If you have any sort of business at all, you got know that you got to have advertising to get your name out to the public. You can’t just build it and they will come. The more familiar they (the public) are with your name or brand, the more value your name or brand has, and, the more value your product or service appears to have in the minds of the potential customer.
Now advertising can be costly so business owners are always looking for ways to advertise for less. The single most popular form of inexpensive advertising is word of mouth marketing. This viral marketing is really a dream come true when it works.
A long time ago there was a shampoo commercial that went along the lines of and they’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends. It was the very popular Faberge Shampoo commercial in the 1980’s. Search for it on YouTube. Great example! Well, the same principal still applies today but now there are new ways of getting friends to tell their friends. Word of mouth marketing simply means telling your friends and getting them to tell their friends. (And so on, and so on).
The technology of the Internet has brought forth the world of word of mouth referral programs. With incentives like free products or services, like a discount on their next purchase, or even a percentage of every sale, word of mouth marketing has become very much the rage. These are often called affiliate programs as well. They allow you to get the word out about your product or service through the use other people’s recommendations. People who participate in word of mouth referral programs may have their own web site and put your banner or text ad on their site allowing them to make a small profit from every lead or sale they send your way. They may also use personal email or classified ads to bring attention to your business. They are essentially doing your advertising for you.
Another word of mouth marketing technique – surprise -- is blogging. People all over the world and of all ages are writing blogs. Sometimes they are just general chatter about their own lives (like eating a cheese sandwich), but more often than not they are focused on a specific topic. You can start your own blog as a means of getting the word out about your business and then link to other blogs that focus on similar topics to yours. Interestingly, when you link to them, they will usually link back to you. Their friends become your friends. (And so on and so on, get it?). You can also approach blog writers and ask them to review your business products or services in exchange for links, percentages of sales, or free products or services.
In short, word of mouth marketing can help you spread the buzz about your business quickly. It does take time but costs are small thus increasing your profit margins. You can still spread the word with your real time friends, but your online friends can be an invaluable resource to your business or services.
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