Table of Content

• What is word of mouth marketing?
• What is word-of-mouth marketing’s digital version?
• How can word of mouth marketing benefit you?
• The History and Evolution of Word of Mouth Marketing

1. Early History: Pre-Industrial Age
2. Industrial Age: 18th-19th Centuries
3. Post-Industrial Age: 20th Century
4. Digital Age: Late 20th Century – Early 21st Century
5. Modern Era: Mid-21st Century

• Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies

1. Influencer Marketing
2. Give people no option but to talk
3. Surprise your customers with freebies
4. Organize Giveaways
5. Affiliate Networks

• How to build Your Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy?

1. Create triggers for word-of-mouth marketing
2. Utilize visual cues
3. Make or do something original
4. Provoke emotions for word of mouth marketing
5. Encourage the creation of user-generated content
6. Promote reviews and ratings zealously
7. Establish an official referral program
8. Know your Customer LTV (Lifetime Value)

What is word of mouth marketing?

When a consumer’s interest in a company’s product or service is reflected in their regular conversations, this is referred to as word-of-mouth marketing (or WOM marketing). Essentially, it is free promotion brought on by consumer experiences, which are typically above and beyond their expectations.

When customers tell their friends, family, and other people they care about a company’s product or service, this is known as word-of-mouth marketing (WOM). The finest word-of-mouth marketing methods, according to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), are being sincere, credible, social, repeatable, measurable, and respectful.

According to marketing professor and an internationally best-selling author Jonah Berger, Word-of-mouth advertising is successful because of the trust factor: people trust their friends and family more than brands. Better targeting is a further factor in WOMM’s effectiveness. According to Berger, we frequently recommend things to people we believe are likely to be interested in them. The benefit of word-of-mouth advertising is that it can be used by any business, including new, lesser known brands or start-ups.

What is word-of-mouth marketing’s digital version?

In order to facilitate word-of-mouth interactions, digital word-of-mouth marketing makes use of technology, primarily the Internet. Consumers frequently utilize review sites, social media platforms, and blogs to discuss their experiences, both positive and negative, and these shared testimonies have a big impact on what people buy.

How can word of mouth marketing benefit you?

When customers believe that a business is paying attention to them, they become more emotionally attached to it. Because of this, many businesses will have sales reps speak with customers directly or over the phone to get feedback about their goods and services. This form of communication as well as promotional activities may spark interest in a company’s product.

Additional advantages of word-of-mouth advertising include:                                            

• It’s free of cost:

You can utilise WOMM for promotion if you’re a start-up with a tight budget and want to establish a strong reputation.

• After the initial interaction, word-of-mouth advertising continues well:

In other words, when a satisfied consumer will spread the word about you, they keep talking and promoting your business.

• It offers important feedback:

Customer feedback enables you to fix problems and improve your goods and services.

• It encourages consumer loyalty:

In some industries, even a 5% customer retention percentage might increase profits by at least 25%. It affects your bottom line, so loyalty is more than simply good to have.

• creates trust and connections:

Using word-of-mouth marketing, you may interact with leads on social media and give your company more trust.

The History and Evolution of Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is a powerful form of promotion that has been around for centuries, but its methods and impact have evolved significantly over time. Here’s an overview of the history and evolution of Word of Mouth Marketing:

1. Early History: Pre-Industrial Age

Word of Mouth has been a part of human communication since the dawn of civilization. People have always shared their experiences, opinions, and recommendations with friends, family, and acquaintances. In ancient times, this form of communication was primarily oral and took place within small communities.

2. Industrial Age: 18th-19th Centuries

As societies began to urbanize and industrialize, word of mouth expanded beyond local communities due to increased travel, trade, and communication. Newspapers, telegraphs, and early advertising methods played a role in spreading recommendations and opinions about products and services.

3. Post-Industrial Age: 20th Century

The development of mass media, such as radio, television, and later the internet, significantly influenced the evolution of Word of Mouth Marketing. Brands began to use these platforms to reach larger audiences, and consumers could share their thoughts more widely.

4. Digital Age: Late 20th Century – Early 21st Century

The rise of the internet, social media, and online review platforms marked a turning point for WOMM. Consumers could now share their experiences and opinions about products and services with a global audience instantly. Online reviews, social media posts, blogs, forums, and later, influencer marketing, became prominent forms of Word of Mouth Marketing.

5. Modern Era: Mid-21st Century

WOMM has continued to evolve with advancements in technology as well as communication. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube have become key channels for consumers to share their recommendations and experiences. Brands actively engage with customers, encouraging them to share positive stories and experiences to create organic buzz.

Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies

A powerful method for building trust and boosting consumer confidence in their purchasing decisions is word-of-mouth marketing. The universal appreciation of many people for a good or service automatically encourages the belief that it must be of excellent quality.

However, exploring the world of WOMM reveals a landscape that is much more complex than just providing top-notch goods. It involves the ability to provide clients with experiences that are so extraordinary that they are ready to tell others about them.

You can start with implementing the practical word-of-mouth marketing strategies listed below into your strategy right away.

#1. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is for you if you’re seeking for a word-of-mouth advertising strategy you can have control over. You must pay an influencer in influencer marketing for them to promote your goods on their social media. You can have some control what they post, when they post it, and how they post it since you’re paying them. The nicest part of word-of-mouth marketing is that you may spend money to start generating conversations about your product and possibly generate some sales as a result.

