Creating a “BUZZ” about YOUR Business
Creating a BUZZ about YOUR Business
As small business owners, we ALL want people to go out and talk up our business…unless what you do is illegal, in which case this might not be for you(lol).
We all work hard day in and day out ensuring that our businesses run properly and effeciently with hopes of reaping the rewards and defying the odds of the “most small businesses fail within 5 years” mantra.
We all know the importance of word-of-mouth advertising. Heck, as small biz owners we actually might even consider that our entire marketing strategy! BUT, put yourself in your customers shoes…
Imagine that you shop in your own business. What would you think your experience would be? When you walk out the doors, what was the ONE thing that really stood out about your experience? Anything? Bueller?
If you can’t answer the above questions immediately and with vigor, then chances have it that your customers probably feel the same way. NOW, there’s nothing saying that their experience was BAD, but maybe just ordinary? In today’s society and culture, ordinary will NOT do it anymore!
Think about creating something DIFFERENT. We have all had the displeasure of going to a fast food restaurant and gotten something other than what we ordered. We actually expect it. We tend to breath a sig of relief when we open the bag and find what we ordered. So in this example, imagine ordering from a restaurant that has a drive thru or pick up that GUARANTEE’S that your order will be correct or it’s FREE! Wouldn’t that stand out? If you found about that, it would certainly make you talk about it, right?
The main goal of course is to provide what it is that your customers expect. But BUZZ marketing takes it a step further and creates an experience that goes over and above the “average” expectations of your customers and takes it to a degree that makes people talk.
BUZZ will be different for every business. If everyone had the same BUZZ, then it really wouldn’t be “buzzworthy” would it? As a small biz owner it is up to you to decide what it is you can do that makes people talk. Maybe you own a dog grooming service in town. What is it that you can do that would make people talk about you? How about sending your customers(the dogs) cards at holiday time or their birthdays? When it’s time for “grooming” send out reminders to the dogs themselves and make it funny. Or give the owners gift cards to the local pet supply shops wrapped in a nice thank you letter.
Back to the restaurant biz. Ever hear of SMS messaging? Did you know that you can have customers text a keyword to you and they can automatically be enrolled to get special coupons right over the phone? Or better yet, imagine sending out a mass text message to your customers right around 4 or 5pm with your nightly specials…right when they are already thinking about supper!
There are literally millions of ideas to create BUZZ, and it’s up to you to implement it. When there is so many companies doing the same thing, something as silly as creating a BUZZ could seperate you from the masses…and increase your profits exponentially!