If you have ever recommended a restaurant or complimented a favorite dress after receiving a compliment on your jewelry, you already understand the power of word of mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective (and cheapest) marketing strategies. It is when a brand uses the power of word of mouth by encouraging customers to share their experiences of the product or service with their friends and family.
And while these discussions seem to be completely out of the brand’s control and perhaps even reversed, consumers will not hesitate to ignore products that have a negative effect. These is why you Word of mouth marketing to encourage people to talk about your business positively.
Word of mouth (WOM) marketing is when marketers launch campaigns to encourage or accelerate these conversations in the community.
Understanding Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth marketing is when consumers’ interest in a company’s product or service is expressed in their daily interactions. Essentially, it’s free advertising inspired by customer experiences – usually something that exceeds their expectations.
Also known as “word of mouth advertising,” WOM marketing includes word of mouth, viral, blog, emotional, and social media marketing.
Why is Word of Mouth Marketing important?
Today, all brands try to be seen on social media and in the top positions of Google.
However, organic production is more important. If a brand cares about its customers and makes a good product, its customers will recommend it. They can easily share their positive experiences and bring in new customers. Such a business does not require many marketing methods that do not always bring visible results.
Every customer can become a part of WOM marketing differently. It can be unboxed videos on Instagram Stories, website reviews, hashtags, or tags. As a result, people may see this content and consider doing business with a particular company.
In this way, brands can reach new customers and drive conversions. A good product and a good online experience can help attract more loyal customers. It, in turn, allows the company to make good profits.
Advantages of WOM Marketing
A brand does not need basic advertising, website optimization, paid to advertise, or other marketing tools to attract new customers. Customers who are satisfied with the product can easily promote the company and help it earn more profits.
- First, the strategy does not always require additional costs, and it helps to reach new customers who are loyal to your company.
- Second, recommendations from friends and family always build interest and trust in a brand. It is an opportunity to build your image as an honest and trustworthy brand.
- Businesses using word of mouth marketing can achieve more conversions, higher sales, and wider reach. All these factors create a huge incentive for high profitability.
- As people learn more about your brand through friends or direct recommendations, your brand awareness increases, and the likelihood of brand engagement increases.
How to Build a Word of Mouth Strategy?
Use of Visual Aids
Create amazing visual experiences that make customers want to take photos and share.
For example, ‘Instagrammable’ restaurants have one thing in common – they provide an aesthetically pleasing environment that makes people want to share their dining experiences on social media. Providing visual stimuli in a digital experience is more difficult but not impossible.
Create something Out of the Box
Selling a unique product, using a different business model, or going against industry norms are other ways to use word of mouth. Whether with your product or delivery method, standing out from the crowd can pay off.
Emotional reinforcement
Tapping into people’s emotions can be a powerful way to build sharing.
In 2019, Dove launched the #ShowUs campaign with women and non-bicyclists to create a collection of 10,000+ stock images that provide a more holistic view of beauty for all media and people-applied communication.
Empowering people to feel visible, regardless of race, body type, or gender, Dove captured people’s emotions by getting them involved in something bigger than themselves.
Introduction to User Generated Content (UGC)
According to a study, 85% of social media users trust UGC more than branded content.
But brands don’t want to appear worried, so only 16% give privacy guidelines on how users can create and share content. UGC builds trust by establishing social proof—the belief that something is desirable because other people like it.
Encourage satisfied customers to share UGC Offer giveaways on social media to people who post pictures of your products with your brand’s hashtags. Also, if you offer a loyalty program, you can tie rewards to UGC, encouraging your most loyal customers to post photos or videos of their products.
Develop an Official Referral Program
Referral marketing is a type of marketing that encourages satisfied customers to advocate on behalf of your brand to encourage them. Sometimes called refer-a-friend programs, referral marketing has become a go-to method for eCommerce stores looking to increase their sales and reduce their per-transaction costs.
By encouraging customers to talk about your brand, you increase the value of WOM.
Free Products to influencers
Find relevant influencers, send them your product, and see if they repost. However, remember that some influencers are constantly fed up with freebies and don’t want to test your product unless they like it, so don’t expect every influencer to respond.
Instead of focusing on big names with big followings, try working with micro-influencers, bloggers, videographers, or DIYers with small followings to share their creativity, tips, and advice.
Identify your Customer’s Lifetime Value
Average customer lifetime value refers to the revenue a customer brings throughout their relationship with your business. LTV data tells you how much money it costs to acquire a customer.
Wrapping Up
Word-of-mouth advertising can be an effective yet affordable strategy to grow your business online. It can yield some path-breaking results for your company.
You are already halfway there if you give good experience and work hard.
So try convincing your customers to leave a positive note for you and, in turn, help increase your sales.
Author Bio:
Tanya
She is a content curator at NotifyVisitors. She writes SEO-friendly blogs and helps you understand the topic in a better way. Apart from writing, she likes to do painting and gardening.
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FAQ’S
What are the key benefits of WOM Marketing?
Word of mouth is a type of marketing that helps brands build credibility, loyalty, and trust. It creates hype about your brand offline and online.
Is it possible to deal with Negative WOM?
Absolutely! Always try to investigate the root cause of the problem. If customers are unsatisfied with shipments and products, try to switch suppliers or work with a different company.
Also, contact the customer directly.
If the customer has made the complaint on a public platform, then issue a public response so that other customers can see how seriously you take customer feedback.
What is the difference between Organic Word of Mouth and Amplified Word of Mouth?
Organic word of mouth is when customers automatically make mention of your brand in conversation without your special effort.
Amplified word of mouth refers to strategies in order to encourage customers to spread the word about your business and their customer experience.
