How To Ignite The “Word Of Mouth” Marketing Fire



How To Ignite The “Word Of Mouth” Marketing Fire

There are many ways to pay to market your decorated apparel business: TV commercials, radio spots, magazine or newspaper ads, billboards or signs to name a few.  However, word of mouth advertising is many times the cheapest as well as most effective means of marketing yourself and your business.  The obvious key to this tactic is to spread the word to as many people as you possibly can, and hopefully that person will tell someone, then that person tell someone else, and so on.  Since you are good at what you do, it is easy to offer a customer a quality product in a timely manner which results in that happy customer telling others of the great work you do.  But how do you directly start that word of mouth fire yourself?

Start with wearing your work.  Whatever decorated apparel field you are in (embroidery, direct to garment printing, rhinestoning, or screen printing), wear what you do, and let your designs start the conversation.  Whether you’re at your child’s sporting event or shopping at the grocery store, wear a decorated shirt or jacket that shows off your work.  You’ll be amazed how many people approach you asking where you got it.  Even better, wear a shirt with your logo on the front and contact information on the back.  You’ve just made yourself a walking billboard.  While you’re at it, add your logo, website and phone # to a sign on the side of your car or on the back window.  Again, you’ve just created a mobile billboard.

Next, always be prepared to talk about your business and what you do.  Practice your “30 second commercial” for when you are out and about and may encounter a potential customer.  Your 30 second commercial is you introducing yourself and explaining what your business specializes in, and what sets yourself apart from other decorated apparel businesses.  An example may be, “ Hi I’m John with ABC Shirt Company.  We’re a local company that specializes in decorating shirts, hats, jackets, bags and more with embroidery, rhinestones and digital printed images.  We’re known for our high quality and fast turnaround times.  We’re your one stop shop for all your decorated apparel needs.”  Beyond your 30 second commercial, always have literature, samples, or business cards available to hand out.  Keep a sample book in your car to show people examples of what you can do, and some literature of special offerings you may have (10% off your first order, refer a friend and receive 10% off your next order).  Furthermore, keeping business cards in your wallet or purse ready to hand out is always a good idea.  You can even combine the business card with a 10% off your first purchase coupon (one side is your contact info and the other is the coupon).  Gives people an extra incentive to hang on to your card and not just throw it away.

Finally, make a conscience effort to appeal to multiple markets within your town or community.  Approach schools, churches, youth sports leagues, adult sports leagues, clubs, businesses, cheerleading or dance teams, etc.  In keeping with the igniting the fire theme, when you build a fire for a cookout, you don’t just light one side of the coals.  You light both sides and the middle to insure you have an evenly burning fire.  The same can be said for your word of mouth marketing fire.  That fire will spread faster and more evenly if you approach multiple markets instead of just one or two.  And starting that fire is easier than you might think.  Say you start with approaching a local youth sport league.  Those kids have parents that own businesses, belong to various clubs, are involved with their church, etc.  Those kids may also have brothers or sisters that dance or cheer, belong to the high school pep squad and more.  By simply attending a youth sporting event, you have indirectly approached multiple markets and started to ignite your own word of mouth marketing fire.