The PR Adviser: Building Buzz Through Word of Mouth

I must confess this seems like a pattern now, my beloved readers. 

I disappear for a few months, come back, and ask your forgiveness. In full transparency, as you know, I lost my mother in 2023. 

No one prepares you to live in a world without your mother, especially if you’re fortunate to have had an extraordinary mother like mine. One of the many ways she was so extraordinary is that she would have given me a swift kick in the tush, demanded I stop grieving her, and get back to work helping those who need me. 

So here I am, back from yet another reincarnation. Don’t ask what number; I’ve lost count!

What matters most is that I’m returning amidst the turmoil of our current political climate. 

Many of you are stressed over what tariffs and other new policies will do to your business.   

Whichever side of the political spectrum you fall on, we’re all in this together. Our immediate and exclusive powers lie in the choices we make today and today alone.

When the latest breaking news alert hits your phone, email or TV, dear reader, take a deep breath, shut off the announcement source and return to the tasks I’ll be sharing here to strengthen your business. 

The only thing you have control over is creating foundations to secure your position once the smoke clears. Breaking news will continue to break, but your ability to take a deep breath and steer your ship is yours to command.

So now, let’s dive into what you can control. 

I return bearing two gifts, with more coming as we continue our trip along the customer journey. 

The first is my 98-page opus, “The Golden Pillars of Luxury Website Design: A Workbook.” 

If you didn’t get it the first time, here’s your chance now, particularly useful if you suspect your website design is scaring away potential buyers. 

My second gift comes right in time to answer this month’s question.

Dear PR Adviser,

I’ve been reading your column and appreciate the advice you always share. I am building my jewelry business and don’t really have a lot of money to spend on advertising. How can I build word of mouth for my business?

Signed, 
Buzzing on a Budget

So, my brilliant buddy Buzzing, word of mouth is indeed the best way to boost your business when budgets are barren. (Say that out loud three times and fast!) 

Cue our customer journey Superhero, Awareness, whose specialty lies in bragging about your beautiful baubles to bring in those sweet, sweet Benjamins. 

This brings us to my second gift—a blueprint to get journalists bragging about you. 

A few months ago, an organization for independent management consultants asked me to train their members on how to get publicity. 

I’ve since repurposed that training for my YouTube channel, where it awaits you now. 

It wouldn’t be me, of course, if I didn’t throw in a 142-page supporting workbook for good measure. The training will teach you everything you need to know to start using publicity, that good, old-fashioned word-of-mouth strategy, to stretch your budget.

Today, however, we’re going to discuss that good new-fashioned strategy, content marketing. 

Raise your hand if you thought I was going to say social media!

You’re not entirely wrong; social media plays an important role in content marketing. But it’s not your first step and shouldn’t be your only step if you want to stimulate sales.

Content marketing is part of search engine optimization, or SEO. We’re not going too deeply into the heroes and zeros of SEO, unless, of course, someone emails me nicely with questions.  

This bit of black magic—being intentional with the content on your website—can lure people to your site after the Magic 8 Ball known as Google answers their question, “Who’s the fairest jewelry designer (or jewelry retailer) of them all?”   

Here’s your task for whenever a “Breaking News” alert threatens to break your concentration: create a list of brand storytelling questions to answer every week.  

Questions such as the following. 

Here’s an SEO pro-tip. Pop over to Reddit and see what jewelry questions are being asked. Do this in addition to making up your own questions.

Google loves when you answer questions others are asking, but we don’t want your site to become a boring FAQ. The colorful questions I’ve proposed are to help build your brand narrative. 

When answering, think about having a conversation, not simply checking off a box. Let your personality shine through.

Your answers will, first and foremost, go on your website. 

I personally hate the word blog, so I’d find something sexier to call the section where these answers will live. 

Cartier, for example, uses “Stories” and includes “Cartier Party” and “Stories Encounters” as subsections. 

Ahem. Could I really say I’m back if I didn’t at some point reference Cartier?  

Just to be clear, we’re not creating an FAQ section. We’re developing stories based on your answers.  

Another SEO tip is to update this section weekly to attract Google’s busy crawler bees. Once your website features these stories, you can now turn to social media.  

Since social media is our next stop with our Superhero Awareness on the customer journey, we’re going to take a pause for the cause and pick up next month, because we need an entire column or two to explore social media at length. 

For now, play around with this task, especially whenever “Breaking News” alerts you of things beyond your control.  

Remember, you can only control your decisions and actions. Everything else is in the hands of fate, and faith. 

Until next month!