How to Turn Customers into Promoters

New guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission governing such relationships notwithstanding, a customer that advocates for a brand is often more powerful than any marketing campaign, writes Sanjay Dholakia, CEO of Crowd Factory for Mediapost. Dholakia aims his suggestions on how to do this for the teen audience, but they apply well to all age groups. To get customers on board, try:

1. Giving exclusives

2. Linking gaming with a way to raise the rewards. This, Dholakia says, gives you "the perfect way to lure superfans into sharing."

3. Providing a platform for expression. He points to StyleFactory, which places a Facebook "Like" button on products, thus letting customers choose the designs that should be produced.

4. Recognizing loyalty. Use badging to build a fan base.

How to Put Your Email Clients at Risk

Ask your clients to click on a link within an email to make a change in their account. Paypal has been doing that recently, according to Boomerang. "In the last several weeks messages sent directly from PayPal are looking eerily similar to those sent by spammers. They look and behave just like regular phishing emails – but they are sent from email0.paypal.com and other reputable addresses."

In essence, it said, “PayPal and other companies that use this type of email are training their users to fall prey to SPAM.”