Happy customers are the best advertising a business can ask for. Here are ten ways you can get your customers to do some of the marketing work for you.
1. Recommendation Schemes
This is a popular approach for companies of all levels and is generally very effective if carried out correctly. Try to offer your existing customers a genuinely attractive incentive for inviting their friends or colleagues to use your services. Similarly, offer new customers a little something for signing up if you can. Vouchers, discounts at local restaurants or even a month’s free subscription can all be great ways to create a solid base of loyal and more importantly, vocal supporters who will help to promote your business.
2. Make Your Branding So Good People Want to Share It
Adidas Obey and many other iconic brands can attribute much of their success to the quality of their branding. Style matters and working with professional designers or developers will mean that you have more chance of creating something that leaves the right kind of lasting impression on your potential customers. Fashion brands have managed to make their own logos part of the cultural fabric and though you might not be able to compete on the same level, the principal is the same. If people associate your logo or slogan with quality and good design, they are more likely to share it.
3. Get a review section on your website
Nothing can compete with a string of positive reviews from genuinely satisfied customers, so consider adding a ratings and review section to your website if you can. There will inevitably be a few anomalies here and there, but after several 5 start reviews and plenty of positive feedback, this section of your website will be as likely to make a customer convert as the copy on your landing page.
4. Invite Customers to Become Influencers
Despite what the highest paid professional Instagram stars may tell you, technically, anybody can become an influencer. Offering your customers free or discounted products in return for recording a short vlog or writing a quick review for you can be a great way to cut through the marketing speak and industry jargon so you can get a genuine, heartfelt and realistic opinion of your product. In today’s world, the opinion of everyday people matters in marketing, so its time to start capitalising on that.
5. Merchandise and Physical Products
T-shirts, hats, stationary and even stuffed toys can all be great ways to get your digital brand out in to the physical world. This kind of offline marketing is very effective, especially if you can offer a product that looks and feels like more than a piece of advertising come to life. Try to avoid selling merch that looks rushed or cheap and consider the kind of impression it leaves on people who see it. If customers are happy to wear or use something that carries your logo while they are out and about, that means plenty of visibility for your brand.
6. Surveys and Feedback Forms
When you provide your customers with the opportunity to give you feedback on your products directly, you can adjust your products and your marketing strategy to make any improvements you need. Pay attention to everything, especially the reviews that are negative or just “fine.” Try to ask questions that will solicit a detailed response so that you can gather some genuinely useful data, rather than just a series of rushed comments. Look for trends and themes. For example, if you notice a lot of people complaining about call waiting times, address this in your next blog post. When customers notice that you are using their comments to make changes, they will feel confident you are taking their concerns seriously.
7. Hashtags
Creating the right hash tag isn’t enough on its own but with the right amount of engagement, you can just sit back and watch your most enthusiastic supporters spread your brand around the digital world on your behalf. It can be difficult to come up with hash tags that stick, so don’t see this as an easy option. You may need to try a few different combinations before you find something that people like. There’s no exact science to this, but it is something of a fine art.
8. Make Your Customer Service So Good, It Makes People Take About It
This isn’t easy. You will need to train your staff well and make sure they understand that your basic standard involves going way above and beyond what your competitors offer. People need to come away from a conversation or email exchange with your staff feeling uplifted, positive and totally satisfied with the service they have received. Let’s face it, this doesn’t happen often but when it does, it creates a genuine buzz around the quality of what you’re doing.
9. Competitions and Challenges
People love a challenge and they also enjoy a bit of friendly competition, too. If you can come up with a way that pits your customers against each other by using a game style format, you can generate a large amount of online content in a short space of time, especially on social media. Offering prizes for the best photograph of a person with your product on Instagram can be a brilliant way to drive engagement and have a bit of fun, too.
10. Reach Out to Podcasters, Youtubers and other Online Media Stars
Sponsoring small or medium sized podcasts can be a fantastic way to get your name out there without having to a great deal. Providing you choose the right people to represent you, a quick mention of your brand at the start of the podcast or the end of popular video can be enough to drive people to your site. Just remember to encourage whoever you are sponsoring to give out as much information about you as they can. Including website address and if you can, a brief and positive synopsis of your product.
