"If You Build It -- They Won't Just Come"

I was reading this post from Better Local Marketing this morning that discusses word of mouth marketing. This is interesting to me as I am really going to "equip the troops" if you will and get our word out to the community. Kevin Stirtz (keeper of Better Local Marketing) gives us a few tips on making our word of mouth campaign a success: 1. Decide whom you want to reach. 2. Create a message they will respond to. 3. Find multiple, complimentary ways to deliver your message to them. 4. Plan to deliver the message multiple times to the same people. Repetition has power. 5. Budget for the long-term for best results. Do your marketing well and you can create effective word of mouth marketing for your business. Then "wow" those new customers and you'll create even more. He brings up a good point here. He had been talking about the old phrase "build it and they will come" and how many business owners think this refers to them. No quite. You have to build a solid marketing plan and create a buzz before people will begin to talk about you. This is what we are trying to do with our promotional programs (which I have posted about) and also with the rest of our marketing ideas. This is a great little article that brings us back to the reality of word of mouth marketing. ~~be bold