When it comes to credibility and effectiveness of marketing, word of mouth marketing has always been the most effective at generating “hot” prospects. This is just as true in today’s world of web marketing as it was prior to the age of the internet.
In the past, good word of mouth was something you hoped to obtain by simply doing a good, competent job and hoping that your customers would be pleased with your product or service. Then, hopefully, they would recommend you to a few of their friends. If nothing else, today’s world of the internet has vastly speeded up all channels of communication. One may wonder if some of the things that pose as communications really are, but that’s a topic for another time.
As far as pure speed goes, email is so much faster than the old-fashioned form of mail that people have dubbed it “snail mail.” For today’s generation, even email is too slow for them and their most prevalent way of keeping in touch is “texting” from one mobile, hand-held device to another. This way you get your messages virtually instantly without the hassle of connecting to the internet via a computer to receive the latest news from your friends.
Around all this instant gratification communication, a whole new industry known as “social media” has evolved. Participating in the various social media venues such as Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter are another way to promote good word of mouth in today’s world.
One of our clients remarked: “I’ve got a website! Why do I need Facebook?” had to point out that you not only need a great website that shows off your products or services, you also need to get your potential customers to visit it. You shouldn’t just rely on the search engines to know what you have to offer and then hope that your prospective customers will search for the right keywords. This is too laid back and we need a more proactive approach to getting the good word out.
By letting all your friends on Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter know about your website and that you’re looking for new business, you stand a much better chance that they will tell their friends and they will tell their friends, etc. There’s a very good chance that somewhere along the line, somebody will be looking for your product or service and will then be only a click away from visiting your website where they’ll see all the great things you have to offer. Word of mouth is still the best game in town.
If you need help in setting up appropriate social media accounts, contact Websites by Ideal and we’ll be happy to assist you in utilizing social media to spread the good word. Let’s get proactive about using word of mouth advertising.
