Traffic Blaster

In many respects marketing by word of mouth can be said to be the “hidden statistic” for all programs, as it’s well near impossible to actually gauge the effectiveness of marketing done this way. It should be mentioned that every product in this digital age has relied on this marketing methodology to drive public awareness of a product or service.

A recent study exemplified that two thirds of online marketing is expected to be done this way next year, which when coupled with the advent in leaps of Web 2.0.0 social networking and social marketing sites point towards promoting your product by word of mouth may be both more cost effective, and have an increasingly better ROI than more “traditional” online advertising media.

Consider the business model of any of the current online social networking sites. There has yet to be a successful site of this type that charges monthly, relying instead as they do on ad generated income. While there is no metric that can be used to measure marketing by word of mouth, there is one method of knowing if your campaign is worth while – sales.

A company must know from their output exactly the difference between pre campaign, during a campaign and post campaign. This in itself gives businesses a measurable statistic to show effectiveness of this marketing methodology. It is true that not all businesses need or desire this form of sales technique, but is also through that not one business turns away prospects garnered from the by word of mouth method either.

Whatever you sell, a great study completed by Hill and Knowlton in February this year showed that decision makers are largely influenced by personal experience’s (58%), with recommendations and industry reports coming in at 51%. Coming in third was direct marketing at 21% with internet advertising at 17%. These figures may only reflect the purchasing habits of key decision makers, but a young lady in Oregon deciding to buy one car insurance or another IS the key decision maker for that purchase, and her buddy Becky telling her to go with this company over that company will have a greater influence than any gravel-voiced actor pushing the product in a TV advert.

In essence, this statistic may be calculated into any industry, any niche, if every person is classified as the key decision maker. This makes the re-appearance of the world’s oldest method of marketing a no brainer – so get talking or tweeting, but tell everyone!

When you have a business, perhaps the most important thing that you can hope for is a referral or customer endorsement. A customer testimonial is going to say that you’re the best– that you are the company to go to – and a referral is going to increase your sales like you wouldn’t believe. You should be doing all that you can to make sure that you get an endorsement, because this is really what is going to increase your options. With great word of mouth, you’ll find other clients who are willing to promote you, and want to also become your new customers.

When you get a referral, it means that someone who has worked with you before, and who knows you, is telling others that you are the person that they should go with. This may come from an existing customer, or from someone who has been dealing with you previously. Wherever it comes from, it is your opportunity to excel, and to show others what you are made of. When you get an endorsement, it means that you are getting the opportunity to shine and prove someone else’s vision of who you are.

There are many ways to make ensure that people recommend your brand. Take the time to think this through – so that you know you are going to be the one who benefits from the referrals. Remember that when you get a recommendation, you want to be sure that you have earned it. There are several ways that you can be sure you are the one getting referrals.

You should recognize that every customer you sell has a chance of becoming an individual who can give your company an endorsement. This is very important because it is the way that you make sure that you can attract customers. Treat your customers like gold, and be sure that you show them how much you appreciate them. This shows you what you can do with them, it will enhance your popularity, which increases the chances of referrals. When you are dealing with all customers, be energetic, positive, and always exceed expectations – even if things don’t go perfectly. This is a great way to prove that you do deserve their business, and a great way to get positive word of mouth!

Do you really need viral marketing software? Let’s review the five best elements of any effective strategy. After you learn these, you may realize that what you require is something completely different.

Give something useful for free. What you choose to give might be simply information, an ebook or even software. For example, you might offer a free download of a “basic” software program that you have created. However, to get the “premium” version or membership, the customer would have to pay for it.

Quite a number of video game providers use this method. You can play their games free on the web, but to get certain features, you must buy their “complete” version. People that love the game and get addicted to it in the trial, will often pay for the extended version. Viral marketing software cannot tell you what to give away. Only you or a company that offers personalized service can determine that.

The second element is to design a method that allows your specific offer to be transmitted from a single person to everyone they know. Typically, this is done via e-mail. The information gathered from numerous surveys prove that when people find relevant, interesting infomation on the Internet, they share it with an average of six people. You can see how the number of people that you can contact grows exponentially, which makes the next element very important.

