Word-of-Mouth Marketing on a Budget

By: Andy Sernovitz

Don't have a lot of money to get people to talk about your stuff? No problem. Great word-of-mouth marketing isn't about great big budgets, it's about great products, great service and great topics.

Here's how some remarkable businesses have already done it:

• With Tootsie Rolls: If you ship stuff to your customers, you have a great opportunity to surprise and delight them. Headsets.com does it by sending a handful of Tootsie Rolls with each one of their packages (just enough to share with a whole office). That's a great way to surprise and delight their customers and get a bunch of people talking -- all without adding anything to their shipping cost.

• With a bag of chips: People love talking about great customer service -- especially the kind that pays close attention to details. Hotel Palomar in San Francisco wows their guests with handwritten notes and little kind gestures. For example, one customer found a bag of chips in his room with a note explaining they noticed he liked that particular kind, so they bought him some more. That's the kind of service that earns loyal customers and tons of word of mouth.

• With extra space: You may already have everything you need to start conversations about your stuff without spending any money at all. For example, when agencies have empty desk space, they can make it available to creative professionals who need a place to do their work through the Free Desk Here project. The agencies essentially use their leftovers to get more people coming in and out of their office, build relationships and earn word of mouth.