Viral Marketing Off-line

Word of Mouth-Low Cost and Powerful

You’ve worked hard to make your business the very best it can be but aren’t seeing many new clients. Budgets are tight and traditional marketing on TV or in the paper costs a lot and sometimes don’t get new customers in the door.

Don’t despair; there are some effective and low cost marketing techniques you can use to get new customers and more repeat business from existing clients. The key is to look at the situation from your potential customer’s point of view and stress value and features of your business that offer real benefits to her.

Making off-line viral marketing work for you.

Word of mouth, viral—these are words used to describe the most powerful form of advertising in the world. That’s right, it’s people talking to each other and it costs you nothing but a little ingenuity. Give your customers a positive reason to talk about your business with their friends and family and you’ll hear the ringing of cash registers get louder.

Staying active in the community is a good way to accomplish this. Volunteer to take part in community affairs or philanthropic ventures. Get yourself and your employees involved in raising funds for the United Way or Food Pantry (a press release showing you awarding the check in front of your business will attract a lot of attention and good will!)

Working with Scouting or volunteering to aid in local disaster relief are also effective. My point is that you are actively taking a positive role in the community and this will be reflected in the way your neighbors see your business.

Turning Receipts into Viral Marketing Tools

How many receipts, invoices and other documents leave your place of business every day? Every scrap of paper that walks out the door in a customer’s hands can be a way to get new business if it’s done properly.

Do not overload your customers with a myriad of special offers. Instead focus on one message designed to offer a specific benefit to both your customer and the person they refer.

You might put up a sign advising your customers that anyone turning in a sales receipt with the name, phone number and email address of someone they’d like to refer will receive 2 coupons good for (example) 25% off any purchase made in the next 2 weeks. This is super marketing because the only cost of implementing it is a sign and it will encourage both repeat business and new business as well.

Going Viral at the Flea Market or Church Bazaar

Make a day at the church bazaar or your local flea market a business builder. Print up a stack of flyers and attach your business card and a coupon featuring something that is moving more slowly than you want. (Sometimes products are over ordered or don’t sell as quickly as you predicted and are tying up inventory dollars and space.)

You can rent a table at the flea market or bazaar or pay local teens or family members to hand them out. You can accomplish two objectives here: your store and products are exposed to potential new customers (new business, Yea!) and you are proactively dealing with an inventory management problem.

Another way to attack this is to pay someone to walk around the flea market handing out your flyers and coupons. You may need to get permission from the flea market to do this but it is an ideal and inexpensive way to get your marketing in the hands of hundreds of potential new customers.

Getting new customers without breaking the bank isn’t really difficult if you try a little unconventional thinking. Once you start you’ll likely come up with a lot more and better ideas than the ones presented here. Your client list will grow and so will your profits.