Marketing For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 11

Making a Positive Impression in Low-Cost Ways

In This Chapter

Using viral marketing to generate buzz

Thinking like a journalist to score positive publicity from traditional media and bloggers

Knowing how to choose quality premiums with high impact

If you can work your way into the environment of prospective customers in positive ways that don’t have the costs and stridency of advertising, you can make a positive impact in an effective, low-cost manner. In this chapter, I present three complementary ways of winning the right to be visible and liked. If managed well, each tactic can make a positive impression for surprisingly low cost.

• Word of mouth is what people say about you to others. If you give good service and make a friendly, positive impression on people, they’ll be motivated to share their enthusiasm with others. Viral marketing is a current word-of-mouth trend that I cover here.
• Publicity works you into the editorial part of the media, where exposure to or mention of your company, service, or product can become a part of the news.
• Premiums are products identified with your brand (and often with your company’s contact information). If people like the premiums, ...