Word of mouth marketing is an incredible organic technique of spreading information. Think of the last time you had to tweet about something you experienced, like a nice restaurant or best swimming pool service. Word of mouth marketing uses viral marketing techniques; only that information spreads using more natural ways.

What is word-of-mouth marketing?

WOMM includes all actions initiated by a company to get people talking about their services, products, and brand spontaneously. People who have experienced your products or services recommend them to other people by word of mouth by speaking on the goodness of your business.

One reason why we like WOMM, it is a free form of promotion and advertisement. Customers share your information. Businesses must invest in improving customer service and relationships.

Check out WOMMA.com to learn everything on WOMM marketing. See for yourself the plenty of techniques of WOMM marketing. Also, see statistics about word of mouth marketing here for clarity.

How is it different from referral marketing?

In WOMM, all you need is to create a buzz regardless of the kind of business you have invested in. WOMM has a snowball effect. The more you meet and interact with people, the better it becomes. You can make your first impression by sharing a post on social media, and people who view it will talk more about your product or service to other people.

Referral marketing targets a specific person who is intended to refer to their friends. Referral marketing and other forms of marketing can be categorized under WOMM. It is a proactive way of gaining more clients. You must control the referral process to track the process of conversion. Once you receive the referral code, the entire process is complete. You need a referral software to complete that. You initiate a bond with specific people who will later invite their friends and family.

Why is it marketing very crucial?

WOMM uses exponential growth. Considering the power of online media, a spontaneous post by one person can initiate a dialogue that can be shared by many people at a go. Sometimes, we are talking about millions of people.

WOM marketing can best be summarized as TRUST. Once you share your experience with a product, brand, or service, others tend to believe that and most likely will come to buy.

People trust their friends hence making WOMM the most valuable marketing technique. It doesn’t stop after one interaction. People keep sharing on and on…

Word of mouth marketing is a perfect technique to spread the word about the business. People will trust their friends and relatives than advertisements. A study by Nielsen, 92% of people, believe in friends and relatives compared to ads.

Effects of reviews on word of mouth advertising

You can improve your word of mouth marketing in many ways. Make sure you satisfy your customers. Good experience with your customer will have them talking about your product and improve your online reputation. Consider when someone shares a review on a site like Yelp. That review can be shared, and you will get ranked against your competitors. Initiate this spark by word of mouth. See how reviews lead to WOM.

How to do word of mouth marketing

Don’t collect consumers, connect them instead. Make sure you establish an active connection with your followers on social media to drive word of mouth directly to them.  This sounds more of relationship marketing, right? If your follower is not interested, they are clogging your real fan base hence limit your growth.

Initiate an active link for your fans to be more passionate about you. Ensure your word of mouth marketing is effective to grow a real fan base.

The word of mouth marketing strategy

Pick the right plan to increase your word of mouth marketing. Create a reputable WOMM process by setting yourself a steady stream of referrals. According to Spiceworks, 97% of IT professionals rely on peer recommendations, ratings, and reviews to buy products.

There are some word of mouth marketing channels that you can use other than referrals. You can use affiliate, influencer programs, and reviews. Ensure you use a strategy to measure your word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth strategies to consider:

Make yourself appealing

Exploit your social currency. Share things that make you look fun/good/interesting to improve your rate of referral.

Prompt it to happen with a trigger

Attach yourself to things that people like. It makes it easier for people to remember and talk about you.

Offer value to customers

Sell unmatched quality products and services to all consumers. They will share their experience and pay for it because of its value.

Create emotion

People tend to share happy, sad, and funny things. Respond to them with emotions, and they will share the experience with someone.

There are plenty of other work strategies that you can consider trying.

Other terms used to refer to word of mouth marketing

Viral marketing

It is another term for word of mouth marketing. You advertise products and services to all consumers available. Be like internet-based businesses. They spread their info like wildfire using funny videos and content.

Buzz marketing

It is also called astroturfing. You get consumers to create and spread info about the product. You increase your awareness online. Hire influencers to create a ‘buzz’ on your products and services. Use humor and content that will grab people’s attention.

Blog marketing

Use blogs to promote products and services. The blogger is the brand ambassador. The word will travel quickly to followers. Bloggers provide ad space and reviews on their brand and affiliation and choice. Bloggers share info with readers and friends.

Social media marketing

Today, social media can reach beyond the original group following. Shared content has an excellent value, especially from people we trust. You can call this referral marketing.

Try referral marketing

Many forms of marketing use word of mouth marketing. Referral marketing is one of them used to get new customers. Friends share in referral marketing. Referral marketing tracks the new customers it brings. Incentives must be used in referral marketing.

No strategy is better than the other. However, word of mouth marketing is the reason referral marketing works. Explore these referral marketing tips and examples of word of mouth, and you will elevate your marketing to the next level.