One of the challenges for businesses in this modern day and age of communication is “getting the word” out and the best way—or ways—to do it.

We have a lot of great businesses on The Ave that deal in a wide variety of products and services. Some are well-known and others, whether they are new or have been established for a while, are “best-kept secrets.” With the ever-changing state of media—print and virtual—and limited advertising dollars in many businesses’ coffers, the best, most efficient way of getting a business message out there can require some thought and strategy.

An old-fashioned, simple way, however, does exist. It’s efficient and it works. It’s called “word of mouth.” I’m thinking of a certain Vineland business long ago that only put a small, square advertisement in the newspaper from time to time on the bottom of the page. Why didn’t they do more? They didn’t have to. They were busy enough as it was through word of mouth. Professional people such as doctors and attorneys, at one time, didn’t advertise or were advised by their profession to not do so. For them, the best advertising was word of mouth.

So, how can we carry that forward to today—and use it to drive people to our great businesses on The Ave? Aside from talking up the businesses, we can use the power of social media to accomplish that.

You can do this in a variety of ways.

You can put a post on Facebook about a business on The Ave that you like, or one at which you’ve had a positive experience. Post a picture of the business with it. If someone else has done so, amplify it more by liking or sharing it. When someone wants to know about the availability of a type of business and posts an inquiry, that’s your chance to think of a corresponding business on The Ave and to plug it.

Also, through Yelp and other such platforms, you have the opportunity to comment and recommend a particular business. This input is read by people looking for recommendations.

So, use the power of word-of-mouth to get the message out about all that The Ave has to offer.