In our fast-paced world of technology, you would think that the old fashion word-of-mouth marketing would be dead. However, I have watched small businesses flourish around my community based on nothing more than their positive reputation and attitude.

Everyone looks for personal recommendations and reads online reviews these days. You can see this on Facebook every day in your news feed. Trusting what your friends and family say about a product or service is one of the biggest selling points for most people.

If a small business can build their reputation based on trust, helpfulness, and integrity, they will thrive once consumers are satisfied with their experience. They will want to return without you even asking. Publix and Chick-fil-A are two successful businesses who have built their business based on the fact that their core values are helping customers and treating them kindly.

Those who are satisfied naturally want to help your business grow and share their positive experiences with others online or by mouth. Without asking, your customers become your biggest brand ambassadors. There is nothing better for your business growth than that. Advertising can not replace positive reviews.

Here’s an interesting article by MarketingProfs which talks about major companies and their reputations, good and bad.

Graphic by MarketingProfs