Week 11 – Marketing with no budget

I got the itch one day.

Normally my want to play online video games or massive online multiplayer games is quelled by the mound of unfinished books on my bookshelf. But when my work load gets to heavy, I need that outlet. After being out of the gamer sphere for so long, I had no idea where to get my fix.

So instead of doing an Internet search for top games, I simply posted a Facebook status update asking what good games were out that my friends might be playing.

The response was immediate. A dozen friends chimed into the conversation, telling me about the new game Destiny or the new release of World of War craft. After seeing that most of my friends played Destiny and all recommended it above anything else, I was downloading the game.

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising that you can’t buy. None of my friends were paid to tell me that Density is a good game (which its alright by the way. Not the best). What matters is that I trust them because I know them better than the banner ads flashing on the right side of my Facebook news feed.

Its in this realm that you can try and advertise using social media. And in fact, it has little to do with using social media at all.

Pour your advertising budget into your product

Make a good product or give good service. Plain and simple. Marketers spend billions of dollars on ads for products that people sometimes bash in the social media atmosphere. Put as much time and effort into making a product that works, that impresses your customers, and makes them happy after they experience your service.

What does that have to do with social media?

Everything.

When they get done using your service or buying your product, they talk about it. They will post it on Facebook, write a review, take a picture and upload it. The customers will advertise it for you rather than you having to do it yourself. And its more effective because people will trust their friends more than you as a company.

How to leverage it

All you need to do is have a presence on social media and stay somewhat current. Your pages for your product and website need to be easily accessible and sharable through social media. Have photos they can share and material they find interesting. And have a hashtag they can latch onto. Once you have those, focus on delivering a good product and service. The rest will speak for itself through your own customers.