How to get customers to market for you

It's easier than you think!

It's hard enough doing the job, let alone doing the marketing, too. If you'd rather leave the marketing to the ones who do it best, this is for you.

Think about it: the best marketers are expensive.

But the second best are way more affordable and maybe just as effective.

We're talking about word-of-mouth marketing.

If you've ever used a product you loved or hated, you probably told a friend about it. Either "I found this tool you have to use," or "I tried this the other day and it was garbage, don't waste your money."

Now that you think about it, there are plenty of products you've tried, or avoided, based on what a friend told you, right? And you probably trusted that recommendation far more than a TV commercial or a billboard.

Which is exactly why you need these steps for getting your customers to do the marketing for you.

Offer great products and services

First and foremost, you need great products or services. They've got to be something special if you want to stir up conversation about what you offer.

If they're not top-notch yet, start there.

Amp up what you can. Get some new customers to try things out, then gather their feedback. After some tune-ups, test it on more new customers and ask for reviews. Share those reviews on your website and encourage your happy customers to tell a friend.

That's step one.

Provide excellent customer service

Step two is all about how you treat your customers before, during, and after they do business with you.

That's right: customer service.

Two key steps in getting your customers to market for you are offering great products and services and providing excellent customer service.

Excellent customer service is what makes a company truly stand out, and it can make or break a business.

Remember the last company you swore you'd never do business with again? It was probably because they didn't treat you right, someone on the phone was snippy, or worse, you could never reach a human because of an endless automated phone maze. We all hate that.

But when a company treats you right and goes above and beyond, you can't wait to tell your friends. That's what you've got to do for your customers.

Treat them like kings and queens, and they'll be loyal for life.

Create and use a marketing plan

Now that your products and customer service are high quality, it's time for the more technical tactics for getting your customers to market for you.

You must have a marketing strategy.

Start with two simple questions:

1. What are you already doing to market your business?
2. How do you hope to improve with word-of-mouth marketing?

As you look at what you're already doing, think specifically about what you could improve. Is there something you'd like to fix? If a strategy isn't worth the time or money, cut it. If one's working well, how can you capitalize on it?

That's when it's time to set goals.

What would you like to improve? How? What will you measure? And by when do you hope to have it fixed?

By setting S.M.A.R.T. goals (as developed by George Doran), you create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. It's the smartest goal-setting approach out there, and a real help in growing your business.

Find your target audience

This is the people you want to reach: the ones who already love your company, and the ones who will once they discover you.

And one of the best places to find them is social media.

One of the best ways to find your target audience, the people who love your company, is through social media.

So do a little research. Find out which social media platforms your key audience uses most, and set up an account. And no, you don't need to be on every platform, especially if social media is new for your business.

Get started on a couple of platforms where your audience spends time, and you're headed in the right direction.

From there, it's about getting really good at creating content for those platforms.

Engage with your audience

Now that you're on a couple of platforms, that's where you engage with your target audience.

You can also engage through forums, other sites, and even your own (if you have a comment section).

Wherever your customers are is where you should be.

So when someone posts a photo using your product and tags you, comment to thank them.

If someone leaves a bad review, respond, apologize for the trouble, and ask (or offer) how you can make it right. Pro tip: never fight back in the comments. That rarely ends well.

And if someone has a question about your service or your field, offer all the help you can. Even if it isn't directly about your product, they'll remember you as the one who helped, and when they need your kind of business, they'll think of you.

Encourage reviews and user-generated content

Nothing spreads word of mouth at scale like reviews and content created by your own customers.

Start with reviews, especially Google reviews, since most people check them before they buy and trust them nearly as much as a friend's recommendation. Make it easy: ask happy customers (a quick link in a follow-up email or text works well) and respond to every review, good or bad. Just never pay for or incentivize reviews, which is against platform rules and, since 2024, against the law. See our guides to getting great reviews honestly and managing your reputation.

Then there's user-generated content, or UGC: the photos, videos, and posts customers create showing your product in real life. It's some of the most trusted, and most affordable, marketing there is, because it's authentic. Encourage it with a branded hashtag, a photo contest, or simply by asking customers to tag you. When they do, engage with it, and with their permission, reshare it to your own feed and website. Featuring real customers turns them into advocates and gives prospects proof that real people love what you do.

Get influencers to spread the word

Can you think of any influencers or thought leaders you follow?

You watch their videos, read their articles, maybe even subscribe to their newsletters. They may not know you exist, but to you, they feel like a trusted friend.

Getting a couple of influencers or thought leaders to spread the word about your company can be a highly effective marketing method.

So much so that if they recommended a certain hand soap, you'd consider buying it.

Those are the people you want in your corner, promoting your brand.

When you find influencers who genuinely love your products or services, jackpot. When they spread the word, their followers can feel the authenticity. It's hard to fake loving something you don't. And they don't have to be famous: micro-influencers with smaller, highly engaged audiences are often more affordable and more trusted.

So do your research. Find a few influencers or thought leaders in your industry, reach out about your product or service, and see if you can strike up a partnership.

Provide incentives and referral programs

This one's popular if you can afford it, and a few approaches work well: affiliate programs, referral programs, and loyalty programs.

With an affiliate program, if Jane recommends your product to Sam and Sam buys, Jane earns a portion of the sale.

A referral program works similarly, but instead of cash, Jane gets a reward, like a discount on her next purchase, for sending Sam your way. Referral programs are one of the most reliable ways to turn happy customers into new ones, especially when both sides benefit (a reward for the referrer and a perk for the new customer). Plenty of tools make these easy to set up and track. The keys are simple: make the reward genuinely worthwhile, and make it effortless to share.

A loyalty program is usually the least expensive of the three. Think of a coffee shop punch card: buy a coffee, get a punch, and after a certain number, the next one's free.

You probably won't give your product away for free, but a discount works, and so does branded merch, a T-shirt, travel mug, or a fancy sticker.

Nothing like a good sticker to generate buzz.

Contribute to your community

This one is extremely valuable, and it needs to be done tactfully.

Helping out in your community in a way that's relevant to your field is great for visibility. But if you do it only for that, people will see right through you and run the other way.

The first reason to contribute should be that you care.

The cause is near to your heart. The people are ones you've known for a lifetime. Or the project simply brings you joy.

Those motivations should come first. The fact that it's good for brand awareness should come second.

So look around your community. Where are you naturally drawn? What do people there need? And how can you contribute?

Start there, and you might even forget the reason your company is growing, while finding more satisfaction in your work and your life.

So, which tactic will you use first?

These are just some of the ways to get the word-of-mouth marketing train going in your community, town, or field.

Start by trying one or two of these tactics, and watch your business grow!

Sure, it takes some effort to get things running smoothly. But once people start talking and your business starts growing, marketing might not feel like such a chore after all.

Feeling excited to try one or two of these tactics? Start there, and watch your business grow.

Or, if you'd rather focus on running your business and leave the marketing to us, get in touch. We'll help you turn happy customers into your best marketers.

This is part of our guide to marketing your small business online.