Everyone thinks that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. In fact, many companies have made money solely via word of mouth referrals. However, putting all of ones eggs in the word of mouth basket is not wise.

In business you need to make sure that you are constantly exposing new customers to your business on a consistent basis. You do this by implementing the proper marketing techniques in the right, targeted, advertising mediums. When you combine these efforts to generate new business with strategic programs designed to grow word of mouth revenue you will not suffer as many lows in your revenue stream and will enjoy a steadier cash flow.

If you think Social Media is the best answer think again.

It is important to increase your social media efforts to keep your brand and message in front of your targeted market however a New Jersey based research firm the Keller Fay Group, surveyed over 32,000 participants and found that 91 percent of respondents’ information about brands came as a result of in person conversations or over the phone.

BUT only seven percent of word-of-mouth conversations about brands occur online.

I know you thought it was more. Everyone does. But think about it. In your Facebook or twitter stream how many of your friends actually say “go check out this company they’re great!”? Not many. How many times do you do it yourself? Once a month maybe? So in reality a small 7 percent are learning about your company on social media. But that is something to grow on.

So what can you do online to create some buzz?

Make sure you do things on-line that allows people to take the conversation off-line. (And make sure everyone in your company is in the customer retention business.) You could create an interesting video and place it on YouTube. You could create a survey that can be shared on-line and discussed off-line. Make interesting images that can be printed with your product in use. Whatever you come up with the most important part is to make sure that people with influence see your efforts.

As always your comments are welcome and appreciated.