Half the time it’s about utilizing your existing customer base to help you do this, then rewarding them in return. Social Media also greatly helps your chances of getting creative online and as a result making major headlines. But it’s not all about Press Releases and major newspaper or website write-ups.

Here are some other ways to create buzz for your company that you can implement straight away.

One of the best ways to build buzz for your business is to jump on a trending "hot topic". Just look on Twitter for examples of topics trending right now and if one of them fits the bill and aligns with what your company does then jump on it. Either use the #hashtag within your Twitter updates so that people notice you and read your tweets. Lead them back to a specific landing page or run a flash competition to drive interest. A great example of jumping on a recent trend was during the period when GAP spent millions trying to get a new logo which ultimately failed. Crowdsourcing site 99designs took advantage of the opportunity ran a competition for their freelance design community to come up with a better logo. This delivered them plenty of attention and press.

People remember 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, but 70 percent of the two combined. So that’s why video is so powerful. There’s nothing better than creating an entertaining or provocative video to get people talking and commenting and sharing your video. It’s highly likely if you once again tie it in with a trending topic that you will indeed get the attention you deserve. Of course it helps to send it out and ask your customers, clients and friends to spread it for you. Make sure you have a call to action too such as a URL in the description of the video on YouTube and your website address during the video. Sevenly.org – an organic way to raise capital and awareness for the world’s greatest causes, launched with a video drip campaign of 10 YouTube stars (100,000+ subscribers each) and it ended up generating a staggering 40,000 unique visitors in less than 30 days. 

Everybody likes to be nominated as important that’s why Forbes Top 30 Most Powerful People lists and the like are hugely popular and garner so much attention. What about starting your own Top 10 list for your customers? At GiftCardRescue.com, they realized they had a wealth of information about which of their gift cards were most popular among their customers. So they started an annual “Top 20 Gift Cards” list which was picked up by numerous news outlets and blogs, including Mashable. By putting Walmart as #1 on the list they benefitted from Walmart releasing a press release bragging about it which also drew more attention. Of course it pays to honor your clients that do actually deserve to be on the list and they in return will spread the news for you.

One of the most obvious ways to create buzz around your business is to get featured in a place already buzzing with activity. So if you’re producing a product that TechCrunch would like to know about then why not get on their radar and send them details on it or offer to write a post for them on what problem you’re solving and why this is unique. You’ll get yourself in front of a huge and engaged audience and many doors will open for you as a result. The same applies to major sites like Huffington Post, Mashable and Lifehacker. Quite often it’s about timing, persistence and having the right story at the right time.

Everybody likes giveaways and receiving free gifts, but these can be costly. What about teaming up with another business that’s not a competitor to give you a free gift in return for promoting them too. For example let’s say you’re a company that offers golf training and you approach a golf ball supplier about customizing some golf balls for your customers that your customers will get free with purchasing a lesson. They get to have their business card in with the gift with purchase which drives traffic and goodwill their way and you’re offering a gift that will be appreciated by your customers and gets your name in front of them every time they’re playing.

Use social media (especially Twitter and Facebook) to hold a contest for your business. Use a platform like Strutta.com that allows you to create customized contests and takes care of all the entries. Ask questions, get people to submit videos, photos or ideas to help you create a new product or service. Whatever it is make sure the prize is valuable enough that it draws the right audience of potential customers for you and at the same time creates a significant amount of buzz in the social media sphere and gets hundreds of people talking about your brand publicly. Consider running a regular contest, like suggestion of the month as a way to build consistent buzz and conversation.

Find influencers in your market and reach out to them individually. Don’t be scared, just remember if you don’t ask you don’t get. It’s best to make your initial contact with them creative and jaw-dropping. For example, instead of an email pitch you could send them a creative gift with a request on it (do your research if they like cupcakes get a customized one). Or record a video addressing them directly that allows you to create a more compelling message. It speaks volumes when you show that you took time to personalize your message and pitch to them.

Use your Facebook page to engage your fans and make it a social party. A simple `Fan of the Week’ contest whereby you reward them with your product if they take their photo with it and post it on your wall. Then choose one of these pictures and put it as the profile picture of your page for that week for everyone to see. They’ll then share that info to all their friends and drive traffic back to your page from other interested Facebook users. Consider using the Wildfire app to run a sweepstakes promotion too.

Keywords:

Marketing , Online marketing , Social media , Small business trends