Word of mouth marketing is one of the best types of marketing to promote your business. Not only does it utilizes the power of trust, but its chances to drive conversions are also insane.
In today’s age, there are so many avenues where word of mouth marketing can be done. It does not only happen when a customer tells another about the business. It also happens when a customer reviews a product or service on social media. It may seem like a simple review.
But this review has the capability to spread to hundreds and thousands of people. This grants businesses more chances for brand exposure, traffic, and sales.
Word of mouth marketing works because it is natural. It is in no way spammy. It does not entail the submission of links to multiple websites and it doesn’t require websites to link back. Instead, customers who have already interacted with the brand promotes the products for the business.
By sharing their experience, they encourage more people to try the products and services that they have just tried. It is a great way of spreading information for it utilizes the power of networks. You may only be able to talk to only one person. But if that person talks to several more, you’ll have an information explosion. This is how word of mouth marketing works.
Also, did I mention that word of mouth marketing is free? Unlike other forms of marketing or advertising that require some money or effort, word of mouth marketing is free and automatic. You don’t need to pay for the promotion for the customers will do the promotion for you.
Today, you will learn about word of mouth marketing and why it is the best type of marketing method to promote your business.
What is Word of Mouth Marketing?
Word of mouth marketing can be easily understood by the words that compose it. Simply put, it is a form of marketing where one person tells another person about the business. This is often a positive experience that can encourage the other person to buy a particular product or service.
Word of Mouth Marketing Vs. Referral Marketing
However, it is important to differentiate word of mouth marketing from referral marketing. Referral marketing is a method where you allow your website visitors or customers to refer people to the business. In exchange for the referral, you reward them. This reward acts as a trigger for them to take action.
Referral marketing can be promoted through word-of-mouth marketing. This is where you refer people to the website by talking to them about your positive experience with the brand. This may be because you like their products and you want to share the reward with your family and friends. In any case, the manner in which you promote the referral program is through word of mouth. This means that you talk to a family member or friend and ask them to join the program for you.
However, word-of-mouth marketing cannot be done with referral marketing. It is completely different. Word of mouth marketing is when you talk to the person’s face to face or send them a message through various channels to refer them to a particular product or service. It is about using words – vocalized or not – to promote a product or service to another person.
Word of Mouth Marketing Vs. Affiliate Marketing
In the same way, you can promote an affiliate program through word-of-mouth marketing. This means that you can promote your affiliate link and let other people buy through your link by referring friends and family. Again, word-of-mouth marketing is utilized as a method of promotion. It is just a way of using words to convince another person to take action.
Affiliate programs are different from referral programs in the sense that the prospects may not be necessarily family and friends. In referral programs, the prospects are often family members and friends. But in affiliate programs, these are just people who signed up or buy through the affiliate’s link.
Why You Should Use Word of Mouth Marketing?
Did you know that over 90% of customers buy a particular product or service out of the recommendations of their family and friends? This is based on a study by Nielsen. It shows how powerful word-of-mouth marketing is. It is common for customers to buy a product or service just because a family member or friend recommended it.
And it doesn’t stop there. Word of mouth marketing also has an incremental nature. When you manage to promote your product to one person. It doesn’t mean that it will stop there. This person has the capability to promote that same product to his own network. When this happens, the word spreads about your business and you gain more brand exposure, traffic, and sales.
Why is Word of Mouth Marketing So Effective?
From here, you are probably wondering how you can use word-of-mouth marketing for your business. Before you do that, you should explore the reasons why it is so effective.
Trust:
As mentioned, word-of-mouth marketing utilizes the power of trust. When someone promotes a product through word of mouth, it is usually with a person that they know personally. Because of this, the chances of conversion are often higher.
Social Proof:
It is easy to buy a product that has already been tried and tested by another person. Most customers wait for reviews before they buy a product. This is so they can know if the product is good before they take the risk to buy it. Word of mouth marketing is a great way to counter all customer worries. It shows them that the product is worth the try.
Incremental:
As mentioned, promoting through word-of-mouth marketing is incremental. This means that it doesn’t end with the person that you promoted the product. This person’s friends also have the capability to share the product with their friends. If a product is worth the recommendation, it will get shared.
How to Use Word of Mouth Marketing for Your Business:
Now there are different ways to do word of mouth marketing for your business. It is a matter of encouraging your customers to do it for you. In this section, you’ll learn some ways to do that.
