Experienced marketers from around the world would agree just how important word of mouth is when it comes to the world of advertising. It's not only free of charge, but very effective too. After all, most people usually believe and trust those who are close to them and they like. This type of promotion can work like magic!
Modern-day advertising is not that different, actually. You can still make the most of this old-fashioned style of promotion but with the added push of popular social media networks such as Google Plus. Since we essentially live in the social media age at present, it's much easier to spread the word about something. Each Social Media platform caters to a specific type of end user, and Google Plus is most popular among professional men who are 28 and older.
Gathering Evangelists
It's not enough for you to post relevant content every now and then on Google Plus and expect a follower or two to repost or share it to their own networks. You have to take an active position in looking for your own evangelists--- people who will willingly and enthusiastically share your content to others.
The first step in searching for such evangelists is to check out the followers that you already have. Who among them have you noticed are frequently sharing your content? Who among them usually repost articles from the web, promos and announcements from other companies or businesses, and even statuses and images posted by commercial brands on Google Plus? These are the people you ought to focus on. Encourage them to start sharing your content too. You can do this by posting viral and relevant content in diverse ways or even reaching out to them directly and offering incentives.
The second important way for you to gather evangelists for your brand is to search using hashtags. Which people on Google Plus are using and talking about your products and/or services in your field? They are already interested, so they certainly make for ideal brand ambassadors for your business. Moreover, don't just stick to your own brand but also think of keywords and hashtags that are connected to your own industry as these may help as well.
Another useful means you ought to explore is Google Plus Ripples. This is how you can take note of the people who often share links of other users and influence others in this process. Here you can discover those who are considered the most influential within your industry. Get in touch with them to maximize your word-of-mouth advertising within this social media network. Ripples can be accessed by clicking the down arrow on the top of a Google Plus post. You can directly access the Google Plus users who have been most instrumental in making the post go viral.
Creating Engaging Content
As you are gathering plenty of potential evangelists, you should also make it a point to regularly create engaging content. Once you have connected with these prospective word-of-mouth marketers, they are sure to check out what you post each day. Of course they'll be more encouraged to share your posts if they are engaging, interesting, and relevant.
Remember that your posts should not only focus on the aspect of promoting your products and services directly. You ought to avoid sounding like an annoying salesman. Instead, post more quotes, images, articles, statuses, and videos that you believe are likely to capture your target audience and pique the interest of your evangelists. There should also be a variety in your content. From time to time, you may want to also share significant industry news and updates.
Furthermore, you ought to encourage interaction by posting questions or asking people to vote on something. For instance, if you sell wedding gowns, you may want to ask your audience to choose between two designs for a specific theme. Or if you are offering ebooks, you can ask people to comment which is their favorite book and why. Interactive posts have great potential to become viral.
In addition, you should try coming up with your own hashtags and promoting them. When you're promoting a newly launched product or holding an online contest, you can ask people directly to use your hashtags. This will spread the word faster and expand your reach, in addition to the big help of your evangelists.
Offering Special Incentives
A person who had always been active on Google Plus, has established a huge network already, and loves to repost and share content is already doing word-of-mouth promotion without receiving anything in return. Often these people simply enjoy doing so, and will surely appreciate special incentives as an added bonus to continue doing what they already do on a regular basis.
When you offer these Google Plus users such incentives, it's just a way of asking them to check out your brand and include some of your content in their daily reposts. It's also a way of somehow redirecting their attention and simply rewarding the effort.
You ought to contact these people via a private email. Through this email, you can state your request, outline your offer clearly, and describe the incentives or bonuses. You may ask them to opt into an exclusive mailing list for all evangelists. But be specific with the benefits they can enjoy from joining.
Keep in mind that offering incentives is not a one-time deal. You need to build and maintain a good relationship with these marketers as they may become your lifetime partners in growing your business through Google Plus.
Now that you've gone over these recommendations, you ought to also familiarize yourself better with the social media network itself. Knowing the ins and outs of Google Plus will further guide you in continuously developing word-of-mouth promotion through your own evangelists.
Indeed all of the steps above will lead you to establishing a stable group of promoters who will utilize social media and make use of word-of-mouth marketing to increase your customer base and business profits in the long run.