Having grown up in a world that is bombarded with advertising at every turn, millions of consumers have begun to disregard a large amount of advertising.
This action of turning the other way from an advertisement can have drastic effects on a new product if people aren't willing to recognize it. So, how do you get out of this trap and get your product noticed? The answer is simple - buzz marketing.
How Does Buzz Marketing Work?
We all know that people want what someone else has. This is the nature of human beings and buzz marketing works with this innate desire to be like everyone else. Buzz marketing involves distributing a new product to just a few individuals in a certain area.
The person begins to use this product on a regular basis and ideally in places where people are going to wonder where they got it. Many marketers will also arm these individuals with marketing material that explains the product and lets people know how to get one of their own.
This is a stealth like form of advertising, because not only is the product making its way into the marketplace, but also the recipient of the product becomes a powerful marketing tool. They spread the word to more people, who then spread the word to other people and the effect continues until the product is on its way to becoming the latest trend and "must have" in the marketplace.
The goal is to spread the product amongst the trendsetters in a community and arm them information on the brand. The brand itself benefits because it becomes mainstream and everyone who doesn't have it, wants it.
Successful Buzz Marketing Campaigns
One of the most successful buzz marketing campaigns was Focus campaign. Ford Motor Company recruited 120 individuals in five key markets to receive the Ford Focus and drive it for 6 months.
They didn't get celebrities but rather people who were trendsetters in the community. The duty of the trendsetters was to simply be seen with the car and hand out Focus themed promotional items to those who expressed interest in the car. These individuals were also required to keep a record of where they took the car. This buzz marketing campaign was so successful that Ford sold 186,166 units in the cars first year of production.
How Buzz Marketing Can Work For You
So, you may be thinking, "Sure, Ford is a huge company and that's why it works for them, but how can it work for me?" The answer is simple. Say you own a business in a community and your target market is women in their late twenties to early thirties. You sell handbags and you really want them to take off in your area so that you may be able to spread to a larger area.
Buzz marketing works for you because you can find out who the trendsetters in your area and in this age group are. They may be successful businesswomen in successful companies. They may be these women's assistants. Whoever they are, you know if they start carrying around these handbags then their friends are going to want one and their boss is going to want one, etc.
Every woman they come in contact with is going to want one of these handbags. So, you give your trendsetters a stack of business cards and when they're asked where they got the purse, they hand out your business card. It's as simple as that and before you know it the buzz will be going around the women in your area and you will be raking in the cash.
You don't even have to be a traditional business to get this to work for you. You could be an Internet business as well. People are going to want to know where people are getting this excellent copywriting service you have or where they can get awesome graphics that their friend has.
All you need is a small link at the bottom of the screen that says, "Hey, click me and you can have this too!" That's what buzz marketing is all about. Everyone wants what's new, better and faster. It's human nature and buzz marketing works with it to make your brand get noticed.
Action Steps For Buzz Marketing
1. Identify the trendsetters in your community
2. Arm them with your production 3. Arm them with the marketing materials for that product that will convert interested individuals into sales
Important Points About Buzz Marketing
- Everyone wants what they don't have. This is the basis for buzz marketing.
- Your product doesn't necessarily have to be tangible. If you have a web application, send it to the high profile designers. Others will want to know where they got it.
- Buzz marketing is a covert manner of marketing and depends largely on word of mouth.
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