When trying to succeed in business, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to get people to look you up online. But what is it, and what are some examples of word-of-mouth marketing?
Word-of-mouth marketing, or WOMM, is when a business promotes itself by consumers telling each other about its product or service. If you can encourage your existing customers to talk organically to their friends and family about how much they love what you do, you probably have a business that’ll stick around for a while.
Why Do I Need WOMM?
There are many reasons you should make use of WOMM methods. Maybe you’re new to the internet, and your website hasn’t had time to get off the ground.
Maybe your business is competitive, and you’re having trouble standing out from the crowd. Perhaps you don’t have the budget for a traditional advertising campaign.
Whatever the problem, there’s an organic way to fix it with this marketing strategy. Let’s talk about the different WOMM methods you can use to get people looking at your business.
Building Your Brand’s Reputation
When researching a new grill to buy online, what makes you click on a store’s website?
Maybe you were recommended a grill by a friend or saw an advertisement on a YouTube video that made you smile. Perhaps you were impressed by the many positive Google reviews a brand had.
Whatever the case, clicking on that website shows that your selected brand has succeeded in reputation marketing.
Reputation marketing ties into WOM marketing quite well since a core part of both involve using user-generated reviews.
When consumers look up a product or service, they want to know what others think. You always want to be sure that your business is getting reviews.
While you can’t do much to control whether or not your clientele gives you five stars or two, it’s always better to have ten reviews on Google than to have none – even if a couple of them are negative.
Reviews are critical because they show that your business is a legitimate enterprise that people have used. A business with no reviews is a big red flag to most consumers, as it could mean you’re just going to take their money and run.
This is why increasing brand awareness through a word of mouth strategy is essential to the growth of your business.
Making Use of Social Media
WOMM is an incredibly effective marketing strategy online. Social media gives you many opportunities to let people know about your business.
When Netflix releases a new show, you’ll often realize it’s a hit based on how many user-generated memes, Tweets, and reviews get posted on popular sites like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. The same goes for anything in business.
You need to set up a social media presence if you want your business to gain an online presence and brand loyalty. An account on TikTok can react to relevant content by leaving comments and reposting other people’s posts.
For example, if you own an accounting firm and see a popular TikTok talking about an embezzlement scam, your business can comment on how such a crisis could’ve been averted had they used your services.
It’s not uncommon to see comments from popular brands on TikTok with millions of views. If the eyeballs are already there, you can focus on getting some of them to view your page and see what you’re all about. This goes for all social media sites – get active, and you can grow your brand’s presence exponentially.
Responding to Customer Feedback
We know how fast negative feedback about your business can make your heart drop. Seeing that one-star review or hearing from a friend of a friend that an interaction with your business went poorly can be a real shock to the system.
However, you mustn’t ignore it when it happens. In these situations, you always respond quickly, thoroughly, and professionally.
Personal recommendations are a big part of the word of mouth marketing strategy. You want your clients to tell their friends about their positive experience with your business.
While things will not always go according to plan, you can turn these moments into golden opportunities and still end up with a happy customer. If you ship someone the wrong order, you can send it again with a discount for future purchases.
Hearing that your company messed up and then did everything in its power to fix the situation can be a big plus in the eyes of many consumers. Not only can this result in a satisfied customer, but also a great word of mouth recommendation.
A big part of this is always remaining respectful during customer interactions. If someone leaves a bad review on Google, it’s always best to respond publicly.
You want other people seeing that online review to know that you take these matters seriously and look into every problem. Customer service representatives should always engage respectfully with people calling or chatting with them.
Even when a customer is rude, it’s always best to stay professional – you never want a screenshot of one of your representatives telling someone off.
The same goes for phone calls, as you never know if a customer might be recording to bait out a bad reaction. Even if your company is in the right during a dispute, you should always avoid looking like the bad guy.
Getting Involved With Your Community
While maintaining an online presence is essential today, a small business needs to be engaged locally. You want people in your community to not only know who you are and what you do but also support you.
There are several ways to get involved with your community. You can sponsor local sporting events for your area’s schools and advertise in local yearbooks.
This shows that you want to put down roots in an area and care about the community’s well-being. If your business has a physical location, you can host local events such as ice cream socials, summer barbecues, children’s festivals, and more.
It also helps to connect with people in your community on social media. If you can get people to share your posts on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then it can build people’s familiarity with your brand. This familiarity can help significantly in turning potential customers into new customers!
Final Thoughts: Do I Need Word of Mouth Marketing?
A word of mouth marketing campaign is effective for large and small businesses and, in many cases, completely free.
Whether using a free WOM marketing strategy like social media or paying someone to spread the word for you through influencer marketing, WOMM is one of the most effective strategies today.
With customer testimonials and reviews being one of the best ways to implement word of mouth advertising, you may need some help in that department. Sign up with Review Rabbit today to start benefiting from our completely done-for-you review generation service!