There are several ways to add a bit of kindling to the word of mouth fire. Still, you must remove all spam tactics from your mind. There will be no pointless plugging of your services. Offer something real and be a friend.

Word of mouth can only be a natural process that grows organically. Thus, it cannot be faked. It cannot be forced or directly controlled. It is the voice of the people and you can’t stop anyone from saying negative things about you. Likewise, you can’t force people to say nice things about you. One good example I’ve seen is from Sweetwater Music. They add a bit of candy to everything they ship, displaying a real appreciation for the clients business that in turn fosters genuine word of mouth. (**NOTE** they spend $10k per week on candy and keep records of what clients enjoy) It’s a harmless gesture, not a product catalog. Nothing spammy, just a nice way to say thank you. Although expensive gesture, but worth it in the long haul.

Some businesses offer free advice to clients about their specific field of expertise. One may view this is as giving away trade secrets, but providing clients something of value that they can use in everyday conversation is a great way to encourage word of mouth. Think of the many social situations in which you discuss products or services with others. Often it’s when someone is asking you for advice, so offer a little free advice to your clients and increase the chances of your brand coming up in conversation.

Another strategy to get people talking about you is to select the key people who are most likely to talk about you, or more importantly select the people who are most likely to talk to the people you want to talk to but don’t know. For example, years ago Adidas was launching a new running shoe and wanted some buzz on the ground level before the product hit the stores. They compiled a list of promoters, door security men, club owners and many others to send a digital picture frame that could play movies with sound and accepted a variety of small media cards. The movie players came with a flash card pre-loaded with a fantastically edited commercial about Adidas’ new product. It didn’t matter if the people who received the promotion were avid runners or even huge fans of Adidas, they didn’t even have to watch the commercial! We couldn’t talk about our cool new video player with out mentioning Adidas!  It even came with a remote and I still have it.

With the above examples it is my hope that I’ve lifted the veil somewhat on word of mouth marketing. What are people likely to talk about regarding your business? What can you do to stand apart from the others in your marketplace. What do you have to offer and what can you give away that is of value and is also something people will want to share with others? Always remember; word of mouth marketing is a piece of the marketing mix you do not own, control or fake.

EFFECTIVELY

One of the unique things about hand to hand promotion is the element of surprise. Whether your soliciting door to door, or outside a club most people don’t necessarily expect you to be there. This is both a benefit of flyer distribution and one of the greatest challenges.

As stated in the previous article getting information to people at the exact moment they are looking for it is a much sought after strategy in marking and promotions. However as solicitors we are more often than not sneaking an advertisement directly to an individual at more or less a random time. One strategy to increase the chances of your messages falling into welcome hands is to deliver the message quickly. With as many annoying solicitors as there are out there are it’s important to distance yourself from their tactics. Whether your passing out flyers on the street or going door to door in an office building be brief and to the point. Leave a good impression and you’ll increase the chances of your message being welcomed.

One of the great benefits of this element of surprise is that you can cut through the advertising noise rather effectively. A print ad in a magazine or a giant billboard off the highway is much easier to forget or ignore. Also on a flyer the information is already written down so there is no need to hope your phone number was easy enough to remember for the prospect to contact you when the need arises. If interested, the prospect now knows about your service, and has your calling card.

ETHICALLY

There are only so many steps a solicitor can take to remain ethical. For the most part, I expect people to ignore “no soliciting” signs. With that said a solicitor can still be mindful of others valuable time and try to keep their pitch brief to the point, in addition to being relative to the business being solicited to. Examples of people selling baseball tickets to video duplication houses and religious wacko’s selling God to anyone come to mind as non-relative solicitors. Internet and search engine optimization however may be a good candidate to sling door to door. I think that most business to business marketing is more acceptable than the idea of business to consumer marketing if soliciting door to door. As the solicitor try to envision yourself as attempting to build a network of professionals instead of merely trying to make a buck. Even if someone has no need of your service, attempt to leave an acceptable impression so that they may mention your product or service to someone else. This does not mean hounding the prospect for more information or with more questions. As stated before, be brief, to the point, drop off a flyer and get out. Let the prospective customer digest the information on his or her own terms and you’ll see a much better return.

Solicitors are known as people who knock on your door at eight pm trying to pitch the latest print newspaper to you. Or they’re the assholes that threw a bag of rocks at your door with a coupon inside.

Here’s the definition.

solicitor – so⋅lic⋅i⋅tor [suh-lis-i-ter]
–noun
1. a person who solicits.
2. a person whose business it is to solicit business, trade, etc.

The guy walking up to your door is a canvasser, his job sucks but supposedly it’s effective. The bag of rocks on your driveway is litter, it’s not really the flyers fault some asshole threw it on your driveway. In these situations I think we’d be better off hating the player not the game. Solicitation done ethically is no dirty word. Face to face human interaction is not the problem the playing field just needs to be more clearly defined.

When you at your home no one should bother you. When your out in public you run the immediate risk of encountering something or someone unexpected. If you work in a business with an open door to the public people may attempt to come inside and talk to you. Do not be alarmed! Not everyone is pitching snake oil! Identify who, what, where, and then make a decision!

Getting information to people exactly when they’re looking for it is a holy grail of marketing. The problem with solicitors going door to door, or passing out flyers on the street is that you never know if someone is ready to accept the information you have to offer. Most people it seems, would rather digest the information on their own terms. When, where, and how they want to via the Internet, friends etc. However as a solicitor we believe we have some information someone doesn’t know they want. So as well meaning solicitors we should all brainstorm on how to change our collective image. And find new words for Rockthrowers, Canvassers, and Telemarketers because professional well meaning solicitors they are not.

So in closing not all solicitors are bad. And I believe that businesses should help each other succeed. Instead of shutting doors and posting signs that attempt to spell out such reclusive attitudes in a professional manner. “We don’t want it, no matter what, we know everything, have everything, and don’t want any new friends”.

What if ads were illegal and the only form of communication between product and consumer acceptable was human interaction?

1.) When flyering cars place the flyer on the drivers side window or side view mirror.
As annoying of a tactic flyering cars is I’m amazed at how many people make it even more annoying for the prospect by placing flyer underneath a cars windshield wipers. It could damage the wiper blade, and most people won’t even notice the flyer until they’ve started the car and looked ahead and then will have to get out of the car to take the flyer, or just drive off and hope they fly off on the highway.

2.) Inside is usually better than outside.
If you have some 11×17 tabloids or Posters consider placing them inside stores before stapling them to telephone polls. They generally stay up longer, and people walk a little slower than cars drive so they’ll have time to read your poster. Outdoor posters are not all bad just try to be strategic and place a few over a large area, not 50+ on one stretch.

3.) Come Prepared.
Ever forget your #2 Pencil on a test day? Make sure you have the proper gear to hit the streets; clear tape, a staple gun with extra staples, package tape for outdoors and a back pack or messenger bag is standard issue.

Window Posters

4.) Be Clean.
Take a little time to straighten up the flyer table or wall. It’s makes all the flyers easier to read, it gives you some time to look over everything and take out anything out of date, and most importantly the people working there will see you care about the appearance of their store and welcome your next visit.

5.) Be Nice.
Most stores that allow flyers are independently owned. They pay for the space you want to fill with an advertisement, don’t assume entitlement to place it there. Ask nicely, say thank you, and leave.Saying too much can get you into trouble as well.