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/?p=31899","title":{"rendered":"Jonah Berger\u2019s 3 Social Influence Secrets That All Sales And Marketing Teams Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No one likes to think they\u2019re being influenced by others when they buy something or make a career choice. We\u2019re all individuals with independent thoughts, right?<\/p>\n<p>The truth is that you are swayed by your environment (the things you see and hear), and the people in your life (friends, family, peers\u2014even strangers on the subway) more than you think.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-27774 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/influitive.blob.core.windows.net\/media\/2016\/10\/jonah_berger.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 170px) 100vw, 170px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/influitive.azureedge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jonah_berger.jpg 373w, https:\/\/influitive.azureedge.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/jonah_berger-150x150.jpg 150w\" alt=\"jonah_berger\" width=\"170\" height=\"170\" \/>We hosted a webinar featuring\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wharton.upenn.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wharton School of Business<\/a>\u00a0Marketing Professor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/j1berger?authType=NAME_SEARCH&amp;authToken=HVbM&amp;locale=en_US&amp;trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Amynetwork%2CclickedEntityId%3A5670386%2CauthType%3ANAME_SEARCH%2Cidx%3A1-1-1%2CtarId%3A1475586515500%2Ctas%3Ajonah%20berger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Jonah Berger<\/a>, a\u00a0New York Times\u00a0bestselling author of the book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/jonahberger.com\/books\/contagious\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contagious<\/a>, and a highly esteemed expert on the science of social influence. He shared insights from his latest book\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/jonahberger.com\/books\/invisible-influence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Invisible Influence<\/a>, which reveals the subtle factors that affect our decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the recording below, or read our summary to get Jonah\u2019s top tips for swaying B2B buyers. They key? Tapping into your most influential force: your happy customer advocates.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"vidyard_iframe_1oW8C3oH41zv6o2AMyrxsW\" class=\"vidyard_iframe\" title=\"Video\" src=\"https:\/\/play.vidyard.com\/1oW8C3oH41zv6o2AMyrxsW.html?v=3.1.1&amp;type=inline&amp;marketo_id=id%253A879-TZW-526%2526token%253A_mch-influitive.com-1511797752239-31068&amp;referring_url=https%253A%252F%252Fbasecamp.com%252F&amp;\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" aria-label=\"Video\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>1. Speak your customers\u2019 language<\/p>\n<p>Jonah says that a lot of the decisions you make happen below your awareness. For example, the more something is repeated in your environment, the more you tend to like it. This is known as \u201cmirror exposure.\u201d This can be illustrated in the way that popular baby names are often influenced by major hurricanes that occur around the time a child is born. After hurricane Katrina, the \u201cK\u201d sound people heard over and over again in the news subconsciously swayed many to name their children Katherine, Katie or Carl.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to sales and purchase influence, research shows that the most successful salespeople are those who mimic or mirror the behaviors of their customers. The triggers are often subtle, like using the same mannerisms (e.g. scratching your head when a client scratches theirs), or by speaking the same language, words and phrases as your customers. Even restaurant wait staff get bigger tips when they repeat someone\u2019s order back to them verbatim.<\/p>\n<p>Advocacy in action:\u00a0To apply this theory to advocacy, you can invite customers to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/influitive.com\/blog\/advocates-can-do-more-than-share-your-content-they-can-create-it-for-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">co-create content\u00a0<\/a>with you, or speak on your behalf at a conference\u2014contributing to the narrative about your company in a language that their peers will understand. Use your customers as a litmus test for all of your campaigns so you know your messaging is relevant.<\/p>\n<p>2. Your\u00a0customers to be your best salespeople<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of what mix of channels you use, Jonah says \u201cNo one will ever be a better salesperson than your customers.\u201d And the more important a buying decision is, the more people trust word of mouth from peers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c91% of new business leads in B2B markets come from existing business,\u201d says Jonah. The more your customers talk about your product with peers, the more likely you are to hit the right prospective buyers.<\/p>\n<p>But just because customers are talking about you, doesn\u2019t mean you can rely on the message to be positive. \u201cIf a customer says your service is bad, it doesn\u2019t matter what you say,\u201d he explains. That\u2019s why you must recognize that everything you do can impact word of mouth\u2014from packaging and distribution, to customer service and more.<\/p>\n<p>Advocacy in action:\u00a0Continually educate customers about your product features and benefits. Provide direct access to your team to ask questions and raise concerns before they fester. Finally, incent happy customers to say good things about you and refer others so you can attract the right prospects with the power of peer influence. An\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/influitive.com\/blog\/how-to-build-a-community-of-brand-advocates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advocate marketing program<\/a>\u00a0can help facilitate all three.<\/p>\n<p>3. Drive word of mouth with the right motivators<\/p>\n<p>In Jonah\u2019s bestselling book\u00a0Contagious, he explains that there are six key factors that impact why people share:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Social currency<br \/>\n\u2022 Triggers<br \/>\n\u2022 Emotion<br \/>\n\u2022 Public<br \/>\n\u2022 Practical value<br \/>\n\u2022 Stories<\/p>\n<p>People often share information with others because they feel it reflects well on them. So, the better your brand\u2019s content makes them look and feel, the more likely they are to share it with peers.<\/p>\n<p>Advocacy in action:\u00a0To incentivize customers to share your message, you must create content that helps them raise their professional profile by making them feel \u201cin the know\u201d about your business or industry. You should also point them to third-party channels you don\u2019t own where they can showcase their knowledge and build social clout.<\/p>\n<p>To trigger their behavior, you can run a contest to make sharing fun. You should also\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/influitive.com\/blog\/why-the-right-rewards-can-drastically-improve-customer-engagement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thank them<\/a>\u00a0for their behaviour (a note or tweet will\u00a0go a long way!) to cement their behavior\u2014but find out first whether\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/influitive.com\/blog\/b2b-marketers-need-know-4-advocate-personas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they prefer public or private praise<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Final thoughts on harnessing the power of social influence and\u00a0advocacy<\/p>\n<p>Jonah says that you must always remember how much you don\u2019t know about your prospects\u2019 and advocates\u2019 motivations. \u201cBeing willing to listen and be curious, and investigate underlying human behaviors will help us get to a better outcome,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to learn about your customers is to learn from them. Gathering feedback and participating in two-way dialogue will allow you to find out exactly what your customers\u2014and subsequently, your prospects\u2014want and need.<\/p>\n<p>Author: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jillianwood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jillian Wood<\/a>, Influitive<br \/>\nThis article was originally posted by Influitive. To view the original,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/influitive.com\/blog\/3-psychological-influences-b2b-sales-marketing-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.relationshipone.com\/blog\/social-influence-secrets-sales-marketing\/\">Jonah Berger\u2019s 3 Social Influence Secrets That All Sales And Marketing Teams Should Know<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.relationshipone.com\">Relationship One<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"><\/div>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relationshipone.com\/blog\/social-influence-secrets-sales-marketing\/\">relationshipone.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No one likes to think they\u2019re being influenced by others when they buy something or make a career choice. We\u2019re all individuals with independent thoughts, right? The truth is that you are swayed by your environment (the things you see and hear), and the people in your life (friends, family, peers\u2014even strangers on the subway) &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16509,1255,7672],"class_list":["post-31899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-uncategorized","tag-advocacy","tag-marketing","tag-sales"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jonah_berger1532655365.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ismartnetwork.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}