You must be able to effortless and effectively handle the increased influx of business. Quite often, this would mean that you need an auto-responder. You may need to upgrade your website to handle the traffic or increase your stock, if you are selling an item. If you are providing a service, you will need to figure out what your ability is to handle new clients. Is is possible that viral marketing software do that? No.

The fourth element is to benefit from common reactions. So, for example, a reaction to a picture of food that looks tasty is hunger. If you sell food, you want photos in your e-mails and on your websites that are “appetizing”. Another great example is the “what will it do for me” mentality. People don’t want to know that a car has reinforced side beams. They really just want to be sure that the car will be as safe as possible in the event of a collision or accident. Tell a person what your product will do for them and you will have a customer.

Lastly, is to become part of and use existing communication networks to gain an advantage. That’s the one thing that viral marketing software might be able to do for you. For various reasons, it cannot provide the tools that you need for a highly successful campaign.

If you do a web search for free viral marketing, you will see the system at work. Offering something at no additional charge is part of the methodology. No companies can actually offer free advertising. They might give free information. But, it will be just enough to make you curious.

Reports, trials, tests and getting leads are many of the things they offer. However, if you want more, you will have to pay more. That’s how this sort of advertising campaign works. It is what you decide to do with your company, too.

No matter what you are selling, you need to identify something that you can give away for free. Perhaps you are an expert carpenter. You can provide do-it-yourself advice and perhaps publish tips on your site, in an online magazine or offer a newsletter for individuals who are nuts about woodwork. Then find a way to let people in on your information offering.

The way to get viral marketing at no charge is to do it yourself. You would need to compile a list of email addresses. Join social networks, follow blogs, get on twitter. Post on all relevant forums. You can purchase a list of e-mail addresses and as well, some companies offer a “trial” for free. We know for certain that giving something away free often generates customers and gains interest.

Success of any campaign depends on reaching a big group of people and offering a free item. But, your success depends on the quality of the item or service that you have to offer. A product can only reaches virus proportions if people really dig it or they think that they must get it, in order to be “in”. The cool aspect wears off. Valuable items usually always stay around.

Actually, I’m giving you free viral marketing advice right now. Do some companies charge for this kind of information? There are classes that you have to pay for and what they teach is what I have just informed you of. Of course, they go into great detail to make you feel that the seminar was valuable. But, there is not much to learn.

Do companies charge to do the marketing for you? Yes. You can do these kinds of advertising campaigns on your own, but they are extremely time-consuming. Your website might not even be ready for the kind of business that an effective campaign can generate. If you read some more about free viral marketing, you’ll see what I mean.

Referral programs are a very good way to popularize your brand and increase your sales. A referral program works well in the following manner – you reward the people who send you new customers. This will encourage them to send you more clients. It is that simple. How are these programs successful? In a few words.

Humans, by nature, crave to get rewarded for their actions. When there is an incentive, it motivates people to act. So, naturally, when customers get rewarded for sending new business to you, they feel elated. This greatly increases your response rate.

The advantages of a customer referral program include:

1.It costs a tiny amount. Your friends and clients bring you new business – all you need to do is reward them by giving them something in return.

2.It encourages high value customers. Customers who are referrals from existing clients are highly likely to do business with you, as they already know that you are dependable and trustworthy.

3.This builds brand awareness. When a number of people talk very highly about your business, it has a very positive effect and your brand’s popularity increases greatly.

4.    It creates a channel to launch your new products and services. This is most likely the biggest advantage of a referral program.

5.It builds a stage to maintain the existing relationship you have with your clients and to build rapport with new cusomters.

To be successful, you should let all your existing clients know about your new referral programs. You can do this by printing flyers and distributing them or by sending an email to all your clients. You may gradually build a mailing list and send a short message to your inactive clients now and again. In this manner, you keep reminding them that you appreciate what they do and would love to reward them.

As a business owner, you should understand an important thing about a great customer referral program. The incentive you give need not be too expensive. Most of the time, service credits would be just fine. In fact, in some cases, a donation to a local charity in your customers’ name or even a box of chocolates will show your appreciation for your customers.

Most would agree, what matters most is your intention. Do not worry about spending too much money on an incentive program. Set up a referral marketing program today and get the results you want.