With promotion and marketing budgets disappearing faster than federal bailout money we have to get creative with marketing. One of the best means of marketing for any business, service or product has been word of mouth. It's a personal endorsement from an actual user. What could be better to have a consumer endorsing your Sports Radio station to a friend or acquaintance! That is one reason why endorsements by the talent work so well for advertisers but that's another blog. Word of mouth is typically generated by giving the user something of value. In the case of your Sports Radio station it's a pay-off. But how can you generate word of mouth marketing? The first angle is by producing and delivering a consistently good product. Other angles - a number of social networks on the web including Twitter which many Sports Radio stations are using. The Fan 590 in Toronto is doing an excellent job of posting what's happening along with what's coming up on the station. They even use it for a special contest. Tweet Fan 590 to see more. Setting up a mini-social network on your web site is a way to generate word of mouth marketing. Let listeners interact about one of the local teams, a hot story or issue or let them post pics or videos of local sports events (high school football, little league, etc). Make sure you have all the proper disclaimers set up. Another angle is to recruit listeners to review the radio station - have them listen and post their comments on a special web page on your site. Oh, but what if they don't like something? That's even better because you're being open with your audience and potential listeners who read the reviews. Who knows? The feedback might help you create a better product!

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How do you use word of mouth marketing? Share your ideas with us!