Word of Mouth

Remember the little movie Slumdog Millionaire? That little indie film with a minuscule budget that ended up winning almost every award this year, ring a bell? Well how did it become so popular if it had no money to advertise its self? It succeeded because it was good, and everybody told their friends it was good. Something called word of mouth.

Word of mouth marketing is described by Wikipedia as "the passing of information from person to person." Word of mouth usually costs very little, because it is just people talking to other people, and usually starts off with a great product and good marketing campaign. It is a Marketers dream to have people talk to each other about your product, and with the help of the Internet it is easier than ever before to spread the joyful news of satisfied customers.

Sites that are of particular interest include Craigslist, Facebook, and eBay. They facilitate mingling between people, and allow word of mouth marketing to spread to various groups of persons.

Some tips to create a succesful word of mouth campaign.

• Use social networking sites to their full extent. Craigslist estimates that it receives over 9 billion page hits a month which means that there is a lot of potential exposure on these sites.
• Try to look for Trend setters or people who specialize in your products specific topic. Go for people that have lots of networking capabilities. Begin a working relationship with them, and use there established network to spread the word.
• Make your product exclusive. People love being part of something, and if you limit the number of people eligible for it some will run at the chance to be part of this special "club." dangle special limited discounts in front of the customers and they will go crazy.
• Let people be part of the the campaign. Some companies flourish with viral and word of mouth campaigns by letting customers go online and create there own product. It is completely customized, and people really love to share their own creations.
• Focus on a certain group of people, and be successful with them. If they are happy they will spread the word.

Once you unleash your product, and people start talking about it there is no turning back. So do it once and do it right. If so then people will talk. In a good way of course.