Why word of mouth is still the number 1 tool to help you make money happen for your small business.
As a small business loan provider, we understand there are a number of tools you can use to help boost your small business. From Facebook and Instagram, to eDM’s and Ad Words, you’re only really limited by your budget. However, despite all the excitement over digital tools, we believe word of mouth (WOM) still remains as important as ever.
Of course, investment into your online presence is integral to harnessing WOM in the digital age, but it’s not the complete picture. Here are some other ways you can be sure you turn your next customer into an advocate for your brand.
Refer a friend
Offering a referral benefit to existing customers is an extremely effective way to build your customer base. Not only do you give your current customers an incentive to keep using your product or service, but you turn them into an active advocate for your brand, instantly. Devise the strategy, get it into market, and watch the referrals come flooding in.
Experience Over Everything
We’ve touched on the importance of the ‘experience’ in marketing before, but we’re bringing it back up again here because it’s so essential to your WOM strategy. At the end of the day, customers are more likely to remember the emotions they felt when they experienced your brand, rather than the product or service they ended up buying. So, ensure your whole business footprint, from social to post-purchase communication, is aligned with providing the best experience possible. That way, your customer will not only be glowing to their friends about their recent purchase, but how amazing you are too.
Encourage Feedback
There’s nothing wrong with reaching out for a little feedback. In fact, it could form an important part of your marketing strategy. Because opening up a genuine one-on-one conversation about what you’re doing good, and what you can improve on, allows you to form stronger brand, they’re more responsive to passing on the good feedback to their friends too. Think about introducing incentives, like a freebie or % off, to get the best results.
Empower them to create content
Getting your customers to tell their friends and family about you is one thing, but empowering them to create and share content all about you is another thing entirely. Some people will do it without prompting, especially if your brand experience is above par. But it’s also worth getting exploring options that empower your customer base to get creative in their WOM. Perhaps running a competition that calls for active and creative engagement, along with a desirable prize, is the answer.
Inspired to put your own WOM strategy into action? Business Fuel’s fast and flexible business loans can give you the boost of capital you need to implement whatever your plan is. Speak to us today to find out more!
