Nothing beats the power of other people when it comes to marketing. The optimal motivator to get someone to buy is human interaction. Seemingly benign interactions like lunch with a referral source, a former customer recommending your company to a friend, or a team member meeting a prospect at a trade show, when you engage with someone on the person-to-person level, you have a much better chance of increasing your business.
Consider the power of person-to-person marketing from the customer’s perspective. For example, as a business owner or executive looking for a web developer, you are likely to trust the recommendation of other business owners or individuals that had a great experience with a specific web developer. That is a much stronger motivator than an advertisement. Similarly, one is more likely to hire a web developer whom they have met at a business event or trade show, again due to that relationship already established.
That is the potency of person-to-person marketing. For this reason, you should make person-to-person marketing a major part of your marketing plan. Any activity that involves building your business by interacting with other people is critical to success. Anyone that you meet can be a marketing agent for your business.
The key person-to-person marketing activities are:
You might think that person-to-person marketing is a free form of marketing; however, it usually comes with its own associated costs. For example, consider the fees to join trade/industry association events, attending networking organizations, and the cost of entertaining current or potential clients. Finally, the power of the internet has enhanced person-to-person marketing because it allows people to share their opinions at scale.
Contact Falcon Project Consultants for help with growing your business.