[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]
Great word of mouth doesn’t have to be some expensive, shiny new thing you and an agency came up with. Sometimes you can create amazing conversations with the stuff you already have laying around.
Here’s how you can make the most out of your leftovers to create incredible buzz:
1. Host them
2. Post your outtakes
3. Change up the scenery
1. Host them
Do you have a conference room or a meeting space that’s empty on the weekends or seldom used? Smart companies let groups who don’t have their own place use these spaces for meetings. This is an amazing word of mouth opportunity because this gives a whole group of people a great reason to talk about you and your stuff — and getting groups talking can be much more powerful than getting individuals talking.
2. Post your outtakes
Sometimes the best part of a comedy is the blooper reel at the end. People stick around for these kinds of leftovers not only because they’re funny, but also because they show a human side. For example, Geico features extras on their site like photo stills from their popular commercials and extended versions. You probably have outtakes from some traditional marketing you’ve done, scratched ideas, botched videos — use them. People will love to see a more personal side of your company.
3. Change up the scenery
Recently, we wrote about how United Way for Greater Austin made a blank wall into a landmark by painting a mural on the side of it. Now people even take engagement photos in front of it. Everyone has blank walls, but does anyone talk about them? Without a huge budget or a cool new product, they used something they already had to get conversations started.
