Word-of-Mouth Advertising: The Best Thing
If you read trade publications in the healthcare sectors like chiropractic and massage, you may have noticed that CryoDerm isn't usually in them. Nor do we market to the public--the end user--in any publications. It's not that we have anything against doing so; it's just that in the past two decades, we've figured out what works best for us: word-of-mouth advertising. Testimonials, and one person telling another how much they appreciate our products is a huge part of our continued success, rather than a huge advertising budget.
People depend on the Internet in their daily lives, and often look up reviews on social media or review sites before purchasing a product. Although it has a much broader audience than the printed word, online reviews are really just another form of word-of-mouth advertising.
We attend a lot of chiropractic and massage conventions, and again, word-of-mouth advertising is one of the reasons we go (in addition to supporting whatever organization is putting on the show). This week, we're at #TheNationalFCA in Orlando. Everyone who stops by our booth gets our full attention. We answer their questions. We educate them about the products. We give them samples. And they go away and share with other professionals, and ultimately with their patients and clients.
I owned a busy clinic for 13 years. For the first 5 years of that, I kept a form on my desk where people checked in, listing all the venues I advertised in, and asked each client to check off where they heard about us. Consistently, 93% of my clients were word-of-mouth referrals. I could have saved virtually 93 cents out of every dollar I spent on paid advertising.
Satisfied customers are your cheapest form of advertising; you can't get any cheaper than free, and you can't get any better publicity than one person bragging to another about your effective products and great customer service. Money doesn't buy that.