The power of “word-of-mouth” marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the greatest tools to promote your business. Satisfied customers are the best kind of advertising your company can have. They are fair, viral, and powerful.

According to Rob Fuggetta, author of the book Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers Into a Powerful Marketing Force, Making your customers involve into a “volunteer sales force” it is one of the most powerful forces that can drive your business through the market. Fuggetta suggests that to stimulate word-of-mouth marketing you should:

• Identify your best customers.

There are some customers that are more loyal than others, and this loyalty is important to identify. Targeting the right customers for your business can lead to your business recognizition and spread velocity increase. Social mediums, such as Facebook or Twitter, are really important now-a-days. They increase the interaction with the entire world, allowing you to permeate your business in any demographic group you want. Those that respond positively are possible candidates to become what Fuggetta calls “brand advocates” who will contribute to promote your business to other people.

• Make it easy for your best customers to post reviews.

After identifying your loyal customers, you should encourage them to write reviews of your company and direct those brand advocates to different sites that post customers reviews, such as Yelp. As reviews begin to pile up, it becomes easier to attract new buyers that would be influenced by the opinions of their peers.

• Encourage your best customers to write testimonials.

Testimonials seem to be more influential than reviews. So, try to get your customers to write personal stories about how your business changed their lives and post these stories on your website. Testimonials are a powerful sales tool that would influence people to become attracted to your company.

• Invite your best customers to answer questions from prospects.

You might have a sales team answering customers’ concerns, but if you try to get your existing customers to answer those questions, new customers would be likely to take those responses more seriously