I read a great article recently about the benefits of WOM - word of mouth marketing. Almost every photographer will tell you their best marketing bang comes from satisfied customers who tell their friends.

The article broke down what it is exactly about WOM that makes it so powerful, and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage.

First, it said that WOM “works” because it comes from a trusted source. The source could be a friend or family member, but it is most often an influencer. For example, if you want to sell senior photos, hire the most popular boy and girl in high school to promote your studio. If you want to sell business portraits, shoot the president or the best salesperson in the company.

Imagine tomorrow morning on Oprah’s show she said you were her personal photographer? Your phone would be ringing off the hook before the show was over. Find the influencers in your community, make them your customers, and your WOM marketing will be explosive.

Second, the article said that WOM works best when it delivers a product that solves a problem, not because it is “cool” or “hip” or “trendy”. Here’s an example: the next time you offer a baby photo special, instead of focusing your marketing on package prices or the number of poses, focus on conveniences like free parking up close, day care for the other kids during the shoot, or sessions completed in a half-hour or less.

If you can make it easy for a mom to get her child photographed AND the photos look great AND the price is fair, you’ll not only have a customer for life, you’ll have an influencer that will push your WOM marketing to a whole new level.

Tags: marketing, selling, word of mouth

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 6:44 pm and is filed under marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.