I know a man who has built a successful business solely on word of mouth from customers who believe in the value he brings to the table. He calls these people his brand fans.
If you’ve been following my blog posts, you have some sense of who this man is – ERA Real Estate keynote speaker and business performance expert Ryan Estis.
As Ryan explained to me, third-party brand evangelism is gold because it adds credibility to your worth and provides testimony to your ability.
Here are Ryan’s tips to getting your brand fans to work for you, figuratively.
- Your brand is a collection of your customers’ experiences in doing business with you. Invite your best clients to share their challenges, and your solutions and outcomes with their peers so that you get your story out there in a compelling way. Simply ask them to share.
- Then, you can invite them to share via social media – the quickest, easiest way to share experiences. Here’s how you do it – go first. Ryan finds out his client’s preferred method of online communication. He then sends a LinkedIn invitation, tweets something positive about the client’s business or friends them on Facebook. The average social media user checks their site a few times a day so he stays active to support them because when you are liking or commenting on their content, they will likely begin reciprocating.
- Continue to support your client even after your assignment or project is complete by being a connector. Look for opportunities to put them in touch with other professionals that can further help them. And, keep up with your social media support by back-linking to customers’ blogs or re-tweeting their content, etc.
These efforts will not only create an entry way to new business but they’ll help further strengthen customer loyalty, which could result in repeat business and the ultimate reward – brand evangelism.
How do you create brand fans? Let us know in the comment section and please share this information with your favorite small business owners and marketers!
