Want to know a marketing secret? It goes back to the dawn of commerce. Way, way back.The secret is, the most powerful form of marketing a business can create is word-of-mouth. Especially in today's world where marketing messages are everywhere, all the time. There are so many advertisements directed at you that you start to block them out and they fade into the background. So what is a business to do to get noticed?
Take a look at what Chipotle Mexican Grill is doing. They are known to spend far less than their competitors on marketing efforts. It woundn't be hard to prove that Chipotle's marketing budget can't hold a candle to that of Taco Bells'. But Chipotle is the fastest growing Mexican food chain today. How? Because one of their most powerful marketing tools is generating word-of-mouth. Here's how they do it. It's easy and inexpensive to do.
I'm sitting in my car driving down the road to meet a client and the cell phone rings in my ear (wireless bluetooth headset). I answer and a friendly female voice on the other side says, "Hi. This is Jessica from the Downtown Chipotle Mexican Grill and you have won TEN free Burritos." I say, "Wow. That's great. Now, how did I do that?" She said, "You put your business card in our fishbowl and it was chosen as this weeks winner. I'll fax you a form and you can order any ten menu items you'd like." I tell her thanks and I decide to drive on over and pick up a menu directly from the store. So what does a guy do with ten burritos?
I call a few of my favorite clients and asked if they'd like me to bring them a free meal courtesy of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Of course they all say, "we'd love a free meal." I then take their order and explain the entire Chipotle menu to them. Can you see what just happened? Chipotle got me to tell ten other people about their product and then get new people to try their product. That's amazing. That's getting your product directly into the hands of a consumer. No amount of advertising can do that. It appears that spending their marketing dollars on giving it away is a great way to stimulate word-of-mouth.
You know the saying, "The more you give, the more you get." So the next time your looking at your marketing budget, spice it up by seeing what you can give so you can receive.
