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Honest praise from happy customers will always be more effective than any sales copy you could write. As a word of mouth marketer, your job is to help these great talkers get in front of potential customers. How to do it:
1. Feature their reviews
2. Highlight their work
3. Help them meet prospects
1. Feature their reviews
Reviews are one of the best ways to get the voices of your customers in front of your prospects. Try pointing to Yelp reviews and sites like Angie’s List, hosting reviews on your product pages, or even pulling in customer comments from Twitter. But remember: This only works if you’re willing to commit to full transparency by featuring all of the feedback — even the not-so-great stuff.
2. Highlight their work
Most marketers focus on telling prospects how they can help them do amazing things. But great word of mouth marketers know it’s much more powerful to have a real customer show them. Try highlighting the great work of your customers by getting them on stage at industry events, coordinating interviews with relevant publications, or featuring them in your own case studies and white papers.
3. Help them meet prospects
When you get happy customers talking to your prospects, good things happen. Try bringing these groups together with simple events like a conference call, a webinar, or even a backyard BBQ. But it doesn’t have to be an event. For example, we’ve seen companies do this by putting a simple form on their website that allows any prospect to send an email to a few current customers for a quick reference check.