10 Ways to Promote Your Business Through Word of Mouth Marketing
Be Interesting:
It all starts with being interesting. No one wants to share a product, service, or business that is not worth the share. Sharing may be as simple as pressing a button. But for customers to do this, you have to give them a reason to share. People share for a variety of reasons. They share because they like the post, they support it or they think that other people will find it interesting. This means that posts that are worth sharing are interesting. At least, it stimulated the mind enough to get them to click that share button.
Ask for Reviews:
Another way to spread the word about your brand is through reviews. Reviews are powerful. This is because it does more than give your brand a testimonial. It also encourages more people to try your products and services. You’ll see it in the reviews done by users online. Often, they will post about the products that they are using either in their social media profile or their blog. This acts as a subtle promotion of the product or the service. This is a good way to encourage word-of-mouth marketing in your business. By allowing your customers to review your products, you give them a chance to grant your business more exposure, traffic, and sales.
Offer Limited-Time Discounts:
Another way to get people talking about your business is to offer limited-time discounts. It is quite common for retail businesses to offer limited-time deals to their customers. This encourages the customer to buy within a specific time period. This plays on the idea of the ‘Fear of Missing Out’. This is because the customer will not want to miss the chance of buying the same item for a lower price. It is important that these deals are well communicated to your customers. Once you do this, they will be able to easily share the discount with their family and friends.
Have a Referral Program:
You can also release exclusive discounts for customers who refer other people to your site. This can be implemented through a referral program. As mentioned, referral marketing is not the same as word-of-mouth marketing. But having a referral program inevitably results in word-of-mouth promotion. How does this happen? Well, when someone joins a referral program, they will often tell their family and friends about it. This is so they can get the reward. This act of ‘telling family and friends’ is considered word-of-mouth marketing. It is very effective for it is done within the prospect’s inner circle.
Have an Affiliate Program:
Another way to generate buzz for your business is to have an affiliate program. An affiliate program is where you allow marketers and other content producers to promote your products and services for you. In return, they get a commission for every sale. This generates word-of-mouth marketing in the sense that it pushes marketers and content creators to act and tell other people about your business.
Use the Power of Influencers:
One of the easiest ways to promote your business through word of mouth is leveraging influencers. Influencers are the celebrities of the Internet. There is a celebrity for each niche and their followers usually act on their recommendations. Because of this, their word of mouth marketing power is very effective in generating new leads and sales. In fact, many e-commerce website owners use influencers to generate new sales for new products and websites.
Support a Cause:
Sometimes, it is not enough to have a referral program, an affiliate program, or some sort of reward. Some people don’t sign up because of that. Instead, they are more interested in what goes beyond your business. They are interested in how you are helping mankind. This is where causes come in. There are plenty of businesses that support causes for this reason. Not only does it encourage their customers to buy, but it also allows them to fulfill their social responsibility. This is very effective in niches that protect an ideal. Vegan products, for example, would benefit from supporting a cause that is related to animals. In the end, it is how well you structure your content to encourage more views and shares.
Go Another Mile:
Another way to get your customers talking is to just go another mile when you serve them. Every customer has a level of expectation for every business. There are expectations that must be met at all costs and it dictates customer satisfaction. However, there are extra expectations. These are expectations that are optional but will drive customer satisfaction higher when attained. It is these expectations that you must seek to fulfill. Of course, you must do this while meeting the first set of expectations. If you do this, your customers will talk about you to other people. They would recommend your products and services.
Touch Emotion:
Wondering why some foreign commercials get shared on social media? It’s simple. It is all because it tugged on the heartstrings. Here’s the thing. Humans are emotional beings. As much as a modern society wants to deny emotions, it is one of the things that drive human behavior. So if you are able to appeal to your customers’ emotions, they are far more likely to act in the way you want them to. This is the reason why emotional commercials with subtle promotions work really well.
Host an Event:
You’ll want to get the word out about your business. The best way to do that is to get hundreds and thousands of people in one location and host an event. Now if you can’t do that due to budget constraints, you can have some meetups instead. This will allow you to get multiple people talking about your brand on their websites and social media channels.
Word of mouth marketing is effective if done well. It is all about utilizing the power of human connection in promoting your business.
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