Four effective marketing strategies that don’t cost a cent

Ever noticed that the most effective marketing methods are also the cheapest?

Every time I’ve spent money on advertising I’ve either only broken even or never seen it again.  Lesson learned!  Here are four marketing ideas that have worked for me and/or others I know:

1. Word of Mouth (WoM) WoM has to be the most effective marketing method.  Nothing is more powerful than an enthusiastic referral. Action:  Make sure your customer service is up to scratch, follow up for feedback (good and bad), and make sure you have a website to which your happy customers can refer their friends/colleagues when you come up in conversation.  You can also join a referral-based networking group like BNI (let me know if you’d like to visit my BNI chapter one Tuesday morning).
2. Testimonials Related to WoM, testimonials are incredibly important in demonstrating your trustworthiness. Action: Make sure you collect testimonials and put them on your website and other promotional materials.  Video testimonials are more compelling than written ones.
3. Viral Marketing Ever received a particularly useful or funny bit of email from a friend or colleague?  Maybe a link to a funny commercial ad that’s been uploaded to YouTube?  Viral Marketing involves creating something that is so useful or funny that people pass it on and on and on (usually by email, online forums, or other community websites like Facebook). Action:  Brainstorm ideas for an ebook that would be so useful that people interested in your topic would pass it onto their friends.  Brainstorm ideas for a funny video that you could post on YouTube and email it to your existing list of friends, family and customers.
4. Write Articles There are literally thousands of commercial blogs (i.e. blogs that make full-time income from advertising and/or memberships) and print-based magazines that are hungry for content. Action:  Write an interesting article on a topic related to your business.  It should not be a flat-out plug for your business – it should be interesting and useful.  At the bottom of the article you need to include a footer that says who you are, what your business is, and a link to your website.  You can also send articles out to your mailing list of existing and prospective customers or publish it on your company blog.

Next week:  Learning lessons from Thai business people