Even in today’s technology driven world, word of mouth marketing is a very powerful way to get tons of new customers to your business. The concept behind word of mouth, or most any other type of marketing campaign, is simple – you reward the client who brings you new business. Why is this type of marketing so effective? Let’s just take a look.
People like to get rewarded for their actions. People especially love to receive recognition for what they do as well. Combine these two things together and you have got a great incentive for a word of mouth campaign. In such a marketing campaign, you reward your customers who give you new business in a couple of ways.
1. You give them an incentive. This could be virtually anything – service credits, money, or gift certificates.
2.You thank them for their effort. You can mention their names and thank them for their efforts in your newsletters and business magazines.
This can make people extremely happy and satisfied – happy to get something useful and satisfied to know that their effort has been a success.
Here are some great tips to help you start your word of mouth marketing campaign correctly.
1.Offer an incentive that is useful. Money is the most obvious choice, but some people might feel uncomfortable with cash rewards. In my opinion, gift certificates are always the best choice. You can get gift certificates from Amazon – they are always a great choice. You can also choose to give free meal certificates for your customers at local restaurants, wine clubs, movie passes and more.
2.Always make sure you let your customers know that they are being recognized for their referrals. At your place of business, put a cork board on the wall and list the names of people who have brought in new business on it. This way, your customers can see their names on the notice board every time they come to your office and this will make them feel really special.
3. When you send out business newsletters about your word of mouth campaigns, you can mention the names of people who have referred a lot of high value customers. Your newsletters reach everyone in your mailing list and you can imagine how happy your customers will be if they see their names in there. This clearly shows your customers that you care about them and you appreciate their referrals to your business.
4.If you are conducting a sales event or a meeting, simply ask your existing clients to bring their friends along and offer them some form of incentive for doing so.
5.If your customers bring you new business, it is important to thank them quickly. Phone them, email them, send them a simple text message, or send them a thank-you card. It is important to make sure they understand that you appreciate their effort.
This is pretty much what you need to know about word of mouth advertising campaigns. Remember – they cost very little, they increase brand awareness, and increase your customer base tremendously. So, if you want to achieve the best results, make sure you set up a marketing campaign today.