[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.]
No matter what your company sells, you have the ability to make it more remarkable. It’s not about expensive marketing promotions or a shiny, new product. It’s about making people feel special, surprising them, and showing them trust.
Some buzzworthy stuff you can offer your customers:
1. Something personal
2. Something mysterious
3. Something borrowed
1. Something personal
Photo thanks to Max Bemis Song Shop.
The band Say Anything is a lot like small indie groups of its kind, but they’re different in at least one way — their songwriter and front man, Max, has given his fans a chance to commission a song from him about anything or anyone. It’s incredibly personal and probably time-consuming — but for the band, it’s the perfect market research and the perfect way to make meaningful connections with their fans. You don’t have to write your customers a song, but you do have a lot of other opportunities to customize something especially for them.
2. Something mysterious
Photo thanks to ModCloth.
Mystery and surprise are great word of mouth motivators. Everyone loves getting surprises, especially if they’re worth more than what they paid for them. That’s the idea behind Groupon’s Mystery Deals and ModCloth’s Stylish Surprises: Pay a set amount and get something that could be worth that amount or more. It’s about adding that extra sense of mystery and getting people pumped about what’s coming in the mail — and anyone can do it, all you need is a grab bag of interesting stuff, a fair price, and a little mystery.
3. Something borrowed
Photo thanks to Arch Daily.
The Ann Arbor District Library is letting their patrons borrow a lot more than just books. They also lend art prints, telescopes, or unusual tools like infrared thermometers. It’s the kind of interesting stuff that helps them stand out as a knowledge center, not just a place for books. You don’t have to be a library to lend cool stuff. What’s something you could share with your customers to make your business different from the rest?
