Many small-business owners do things the old-school way when it comes to gaining customers: They rely on word of mouth. It's still the No. 1 marketing source of growth, according to the CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey. [source: cnbc] But a surprising number of entrepreneurs don't back that up by also digitally getting the word out.
Referrals provide, what in the marketing world is called social proof... which means that others are have used your service and since they are referring you, the referrer must be happy with your services. For you, it’s a warm lead and a warm lead is definitely easier to approach than let’s say a cold prospect.
Many small businesses are at a competitive disadvantage. Redshift Research survey commissioned by Web-hosting company GoDaddy reports that well over half of very small businesses have no Websites or Facebook pages. [source: Inc.] About 60 percent of very small businesses (made up of one to five people) don’t have Websites, according to a recent survey.
Word-of-mouth (social media) marketing has a greater reach than ever before. Word-of-mouth is the oldest form of advertising, public relations and information sharing that we know of. [source: openforum] And in today’s world, largely due to social media, it has added great reach and faster spreading of information than we've seen before. More and more people get
Loyal customers mean more cash in your pocket. New research and case studies show the positive impact loyalty and customer advocacy can have on businesses. These statistics so obvious and yet, so many marketers still choose to focus on acquisition over retention. New is not necessarily always better. Don’t ignore what’s right in front of