They say that "any publicity is good publicity." But great publicity is better than any publicity.
How do you get great publicity?
You could waste thousands of dollars trying to utilize traditional methods of advertising, which does have some merits. But there is a huge potential for advertising which you're probably under-utilizing.
Your customers.
I'm sure it's crossed your mind that customers are spreading the word about you, whether you like it or not. You have no control over that: it's an unstoppable force. But just because it can't be stopped doesn't mean it can't be guided.
If you have a great product, then your customers will want to talk about you. The problem is, you aren't always on their mind (that would certainly be a strange customer). You're probably only likely to come up when people start talking about your competitors or your market. In those cases your customers are great advocates for you.
Why? Two reasons:
1. People want their friends to have the best of the best.
2. They want to be the one who found the best of the best.
So if your customers think of you, they have good reason to mention you. The key is to get them to think of you. This is a tricky problem, but the best method is related to how the human mind works. There is a chance that your customer will think of you every time that they think of things related to you. You can strengthen this chance by sowing seeds in their mind when you talk to them. Something as simple as "Hey, if you know any friends who would be interested, just send them my way! And tell them to say you sent them" will work wonders.
A sentence like that, mentioned a couple times, will significantly increase the likelihood that they will be reminded of your product when similar subjects come up in conversation. Even a slight increase in this chance will have positive effects, though.
But there's an even better way to improve that chance.
Customers who bought your product know that it's great. If you are following up with them after the sale ( like you should be), then you have the chance to keep reminding them to spread the word. This way, even after buying, they will have you fresh in their mind. Don't be pushy, just be a presence.
You can also provide incentives to encourage your customers to refer their friends. Many agree that rewarding the referred is often better than rewarding the referrer, though. This seems to be because people tend to prefer that their friends get a deal. Of course this isn't the case for everybody, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. Provide those referred folks a sweet deal, and your customers will want their friends to have that deal!
These are just a few ways to get your customers to start making more referrals. Of course, once you've got these customers start coming your way, you'll have to handle them correctly! LACRM has some more tips on how to effectively communicate with and hook new leads on your product:
- 8 Tips on Closing Warm Leads
- The Ultimate Guide to Creating Repeat Customers
- Engaging Potential & Prospective Customers Immediately
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