It was the cover story in the New York Times Magazine. A woman comes to a barbecue with a brand new chicken product. She was happy to share this new product with dozens. The people were happy with the new treat. She was happy to be showing her friends something new. The company which made the chicken product was happiest of all. You see, the woman was their �Buzz Agent.� Not only was she sharing food with her friends, she was marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a trendy and fast-growing phenomenon online. The new terms for this old way of spreading the advertising word are called �buzz marketing� or �viral marketing.� The basic strategy is to get customers to talk about products with friends and colleagues. Some Buzz Agents approach strangers in stores as fellow shoppers. The trend is growing, and recent surveys suggest that nearly half of online marketers will engage in some form of viral marketing this year.
Be Good to Your Customers
The Word Of Mouth Marketing Association, WOMMA defines viral marketing as �the art and science of amplifying genuine consumer enthusiasm.� That�s a general statement with many specific dynamics. Basically, though, an effective buzz marketing campaign needs happy customers who will then spread the word about your business. So take care of business. Make your e-commerce site easy to navigate and provide solid customer service when people visit.
Remember, any good business will generate most of its revenue from loyal customers. That�s why you take care of them first. When they�re happy they can become real buzz agents for your company. We don�t recommend bad companies to our friends, after all.
More small online businesses are finding that direct marketing through their customers pays dividends and helps them stand out from the competition. They do it by turning customers into sales reps. There are several ways to turn active consumers into active boosters of your business.
Be Obvious. Your product pages and your home page should all contain a �Send this page to a friend� option. It�s a relatively inexpensive modification.
Be Generous. If you want customers to promote you, encourage them with discounts and special deals. One solid performer is the offer: �We�ll give your friend 10 percent off and we�ll give you 20 percent off.�
Be Exciting. Every e-commerce operator looks for the �wow factor.� After all, marketing is the indirect way of engaging customers and successful viral marketing campaigns have included such wide ranging tactics as games, contests, white papers and e-card campaigns.
Be Imaginative. Brant Shapiro of SMARTbomb.com, an e-commerce site that specializes in nutritional products and information, is dabbling in viral video. �My company had some video clips [about supplements and health-related issues],� Shapiro says. A colleague referred Shapiro to fliqz.com, a video-sharing site. �I realized that I could take the embedded links and use them on my site,� Shapiro says. �I made a little video room, where people can see the videos and send them on to friends. We noticed that �forward to a friend� is used more with the videos than the products.� Either way, people are engaged. They�re one step from shopping.
Be Great. Special offers, discounts, games and videos are fine, but compelling content is still the best way to excite customers and get them to enthusiastically promote your site. Stand out with presentation, prices, promotions and products.
Going Viral. Some of the most successful word-of-mouth campaigns were designed by experienced viral marketing agencies, but not all of them. It is very possible for small companies to create their own successful buzz campaigns with a little money and a lot of imagination.
Who knows your business better than you do? Who knows how great a deal is better than you do? There are probably a slew of companies that sell what you sell. But you know why you�re better than the others. You know what makes you special. Think along those lines. Think of how to make your customers want to tell others about you. You�ll come up with something. If you can�t, get out your wallet and call in the pros.
