What is buzz marketing? Strategies, examples and risks

Buzz marketing is creating conversation about a product, service or event so that people spread the word themselves. Instead of paying for every impression, you give people something worth talking about, often around a launch, and let word of mouth carry it. It works when the product lives up to the talk, and it backfires when it does not.

What is buzz marketing?

Wikipedia describes buzz as the interaction of consumers and users with a product or service, which amplifies or changes the original marketing message. Buzz marketing is the deliberate attempt to start that conversation. It can happen face to face, in communities and on social media.

Buzz is closely related to two other ideas:

• Word-of-mouth marketing: people recommending a product to each other. Buzz marketing tries to spark it.
• Viral marketing: content designed to spread quickly from person to person. A piece of viral content can create buzz, but so can an event, a limited launch or a surprising report.

Buzz can be positive or negative. A campaign that provokes the wrong reaction creates buzz too, just not the kind you want.

Why does buzz marketing work?

• People trust people. A recommendation from a friend, colleague or expert they follow carries more weight than an ad. Wikipedia's article notes research showing interpersonal communication is more effective than advertising alone.
• Scarcity and exclusivity. Limited access makes people want in and gives those who get in something to talk about. Our guide to FOMO marketing explains how to use this honestly.
• Curiosity. Teasers that reveal part of the story make people speculate and share.
• Participation. When people help shape a launch, by voting, testing or creating, they feel ownership and tell others.

Which tactics create buzz?

Limited or invite-only access

A waitlist, private beta or invite system makes early access feel valuable. Early users become the first people talking about the product, and invitations spread it through their networks.

Teasers before launch

Short previews of what is coming, without the full picture, give people something to discuss before the product exists.

Seeding with influencers and experts

Give early access or free products to people your audience follows. In B2B, that means respected practitioners, analysts and newsletter writers rather than celebrities. Read our guide to working with micro-influencers.

Interactive campaigns and events

Live launches, livestreams, challenges and campaigns where people vote or create something give them a reason to join in and share.

Original research and bold ideas

In B2B, a report with new data or a well-argued contrarian view often creates more industry conversation than any ad. It gives journalists, bloggers and people on LinkedIn something to quote.

What are good examples of buzz marketing?

Gmail's invitation-only launch

Google announced Gmail on 1 April 2004 as an invitation-only beta. Users could sometimes invite others, and access was scarce enough that invitations were sold on eBay, at first for up to $150, according to PC World as cited by Wikipedia. Prices fell sharply once more invitations were released, and Google banned the sale of accounts in June 2004. Gmail opened to everyone without an invitation on 14 February 2007. The scarcity made a free email service something people talked about and asked each other for.

"Demand It" for Paranormal Activity

In 2009, Paramount opened the low-budget film Paranormal Activity in twelve college towns and invited fans to "demand" where it should play next through the Eventful website. Screenings sold out, the release expanded city by city, and Paramount promised a nationwide release if the film reached one million demands. The counter passed one million on 10 October 2009 and the film went wide in the US on 16 October. Fans were not just told about the film. They helped decide where it showed, and they told their friends.

Fyre Festival, the warning

The 2017 Fyre Festival was promoted with paid posts from models and influencers that showed a luxury island festival. According to Wikipedia, most of them did not disclose that they were paid. When attendees arrived in the Bahamas, they found disaster-relief tents, poor food and an unfinished site, and the organisers postponed the festival. Organiser Billy McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison in October 2018. The buzz worked. The product did not exist.

For more cases, see our buzz marketing examples.

What rules apply to buzz marketing?

When buzz relies on people who received something from you, disclosure rules apply. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ says that people who receive free products or other perks with the expectation of promoting them must disclose that connection clearly, and that a company sending products should ask recipients to disclose the gift in their posts. The FTC also expects advertisers to have reasonable programs to train and monitor the people in their promotion networks. Our article on the benefits and drawbacks of influencer marketing covers the details.

Disguising marketing as genuine peer recommendations, sometimes called stealth marketing, also backfires with audiences when it comes out.

How do you plan a buzz campaign?

1. Make sure the product deserves it. Buzz amplifies what people experience. If it disappoints, the buzz turns negative.
2. Find the story. What is new, surprising or exclusive about this launch?
3. Pick the first group. Decide who should hear first: power users, experts, a community or a waitlist.
4. Give them something to share, such as access, an invite, a preview or data.
5. Time the release. Build up over days or weeks, then launch with a clear moment.
6. Disclose and monitor. Brief everyone who received something on how to disclose it, and watch what is being said so you can respond.

Buzz is not a replacement for a good product or a steady marketing plan. Used around the right launch, it gets more people talking about you than your budget alone could reach.