Even with all of the advances and changes in the world of marketing, word-of-mouth is still the most effective tactic. People trust the recommendations of their friends and family when it comes to products.
Now, there are customers who like a product and will give a referral if asked, and then there are promoters. Brand promoters go out of their way to talk about their experience and recommend it in normal conversation. Creating more promoters as a part of your marketing strategy can help your business gain more attention and bring in more customers.
Control Expectations, Then Exceed Them
It’s easy to oversell when marketing your product. After all, your end goal is to make sales and earn money. Overselling creates high expectations in your consumer that leads to a difficult situation.
If you meet those high expectations, then you did what you promised and they aren’t surprised, or you don’t and your customer is disappointed.
By controlling your consumer’s expectations, you have a better chance of exceeding them. If they expect a typical business transaction and you go out of your way to wow them, they’ll be much more likely to share the experience with others.
Hopefully, because of that great experience, they’ll either send friends to you or come back themselves. If you continue wowing your customers, then they’ll keep sharing with those around them.
To exceed expectations, you have to do something unique. It has to be worth talking about. Simply giving them a coupon or an insignificant freebie isn’t enough. Do something helpful and unexpected that leaves an impact both in your marketing and in your delivery of the product.
Truly Helpful Customer Service
People dread having to contact customer service. Over the years, it’s been ruined by overseas call centers, long wait times, and unhelpful support employees. It’s gotten to the point that customers are willing to simply swallow the problem support should solve instead of contacting them.
Be a part of the solution. Outstanding customer service can transform a negative experience into one worthy of talking about.
The bare basics of good customer service include over-the-phone, email, and instant messaging. If you provide a 24-hour service, consider having a 24-hour customer service.
But we aren’t doing just bare basic customer service, we’re going for amazing service. It’s hard to control wait times outside of hiring more customer service helpers. But you can ensure that they are well-trained, happy, and friendly.
Good customer service employees need to be able to defuse the situation, solve the problem and make the whole experience pleasant or even entertaining. If they can do this reliably, people will start to talk about how good your customer service is.
Long Term Contact Through Social Media
It’s not enough to simply impress your promoter once and call it good. Promoters need frequent contact, and the best approach is through social media.
The first step is to connect with promoters online. Somebody might love your business, but not follow you online because they don’t feel a need. Create a need.
Tell them what type of content they might miss out on if they don’t like your Facebook, follow your Instagram, and connect on Twitter. If your product/service solves a problem, share helpful content to solve other problems your customers might have. They don’t even have to be related to your business but be something relevant to your target market.
Don’t be afraid to use humor or snark in your content marketing, but don’t jump on an internet bandwagon just to be along for the ride. Know what your target market enjoys and follow that type of humor.
Engage and listen to your followers on social media. Take the first step. It’s easy for a business to put up a post asking what people think but rarely gets meaningful results. If you know a specific follower is a customer, ask them how they like the product. Be friendly and personable.
Finally, if somebody mentions your brand or product online, you need to be talking to them. If it’s negative, you can help soothe the problem. When somebody is praising you, get in touch and thank them. It shows you are paying attention and you care what they think.
Thanking Them For What They Do
Every purchase is valuable and should be properly thanked. Thank you pages are a good start to making each customer feel special, but it shouldn’t stop there.
After a short while, send a thank you email, again showing your gratitude to the customer. It’s tempting to include a request for a review or fill out a survey, but be willing to not do that. Instead, add additional value to the email with some sort of offer, anything from a coupon to a ticket in a raffle for a prize. Don’t ask for them to do anything else, just say “thank you” to them.
Thank you emails aren’t a new thing in marketing, and it’s gotten to the point that many consumers are skeptical of them. They see the thank you and expect that pitch for a review. A heartfelt and honest thanks with no ulterior motives could make them feel special and connect them with your business.
As you experiment and find the best ways to create promoters, integrate it into your normal campaigns. It’s very unlikely that you will keep a promoter for the rest of their life, but you can make getting new ones and extending how long they love your brand a focus for your marketing.
Have any questions about getting promoters for your brand? Have a different tactic you want to share? Let us know in the comments below.
