I recently released a very brief pop quiz into my Facebook Group:
How much business on average, out of all of word of mouth marketing, is typically generated via social media?
:-)
PS - comment as a percentage please. i.e. 45%
PPS - the actual amount will surprise you!
PPPS - there is a prize if someone gets it exactly spot on. 2 hours free coaching with me, or lunch on me if you don't want any coaching :-)
So, believe it or not, the correct answer is 7%!!
What amazed me, when I discovered this, is that most people consider social media to be a major part of their marketing mix.
However, it's the conversations we have with people and the quality of the product or service we provide which makes the biggest difference to word-of-mouth marketing.
Firstly, I'll be doing a FB Live on this as soon as I'm back in the office with a spare few minutes...showing you an incredibly simple too I've developed to demonstrate this.
Secondly, and most importantly, your best form of marketing is your existing client base. Which includes BOTH your clients and those who you quoted for and who DIDN'T BUY!
Call them and ask them if they know anyone, just one person, who could use your product or service. Guaranteed they will give you AT LEAST 2 or 3.
This beats 2 hours a day looking at cat pics on Facebook right? Especially if you're selling higher priced goods or services.
Work your power network, build relationships with your clients, even throw in the odd freebie and I can 100% GUARANTEE you'll get more out of this than social media.
Anyone spot the irony?
Yes, I'm posting this on social media!
I'm not selling you anything, I'm giving you good advice.
BTW - 80% of my clients have come from word of mouth referrals offline. I looked back through my client book. 20% have come through FB & LinkedIn. None from Twitter...yet!
Modern marketing, people, is bullshit. Relationships are still at the heart of good marketing.
I also see so many people hiding behind email:
"Oh I did that email marketing campaign, but it didn't work!"
"I emailed the business proposal/quote last week, but they haven't come back to me?"
Because email was created 25 years ago...BUT...people have been having conversations for years.
Nobody knows how to use email!! It's too young! It goes against human instinct.
Get out there and meet people. Help them. Talk to them. Tell them your story. And listen to theirs.
So, no one won the prize, however, you're all winners. You all took the time to engage in my silly pop quiz and have a conversation.