How many of you found a new website, store, restaurant, bar, or kids activity only by listening to other people’s conversation or from your own conversations with friends and family? That’s word-of-mouth marketing, also known as buzz marketing or viral marketing.
How does it work: When a person tells another about their experience it instantly builds more creditability to your business. The more people talk, the more your message is spread. The more people listen and want to be “in the know”.
There are several ways you can encourage others to start a buzz
- Social Networking Groups – ex: local chamber of commerce
- Online Networking – ex: My Space, Ryze, Facebook
- Advertising stunts
- Find a target audience and share – ex:new restaurant inviting Restaurant Clubs
- Discussion boards or user groups – ex: Yahoo! Groups
- Recognition and incentives for promoters – ex: discounts, cash
- Marketing tools – ex: tell a friend option
- Referrals – ex: offer something to reward your current clients.
- Bear in mind, buzz marketing doesn’t fit every one. Your product or service has to be interesting, and unique. Just as your buzz can grow, it can also fizzle in a day. Therefore, this isn’t a strategy as much as it is simply a tactic to increase visibility to your business.
In addition, the biggest downside to word-of-mouth marketing is there is no tangible way of controlling how your message is spread. Good bad or indifferent, the goal for word of mouth marketing is get people talking because you never know who is in someones network!