Build Buzz on a Budget: How to Get People Talking About Your Business Online

If people aren’t talking about your business online, it doesn’t mean you’re not great at what you do. In fact, there are lots of businesses doing incredible work but not getting mentioned, reviewed or shared.

Here’s the good news: It doesn’t take a big marketing budget to spark some word-of-mouth promotion online. You just have to make it easy, obvious, and worth it for your customers. Here are five low-cost ways to build buzz online.

1. Get your first Facebook or Google reviews.

A client tells you how much they enjoy working with you. You know they mean it—and then they leave.

You’ve just had a lovely interaction, but it’s one that will live on only in your memory, when it could have become something lasting, like a review that inspires your next client to hire you. 

You might be thinking, It’s just a few reviews. Will they even matter? When you’re trying to get noticed online, they absolutely do. Even one or two good reviews can help your business show up in local search results, build trust and start the ball rolling. Without reviews, your Facebook or Google business page will come up short on the kind of social proof that gives potential customers a reason to feel confident choosing you.

Here’s how to make those first few reviews happen:

• Print cards asking for a review, and include a QR code linking to your Facebook or Google business page. Hand them out, slip them in shopping bags and shipping boxes, and prominently display them by the register. 
• Ask for reviews in a pinned post or story on social media. Use this post to explain how customers can leave a review—and why it helps your business.
• Include a review link in all your communications. Add a review link to your email signature. Include it in order confirmation emails or thank-you notes alongside a line like, “Love what you’ve ordered? Let people know!”
• Set a “reviews goal” and make it public. Post about your goal on your social channels: “We’re trying to hit 10 reviews this week! If you’ve worked with us, we’d be grateful for a quick review.”

2. Make share-worthy social media content.  

Your best word-of-mouth marketing often happens where you can’t see it: For example, someone reads your business’s Instagram post and DMs it to a friend. They might not have hit the “like” button or commented, but they did share your content.

This may not seem like much at first, but it’s the kind of word-of-mouth that travels farther than you might think. And it only happens if your content does something for the person sharing it. Maybe it hits a nerve or solves a problem. Or says exactly what they’re thinking—only better—and sharing it makes them feel kind, smart, funny or in-the-know. 

People don’t like sharing content that makes them work too hard. If your post isn’t well-formatted, or if it’s too long or confusing out of context, they’re probably going to skip it. So if you want your content to spread, make it easy to digest and low-effort to pass along. This might mean clear visuals, a sentence they can’t wait to quote, or a tip that screams “OMG, you’ve got to try this!” Your content can show up in more DMs, inboxes, stories or group chats—but it has to earn its way there. 

Ways to create social media content people want to share: 

• Turn a helpful tip into a graphic. Use a tool like Canva to turn a useful idea into a clean (and branded) image people will want to repost. 
• Format content for screenshots. Avoid clutter by keeping your line lengths short and making good use of white space so your post is easy to screenshot and share. 
• Make it easy for readers to be generous. Post tips, how-tos and checklists that your audience can pass along to help their family members, friends or coworkers. 
• Offer big value in one-sentence chunks. Create posts that give readers something useful, insightful or funny using just a few words. People are more likely to share short, clear content. 

3. Create momentum to rev up a too-quiet feed. 

You’re going through the motions, posting your social content, but the silence in response is deafening. No buzz; no shares. No comments. When this happens, it’s not because your business is boring, and the fix isn’t necessarily more content. 

Try bringing a new spark to your regularly planned content: Something that creates movement, gets people to sit up and notice, respond, and engage. The easiest way to do this is to give people something quick to read and easy to react to. It could be a funny poll, an interesting challenge, or a small giveaway. And it doesn’t need to tie directly to your business, either. Your goal is momentum, so post something that catches a bit of attention and reminds people your feed is worth showing up for. (Just make sure any giveaways you plan follow the rules of the platform you’re on!)

Try one of these quick and simple ideas to create momentum: 

• Post a “this or that” poll. Keep things fun and fast—you’re aiming for something that people will want to vote on. Some ideas: bath vs. shower, early bird vs. night owl, coffee vs. tea, werewolves vs. vampires. 
• Start a fill-in-the-blank giveaway. Use a quick, fun sentence starter like “I never leave the house without ______”, or one that fits your brand like “My go-to comfort food is _____” if you run a bakery. Pick a random reply to win a small prize, like a 10% off coupon or discount code.
• Crowdsource a business decision. Keep it small: It could be a new flavor, your next shipping label design or the best product/service bundle idea. 
• Run a “caption this” challenge. Post a fun or unusual photo and ask followers to comment with an ideal caption. 

4. Make your feed a conversation, not a monologue. 

Marketing articles often talk about ramping up “engagement,” but what you really want is dialogue, something that makes your audience feel like they’re taking part in a two-way exchange instead of a one-way, static feed of promotions. Make room in your posts for your audience’s voices: Ask questions to create connection and show them you’re listening. 

A good question opens the door and lets your followers help shape your brand with their own stories, opinions and experiences. Asking real questions (not fake “engagement bait”) enfolds you into the rhythm of genuine conversation: You ask, they answer, you respond, they notice. Instead of talking at people, you’re building something with them. 

Here’s how to get the conversation started:

• Invite personal stories. Show you care about more than clicks with questions that are real and personal. Balance fun, human questions like “What’s something you pretend to understand (but really don’t)?” with ones that tie into your business (for example, “What was your favorite childhood book?” if you run a bookstore).
• Show your audience you’re listening. Quote great replies from your followers in your next caption, use audience responses to guide your next offer or post (“Since so many of you said xyz last week, we’ve decided to put this together …”), or run a story series using responses to highlight your community. 
• Keep the conversation going. When someone comments, don’t just click “like.” Respond by asking another question, thanking them for sharing or sharing a related thought or story of your own.
• Ask questions that reveal values. Try questions like “What makes you trust a brand?” or “What does good customer service mean to you?”

5. Design small, shareable moments that spark big shares

A customer tags your business in a photo they’ve posted on their own feed. They’re standing, smiling, in front of your store’s display window. The lighting’s perfect, the pose genuine. It’s everything you’d want in a promo photo, and you didn’t even know it existed until they tagged you. Now imagine if more customers posted pics like this. 

You don’t need a huge marketing team to generate buzz . You just need happy customers sharing their own experiences of your business. How to get them there? Make it feel natural and easy. Create a small, shareable detail, something that’s interesting to look at or fun to hold that will have people taking out their phone to snap a pic. Combine it with a gentle prompt (“Posting this? Tag us!”). When people post, reshare it, feature it and let their content do the talking for your business.   

Give your customers moments worth sharing: 

• Create a fun visual in-store moment. This could be a cool backdrop, colorful floor graphic or funny window display—anything that makes people stop, smile and pull out their phones. 
• Use unexpected packaging. Think bold colors, clever copy or fun labels (“Open with care: Contents may cause compliments.”) that make for a great unboxing post. 
• Design bold, shareable signage. Go for cheeky sayings, fun quips or quotes, and laugh-out loud messaging (“Yes, you weren’t planning to buy this. But here we are.”) that make for fun posts. 
• Include an interesting freebie. Something small and photogenic, like a branded sticker or button, mini samples or temporary tattoos, call for a quick pic for your audience’s feeds.

Get people talking

You don’t need a big budget to generate buzz online. But word-of-mouth doesn’t just show up, either. You have to build it, with small, intentional actions that give people a reason to share your content—and make that sharing just a little bit easier.