Last week Zane Safrit wrote a fantastic article on Small Business Trends that really got me thinking about word-of-mouth marketing. The title was “16 Things You Can Do Right Now to Create Word of Mouth for Your Business.” The focus of the article was on starting your program by measuring customer experience. Basically – you can’t get customer to talk about you unless you know what’s important to them.
That is an excellent point because we often default the the COMMUNICATION component of the marketing process to get the word out WITHOUT concentrating on two very critical components of what it will take to make your campaign a resounding success; who your ideal customer is, and what’s important to them. Without these two key bits of information – you’re not going to get anyone to talk about you.
So let’s start with our list of 6 easy ways to build word of mouth:
- Find Your Uniqueness. Get a Point of View. Focus on what sets you apart. Develop a personal brand. No matter how you slice it, you’re going to have to BE someone worthy of talking about. What sets you apart from the rest of the people who do exactly what you do?
- Focus on the customers you serve best. One of the things that drives great word of mouth is when people who exactly you your target customer is. If you love working with vegans – then say so. Don’t be afraid to focus on a singly group or type of customer.
- Give the stuff to talk about. This is a fairly braod recommendation so let’s focus on developing an offer specifically for them. If your target market is “vegans” and you are a restaurant, then create a menu all around their specific likes. Word will fly and your lunch and dinner schedules will be filled.
- Create communication channels. Have fun with communication channels and don’t just count on the same old stuff; radio, print ads, e-mail. Make it FUN. Use social media in a creative way (maybe you can have an online party such as a Tweet Chat) or have weekly web-cam get togethers. Give people something to pass on. Develop a story, a download, a widget – get creative with viral possibilitites.
- Tell people it’s available. You can’t just HOPE that the viral thing will happen and that people will talk about your offer or organization. You have to keep communicating – remember it might be old to you – but it’s new to people who haven’t heard. Build up your communities and keep repeating what you have that’s worth talking about.
- Test, Trial and Re-Try. There’s no getting away from the fact that you’ll have to try a bunch of things before you hit on the perfect mix. Keep Trying and testing.
What are your best word-of-mouth strategies and tips?
Author: Ivana Taylor
Email: ivana@thirdforce.net
Site: http://diymarketers.com
About: Ivana Taylor is the publisher of DIYMarketers.com and the President of Third Force a firm that specializes in helping companies find their best customers and be the one they choose – regardless of price. She's an expert and book editor for Small Business Trends and a contributor to AMEX Open Forum.See Authors Posts (255)