The downside? Actually, it’s not organic. It is fantastic to hear genuine people praise your stuff. And while you could be thrilled about making sales in this method, using word of mouth for a prolonged period of time might be costly.

#2. Give people no option but to talk

Naturally, when you do something outrageous to attract attention, people will speak about it. While the majority of brands lack the resources to carry out risky and extreme acts, you can nevertheless get a similar impression with simple concepts.

If consumers have a deadline for delivery, several e-commerce companies hand deliver packages. Using the Happy Birthday Email app, you may also surprise a customer with a free present on their birthday. Your customer service employees can use silly accents like a pirate or answer to emails with video responses rather than text.

#3. Surprise your customers with freebies

Shoppers love free stuff and you can use this fact to your advantage. You can send emails with discount codes so that your customers can use it to get their product. On a customer’s birthday month, allow them to collect their free gift from your store location or give that with purchase if buying online.

But will it result in word of mouth promotion? Yep, it will as they may end up posting about their free gift on social media which will ultimately benefit you. You must be thinking that freebies cost more money than they make. However, the truth is, the freebie can hook a person in and build their loyalty.

#4. Organize Giveaways

Giveaways and competitions are excellent word-of-mouth marketing strategies for new businesses. On your website, you might offer a complimentary product. Customers can enter your promotion by sharing it on social media in order to be eligible to win. This facilitates organically expanding your audience.

What’s best? You can get in touch with everyone who didn’t win and give a runner-up award after your contest ends. A gift card to your shop might be the second-place award. In this approach, even if they don’t win the competition, you can still encourage people to shop at your store. Just make sure that clients cannot redeem the free gift card for any freebies in order to prevent financial loss.

#5. Affiliate Networks

You may improve your word-of-mouth marketing by using affiliate marketing. Also, you can experiment with a few important options. You can first encourage clients to join your affiliate program. Following a customer’s purchase from your store, you can ask them to recommend their friends and pay them a commission if their friends use their referral link to make a purchase. You can also get in touch with specialized bloggers. They can write articles regarding your products and company for you. They are able to monetize the content by including affiliate links.

Even though you’re providing a financial incentive, the risk is actually low because you only have to pay a commission if a purchase is made. Affiliates also work to increase brand recognition even in lack of purchases by bringing attention to your company.

How to build Your Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy?

Create triggers that will encourage people to talk about your brand rather than relying just on word-of-mouth marketing.

Here are some strategies for starting your own campaign for word-of-mouth advertising:

Create triggers for word-of-mouth marketing

Think of triggers as your company’s “X factor.” Triggers are memorable events or emotions that cause people to want to talk about your company. WOM triggers don’t have to be pricey or showy. Simple acts of empathy and creativity can have a big impact.

Utilize visual cues

Create stunning visual experiences to entice customers to snap and share images.

‘Instagrammable’ restaurants, for instance, all have one thing in common: they offer an aesthetically beautiful setting that encourages customers to post about their eating experience on social media. In a digital encounter, providing visual triggers is more difficult but still possible.

Make or do something original

Other strategies for utilizing the power of word-of-mouth marketing include selling a distinctive product, choosing a unique approach to business, or bucking industry norms. It could be advantageous to stand out even from the competition with your shipping method or goods.

Provoke emotions for word of mouth marketing

A very effective approach to increase shares is by appealing to people’s emotions. Dove, for instance, successfully tapped into people’s emotions by enabling them to feel noticed, regardless of ethnicity, body type, or gender, by making them feel like they were a part of something bigger than themselves.

Encourage the creation of user-generated content

By building social proof—the idea that something is valuable because other people find it appealing—UGC establishes trust. By offering prizes on social media to those who post photographs of your products with your branded hashtag, you may encourage pleased consumers to share UGC. Similar to this, if you have a loyalty program, you may link prizes to user-generated content (UGC) to entice your most loyal customers to provide images or videos of your goods.

Promote reviews and ratings zealously

The most recent WOM marketing strategy is customer reviews. Set up email, feedback surveys, Yelp reviews, as well as website analytics as methods for collecting testimonials. Gather and prominently display genuine customer testimonials about your company in as many locations as you can, including your own website, social network posts, online marketplaces, and review websites. Before trusting a company, customers read an average of seven reviews, and 85% of customers place more faith in online reviews than in personal recommendations.

Establish an official referral program

Referral marketing is a type of advertising that offers rewards to pleased consumers in exchange for their endorsement of your company. Referral marketing, sometimes known as “refer-a-friend” programmes, has emerged as the preferred strategy for e-commerce businesses aiming to increase sales while lowering their cost per action. WOM is more likely if you offer incentives to customers to spread the word about your business. Rewards include cash payouts, gift cards, coupons, discounts off initial purchases, cashback, and free gifts.

Know your Customer LTV (Lifetime Value)

The amount of money a single client brings in over the length of your company relationship is referred to as average customer lifetime value. You can determine how much money to spend on customer acquisition using the LTV measures.

In a world where consumer trust is paramount, word-of-mouth marketing surely remains an anchor of authenticity, a testament to the enduring power of genuine connections. So, as you shape your marketing strategy, remember the time-tested wisdom of word-of-mouth, and let it guide you toward building lasting relationships and propelling your business to new heights!