Word of mouth without branding is not enough

In today's world, many small business owners are so overwhelmed by all of the marketing choices available to them that they simply choose to do nothing. They will then wear that decision as a badge of honor and boast that they don't have to advertise. They claim they "get all their business by word of mouth". You will find some businesses that survive that way, but for most survival is all it is. In any community... if you ask residents to rank the 10 most successful businesses in town, there will never be a business named who didn't/doesn't advertise. According to the National Associate of Small Businesses, 20 percent of small businesses in the US fail. The vast majority of those that fail rely far too heavily on word of mouth. By simply adding a branding campaign to your strategy, you can kick your word of mouth results into overdrive.