Thanks For Your Service, But Not My Baby...

Thanks for Your Service, But Not My Baby...

Welcome back my fellow theorists. This week we take a long look at 'Word of Mouth' advertising and influencing, and the absolute importance of understanding an early adopter's significance in the diffusion of innovation. 

As many of you know, I am an Army Recruiter. I’ve been a recruiter for almost 10 years now and have seen and heard pretty much everything in regard to reasons against joining the Army by parents of young Americans. “My son isn’t mature enough for the Army”. “I’m not letting my kid go to fight for somebody else’s oil”. “My kid is going to college and doesn’t need the Army”. “You think I want my kid to be a homeless drunk”. “Thank you for your service, but not my baby…I don’t want him getting killed over there”. A vast majority of my day is spent dispelling urban myths about what people think the Army is and does. We often look for new and innovative approaches to reaching our target demographic of 17 – 24 year old men and women but word of mouth easily trumps all. I could build a complete display detailing every move that a young recruit could make in his/her career with potential dates and the end result that this young applicant is trying to achieve and still net zero. However, if I enlisted the neighbor’s daughter into the Army, and she is successful and enjoying her experience and her mother (Soldier Mom) happens to be the block captain or some other position of higher social authority, enters the conversation as an ally to the Army, I’m in business. The hesitant mother would be put at relative ease when she hears of all of the accomplishments and experiences of the young Soldier coming from an experienced influencer. Soldier Mom could do more in 15 minutes than I could in an hour with all of my charts and data, even if it made perfect sense. She would break the barrier just enough for my info and charts to get through and the ember would be lit.

Why does that scenario make sense? According to the online article ‘Understanding word-of-mouth in the digital age’, “…word-of-mouth is a natural phenomenon that occurs and is as old as human communication and trade”. That statement is important because anything that has been around since the advent of human communication and trade and still has as much influential value cannot be understated. The article also goes on to say that “word of mouth shortens the buying process (speeds up the decision process)”. The personal influencer takes away the uncertainty and gives the potential early majority a sense of relative ease. This removes steps in the decision making process making the overall process more streamlined.  Going back to the aforementioned example, this conversation will determine whether or not hesitant mom will be a part of the early majority or holdout for the next bus to Laggardville. 

The next question is, how do we apply this word of mouth influencing to the digital space where it could potentially reach a much larger audience?

Fortunately for recruiters and others in any form of business, there are sites in the digital space that are used specifically to review and rate the business and explain the customer’s overall experience. These sites are relatively watered-down versions of ‘Soldier Mom’. The user may not know the person personally but the review from another regular person could help be the determining factor in the decision to buy, vote, join, etc. In recruiter speak, that means that we would have parents and applicants alike review our station whenever they come in; if they allowed us to add a photo to the review, which would be even better. Parents are the first line of defense and the direct influencer to their children. They are also generally late majority/laggards in regard to making decisions that could affect their children’s future, and rightly so. It’s a delicate balance but the privilege of having an early adopter, whether parent or applicant, working with you on your side is worth its weight in gold. According to Ramona Sukhraj, author of the online article, ‘Word-of-Mouth Marketing, 7 Actionable Strategies You Need to Know’, “About 62% of consumers search online for reviews and information before purchasing a product and a whopping 90% believe brand recommendations from friends”. Ninety percent is beyond the gold standard. Social media has taken word-of-mouth influencing to the next evolutionary level. The potential exists to create a forum on a platform such as Facebook for ‘Soldier Moms’ that want to assist others as they themselves have been assisted. Facebook is not as heavily populated by Gen Z or later Millennials but their mothers and fathers are logged on. Social media allows us to connect in ways that we could never before.  

It's also extremely important for leaders of organizations, such as the Army, to use social media to show the way forward for the company or to posture the organization. The posts could function as the innovation. They need to be encompassing and thoughtful but also straightforward and honest. They can be used as a tool by the early adopters to help direct the early majority to the life changing innovation. “Discussing what’s happening in the industry, sharing your company’s progress and providing your reactions to relevant news a few times a week is how people will come to learn what to expect from your perspective. As a leader, you not only want to take part in a consistent conversation so it’s easier to understand where your expertise lies, but drive the narrative”. (Honigman, 2019) Organizational leaders set the tone and create the environment for the rest of the organization. It’s important that they stand front and center and own the image of the company.

Personal word-of-mouth influencing is the best form of influencing and when properly combined with social media, there are no limitations to the amount of people in a society that you can motivate.