How to Turn Your Customers Into a Referral Stream: A Social Media Marketing Hack That Costs Nothing
July's Marketing Lesson Came From a Fishing Captain in Maine
For my birthday this year, I went out of Wisconsin, to Kennebunk, Maine and spent 8 hours on the Atlantic Ocean deep sea fishing on the F/V Nor'easter with Captain Mike.
Turns out Wisconsin girls do just fine on the open ocean. And somewhere between reeling in my first fish and losing track of time on the open water, Captain Mike accidentally showed me the best marketing hack I've seen all year.
Here's what happened.
It was early Friday morning. Within moments of dropping my line into the water, I had reeled in my first catch. Overjoyed, I yelled for my husband to grab my phone for a photo.
Before I could even hand him the phone, Captain Mike said: "Put your phone away. I will take your pictures. You just keep having fun."
And just like that - I slipped my phone back into my pocket.
For the rest of that 8-hour trip, Captain Mike wasn't just helping people untangle their lines, reel in fish, and navigate the ocean. He was also moving through the boat taking everyone's photos. And at the end of every interaction he said the same thing:
"These pictures will be on Facebook once you get off my boat."
And you know what happened when we docked?
Every single person on that boat - my group, other groups, total strangers - went straight to their Facebook page. Liked. Shared. Saved. Commented.
In one afternoon, Captain Mike turned a boatful of strangers into an active, engaged audience for his business. New eyeballs on his page. Organic reach he never had to pay for. And a group of people who will talk about that fishing trip - and recommend his boat - for years.
All because he gave us permission to put our phones away and just be there to enjoy the experience.
Now here's the part that applies to YOUR business:
You don't have to be a fishing captain in Maine to pull this off. The principle works everywhere.
When you create the memory AND capture it for them, two things happen. Your customer gets to be fully present in the experience. And your business gets in front of every person they share it with.
That's not just good hospitality. That's word of mouth with wings - or in this case, fins. 🐟
So here's your challenge: Ask yourself - what is your Captain Mike moment? What could you do for your customers that makes them go straight to Facebook when they leave?
What Captain Mike did that day wasn't just good customer service. It was content strategy - a referral stream - he just didn't call it that. 🎣🧀
Written by Steph Schmid, founder of Wisco Branding.
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