What is Buzz Marketing?
Recently, one of my friend got a very pretty tattoo done, she uploaded the photo on her Facebook profile and tagged it with the tattoo guy who inked her. She has around 400 people in her friend list, she received 54 comments on the photo and out of those comments around 20 comments showed willingness to get a tattoo done from the same guy.
So what happened here?
Well, she just created a buzz within her group about a service that she used and ended up marketing it. This is what Buzz Marketing is all about, it is a synonym for 'Viral Marketing' , 'Gorilla Marketing' or 'Word-of-mouth Marketing'.
Wikipedia defines Buzz Marketing as: "The interaction of consumers and users of a product or service serve to amplify the original marketing message."
A very high percentage of consumers buy products or services based on somebody's recommendation or feedback; because it helps in building confidence in the consumer's mind. No matter how much a company advertises itself, ultimately it is the word of mouth that counts. Especially if you are selling online, no one buys anything over the web without researching on it.
So below are 5 simple steps to create a buzz about your product or services. These are very basic rules, but requires effort and commitment:
Target Opinion Leaders/ Influencers/ Industry Experts:
Depending on the niche of your business, look for influential experts who write several opinion articles or are renowned and famous bolggers. Usually these industry experts have loyal followers or readers and if you get such influential leaders to talk about you, you will be benefited by utilizing 'their' resources for 'your' publicity.
Feedbacks or Testimonials:
Always remember to collect and acknowledge good or bad feedbacks about your business. Encourage your clients to send you feedbacks or testimonials and once you do receive them, acknowledge them by posting them on your blog or website; you should also keep a track on various forums or communities that are related to your business. You might stumble upon an opinion about your product or service and you must try to reply to them; you can very conveniently leave links or info about your business as well.
Giveaways/ Samples/ Goodies:
Who doesn't like to receive free stuff? This is one the oldest yet effective way of luring your customers towards your product or at least getting them to talk about you. You can hold periodic contests or activities that you think will grab attention of your target audience; people love to flaunt prizes or goodies that they receive and you can give them a platform to do so. Giveaways also creates curiosity among customers to check out more of your stuff, you may end up selling some by giving some; but remember not to get too carried away.
Monitoring:
It is very important for you to keep a regular tab on latest happenings or updates related to your business. Start reading blogs or articles that very widely available on internet, this will not only help you in learning about the latest trends; you will also learn about the latest buzz in the market about you as well as about your competitors. Learn to streamline the information that you wish to receive, you can use simple tools like 'Google Alert' or 'RSS Feed'; check out Technorati or Google Blogs as well, these are search engines for numerous blogs all over the web.
Ethics:
At times, people tend to get carried away when they have plenty of marketing resources at their disposal. They forget ethics and end up practising negative marketing, instead of promoting themselves they de-market their competitors; such low tactics are never appreciated. You must have faith in 'your' business and promote it, speaking ill about others will not benefit in any way whatsoever. If you are looking for a long term success, then follow ethical practices; it may take time but let me assure you that sooner or later it will reap lucrative results.
Recently, one of my friend got a very pretty tattoo done, she uploaded the photo on her Facebook profile and tagged it with the tattoo guy who inked her. She has around 400 people in her friend list, she received 54 comments on the photo and out of those comments around 20 comments showed willingness to get a tattoo done from the same guy.
So what happened here?
Well, she just created a buzz within her group about a service that she used and ended up marketing it. This is what Buzz Marketing is all about, it is a synonym for 'Viral Marketing' , 'Gorilla Marketing' or 'Word-of-mouth Marketing'.
Wikipedia defines Buzz Marketing as: "The interaction of consumers and users of a product or service serve to amplify the original marketing message."
A very high percentage of consumers buy products or services based on somebody's recommendation or feedback; because it helps in building confidence in the consumer's mind. No matter how much a company advertises itself, ultimately it is the word of mouth that counts. Especially if you are selling online, no one buys anything over the web without researching on it.
So below are 5 simple steps to create a buzz about your product or services. These are very basic rules, but requires effort and commitment:
Target Opinion Leaders/ Influencers/ Industry Experts:
Depending on the niche of your business, look for influential experts who write several opinion articles or are renowned and famous bolggers. Usually these industry experts have loyal followers or readers and if you get such influential leaders to talk about you, you will be benefited by utilizing 'their' resources for 'your' publicity.
Feedbacks or Testimonials:
Always remember to collect and acknowledge good or bad feedbacks about your business. Encourage your clients to send you feedbacks or testimonials and once you do receive them, acknowledge them by posting them on your blog or website; you should also keep a track on various forums or communities that are related to your business. You might stumble upon an opinion about your product or service and you must try to reply to them; you can very conveniently leave links or info about your business as well.
Giveaways/ Samples/ Goodies:
Who doesn't like to receive free stuff? This is one the oldest yet effective way of luring your customers towards your product or at least getting them to talk about you. You can hold periodic contests or activities that you think will grab attention of your target audience; people love to flaunt prizes or goodies that they receive and you can give them a platform to do so. Giveaways also creates curiosity among customers to check out more of your stuff, you may end up selling some by giving some; but remember not to get too carried away.
Monitoring:
It is very important for you to keep a regular tab on latest happenings or updates related to your business. Start reading blogs or articles that very widely available on internet, this will not only help you in learning about the latest trends; you will also learn about the latest buzz in the market about you as well as about your competitors. Learn to streamline the information that you wish to receive, you can use simple tools like 'Google Alert' or 'RSS Feed'; check out Technorati or Google Blogs as well, these are search engines for numerous blogs all over the web.
Ethics:
At times, people tend to get carried away when they have plenty of marketing resources at their disposal. They forget ethics and end up practising negative marketing, instead of promoting themselves they de-market their competitors; such low tactics are never appreciated. You must have faith in 'your' business and promote it, speaking ill about others will not benefit in any way whatsoever. If you are looking for a long term success, then follow ethical practices; it may take time but let me assure you that sooner or later it will reap lucrative results.
Post a Comment