Word of mouth marketing is the most cost effective marketing available to any business. While it is also the most difficult to gauge or measure, there is no doubt, positive word of mouth marketing is more than effective.
The most challenging part of a marketing campaign that is strictly word of mouth is getting people to talk about your business. In the information age this is not nearly the mountain climbing issue it used to be. In fact, it’s quite easy these days. You just have to know the proper venues for doing so.
Well over one billion messages are sent in one day’s time on Twitter, and your business should be contributing its share. Twitter is an instant billboard – A split second public message putting your business in front of the masses to get them talking about you. Using Twitter effectively, efficiently, and regularly creates a direct relationship between you and your customers, and potential customers. You cannot afford to neglect this opportunity.
The first effort to make before fully launching a word or mouth campaign on Twitter is to familiarize yourself with how it works, the common vernacular used, and the etiquette within the Twitter community. Next you will begin to build a network suitable for marketing your business. Twitter has a search engine where you should plug in your business interests, and then you follow the people that show in the results. Soon you will be followed in return. Many are very surprised at how quickly a following is built.
Now you’re almost ready to Tweet. Realize that Twitter is about breaking news and good conversation. Adjust your promotions accordingly. Think about what you offer of value to those you want to become your customer, and brand yourself as strongly as you can. Your best choice is to tweet a blurb about full content you have on the web in another place by posting a link within a personable and interesting sentence about why the reader should visit your site.
You are becoming a part of a community. Everyone in that community is a potential customer. Use it to your advantage. Plan out a strategy, and then dedicate some time each day to interact and talk with your followers, and those whom you follow.
This will give the personal Twitter Touch that people love about the community itself. This is social media, the key word being social. If you choose not to utilize this aspect of the campaign, you might as well not start the campaign at all. You wouldn’t think of neglecting customer service anywhere else, so be as diligent to your Twitter customers as you would be to the sales floor.
Finally, a word about gauging the success of your word of mouth Twitter campaign. Open a free account at Bit.ly and utilize it to your greatest advantage. With this service you can shorten URL’s to use in your tweets. This allows you to track how many people actually respond to your tweet by clicking on the link.