Become an Internet publisher, and you'll need to learn a whole bunch of new marketing skills. You'll have to unwrap the mysteries of search engine optimization, figure out how to make pay-per-click advertising pay for you and get to grips with "link bait," banners and keywords to name just a few.
None of it is really very difficult and all of it can be learned but for anyone just starting out, it will all be at least a little unfamiliar.
There's one type of marketing though that everyone knows about - even people about to touch a keyboard for the first time.
Word-of-mouth marketing is the sort of thing that people practice all the time. Whenever you tell a friend about a great movie you saw, ask where they bought their sweater or recommend a book that they should read, you're taking part in word-of-mouth marketing.
It's not just common though, it's also one of the most effective forms of marketing a business can benefit from. Just about any established business will find that a large chunk of its new customers come not from paid advertising, clever marketing tricks or special techniques, but from its old customers.
So what can a website do to encourage word-of-mouth marketing?
Some options are very simple. "Send a Friend" links have been around for years and whatever platform you're using to publish your site, you should find that adding them to your pages is a breeze. When a reader comes across a page he likes, he just pushes the button, types in the name and email address of a friend and shares the find.
It's a very easy way of helping people to spread the word.
Comments also help. When someone places a comment at the end of one your posts, he becomes a published writer too - as well as a participant in the debate. Both of those give him another reason to share the URL and show his friends what he's up to.
The best thing you can do to encourage word-of-mouth marketing though is the most important thing you can do on any website: produce good content.
If you create content that's interesting, informative and entertaining, people will talk. And on the Internet, word spreads fast. It might not be technical and no company has (yet) built a billion-dollar product to cash in on it, but the personal recommendations that sprout spontaneously from good sites could well be the most powerful force on the Web.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
October 13, 2008 09:48 AM
I need to understand how to put a good web sight together and get the respose. I use to get alot of hits on my page but lateley 2 or 5 hits a week I need more people coming to my web page can you help me.
October 13, 2008 10:18 AM
Joel, you are so right. Can you capitalize the period. Most of my customers come from word of mouth. A lot come from secondary word-of-mouth marketing. More than 50% of my customers are face to face. The rest come from Internet marketing, more Internet marketing and then some Internet marketing.
That makes w-o-m the most effective. Don't ever forget to become knowledgeable of your products, that's what sells.
Tim
October 13, 2008 02:46 PM
Joel, this is so primary school.
You basically said: there is word of mouth marketing and this marketing is good for you..
But you came over something big here..
If you - from time to time - publish a crappy article (eg. on word of mouth), you'll get lots of comments.. and they will contain keywords (like word of mouth marketing) because as you say, word of mouth marketing is good marketing.
I encourage everyone to link to this article with anchor text (joel comm on word of mouth marketing) or this (word of mouth marketing expert) says...
:-$))
Martin Kokeš
October 13, 2008 03:21 PM
You're absolutely correct. Write something that inspires people, and they will tell others. Asking for people to spread the word via social bookmarking links at the end of your posts is OK, too. Nothing sells better than a person's genuine testimony. Great advice, Joel!
October 14, 2008 02:54 AM
Wowd of mouth marketing is free marketing. You will only get it if you have some happy customers using your site, if you have unhappy customers the word of mouth will be very negative. So keep your customers happy.
October 14, 2008 01:29 PM
Word of mouth is very important but you still need traffic to get the word out. Staying on target and using the right keywords will really help your internet business.
October 14, 2008 02:16 PM
Joel, can you clarify what you mean by "Send a Friend" links. How can I add those to my blog?
October 25, 2008 01:22 AM
Thanks for sharing this article with ,,its really helpful for enhancing our working skill.
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brianna
Alcohol Rehab
October 26, 2008 10:18 PM
Word of mouth marketing has been around longer than the Flintstones and it really works. I just started blogging about trail running and have told my running friends about the site. I will take pictures of them to add content value. I first started this because I really like to write. My wife just started a blog about family camping because we love to see out of the way places We only considered doing this after we were referred to Joel. I asked a guy about the Amway business and he started telling me all kinds of cool stuff. Next thing I downloaded Joel's book. All of this from word of mouth from a guy that I met on the net. The point being if I had not talked with this guy live, he would never have pointed me to Joel and I would not have written a blog about running.
October 31, 2008 08:11 AM
Hi,
Social bookmarking is a good way to drive traffic to your site that's what we want. Also try making a a seasonal blog of the upcoming events like Christmas. Testimonies coming from a persons true experience is a good persuasion for others spread the article specially if a lot of people can relate to the topic.
Best Regards,
Aurelius Tjin
November 2, 2008 09:43 PM
Hi,
Word of mouth marketing for me is not that good type of marketing. Because when a person comes up with a site that is useful and good it's not the only thing that he's thinking of. We got lots of things that we think so when we think to spread the words to others we sometimes forget the very thing we want to say because of other things that occupy our minds.
Best Regards,
Aurelius Tjin
September 15, 2009 08:54 PM
I think word of mouth marketing is so powerful because of the relationships involved - people tend to trust the friends who recommend the products to them rather than some smart-talking marketer just out to earn his commission and isn't actually sincere about the person he's talking to. We could spend months trying to build a relationship with our clients but we could still not have the kind of relationship that their friends have with them.