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We have all heard it before. “Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising’. A lot of businesses’ survival depends on it, but what do you do when word of mouth dies off?

Some people say, “Word of mouth is like the weather – you can’t control it.” That’s just not true. There are proven and tested strategies that can fuel your word of mouth like a fire.

Here are four Word of Mouth marketing strategies that can lead to a dramatic increase in sales and profit.

1. Create a buzz: One of the most powerful ways to get people to talk about you is by creating a buzz. This can be done by communicating sales, special events or just simply providing a strong customer experience. If the event you are offering is ‘newsworthy’ there may be an opportunity to generate some free publicity – which means free advertising.
2. Offer referral incentives: The quickest way to get a new customer to talk about you is by offering a decent incentive to do so. This is when you turn your customers into commission-based sales people. These referral incentives could be in the form of credit for your business or just cold hard cash.
3. Recruit an army of affiliates: There are people who are dealing with your target market who could be your affiliates. By building relationships with these people you could be opening the door to hundreds of quality leads. Once again, offer incentives through an affiliate partnership to encourage them to refer their contacts to you. Make sure you are not stingy with your incentive because it can restrain people from referring you.
4. Use ‘tell a friend’ systems: By proving a simple way of letting your raving fans tell others about you, you will generate a ton of referrals. There are new web-based ‘tell a friend’ systems that provide automated ways of letting your customers refer you to their contacts. Once your customers fill out a form it will send an email from them to their contacts automatically.

The important thing is to remember that every satisfied customer or client is a potential evangelist for your business. You just need to make it easy for them.

Jordan Mullen is a strategic marketing consultant and Director of Response Driven Marketing. Discover the marketing secrets of some of the most effective campaigns in Australia. Order your free copy of the report ‘7 Marketing Secrets Revealed’ – valued at $129. www.7marketingsecrets.com.au.

Photo: HAMED MASOUMI (Flickr)