In the last post we talked about how buzz marketing can help small business owners stand out in the crowd and enable them to compete with large companies. Buzz marketing also helps lower marketing cost for small business owners because it costs less compared to traditional marketing avenues such as newspaper, radio or television.
The primary ingredients required to create buzz are buzz-worthy products, suspense, conversation and scarcity. In this post we provide you with practical tips you can use to generate buzz about your business. As you will see the key theme in each of these tips is doing something expected or even outrageous.
- Give away free samples of your products
- Put up a sign saying “Coming Soon” along with mysterious message on the storefront or website
- “Leak” news about your new product to influential news reporters, bloggers, etc.
- Hire a celebrity (even local celebrity will do) to talk about your product
- Give an interview on local radio, newspaper, television
- Sponsor a contest to name the new product or business
- Give free seminar on your area of expertise at a local library, chamber of commerce
- Launch limited quantity product and advertise the heck out of it to your customers
- Sponsor a float or booth in the summer parade in your city
- Produce and distribute custom made M&M’s with your company logo or slogan
- Put up a cryptic advertisement along with a link to your phone or web site on the highway billboard
- Sponsor an “old product” demolition night. Ask you customers to bring their old products to destroy in return to get the new product you are introducing
- Hire a stuntman to perform stunts in front of your storefront
- Create an outrageous “April Fool” prank
- Have a special-themed night (e.g. Harry Potter, Star Wars) when all employees are dressed for the theme. Encourage your customers to do the same and visit your business
Have you come across any other tactics that small business owners have used to generate buzz about their business product? Let us know in the comments.
