Reverse Word of Mouth Marketing

February 03, 2012 3:43 PM

I recently chatted with woman who ran a mom and pop garden center.

When we got on the topic of word of mouth, Ellen bragged about how her customers rarely told people about her plants.

I was confused. Anonymity didn’t seem like something to be proud of.

Until she told me what one of her customers told her.

“I love your flowers, so please don’t send me your catalogs. I don’t want my neighbors to know where I buy them.”

Yes, it’s a selfish thing to request. And yes, it’s a frustrating marketing dilemma for any business to manage. But this level of loyalty, this echelon of exclusivity, might contain huge leverage potential.

Sometimes buzz that goes the wrong way, goes a long way.

Because if a business is willing to stay small, willing to focus all of its energy on a single, narrow, high-end micro audience – who buys enough to keep the lights on – maybe it doesn’t matter if not everybody’s talking about us.

Maybe all we need is a small handful of people who love us to help our brand last forever.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Who’s afraid to tell people about you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “50 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.