What Is The Importance Of Word Of Mouth Marketing?  

Marketing

What Is WOM Marketing?

WOM stands for the word of mouth, which is one of the true free forms of advertising or promotions. This method involves the product being shared by the customers themselves and triggering an event that the customer has experienced. WOM occurs when the event is something that exceeds the expectations held. Once a customer is happy, they go to their circle including friends and family to share their positive as well as negative experiences, which allow others to deal with themselves.

Differences between Referral and Word Of Mouth Marketing

WOM marketing is all about ensuring that there is a buzz going on. It stems from brands interacting with people and is one of the best passive ways to gather followers. WOM is commonly associated with snowballing – one thing impresses one person who then goes to his circle and shares the brand with them and onwards creating significant brand recognition. On the other hand, referral marketing focuses on the targeting of one specific person. This targeting is intended to encourage these people to directly refer their close friends. Referral marketing comes across as more personal and limited in scope as compared to WOM marketing which is a more mass-based idea of a shout-out.

Importance of WOM marketing

• Consumers tend to trust their friends and thus their experiences. This trust allows the word of friends to become a valuable source of free marketing.
• A Nielsen study went on to reveal that 92% of all consumers are more likely to believe suggestions coming from friends as well as the family as compared to advertising.
• WOM marketing is one marketing that keeps ongoing: one-person shares with person 2 who shares it ahead and so on. In this chain when people try the brand themselves, they add on to the WOM, which makes it a marketing technique that keeps on giving.
• On the other hand, the same facts are true in reverse as well – negative news is also spread just as quickly, but the main benefit of WOM marketing in today’s era is having personal endorsement. This is something, which is of utmost importance to the consumers of today.

Using WOM Marketing

Connecting with consumers for your reputation management instead of collecting them: having a high number of Instagram followers does not translate into tangible benefits unless the poster is connecting with the audience. Once the connection starts, it is easy to identify the true fans and commit to them. There are four common ways to maximize WOM:

1. Making Yourself Interesting

Thinking of your brand and its shared media as social currency: sharing interesting content is good as it promotes sharing and brand identification. Links into the consumer’s desire to share good quality content allow for the formation of good bonds with the brand. This enables engagement with the customer on a personal level and improves customer relationships and thus retention. The cost of retaining such customers is low and loyalty is higher too.

2. Creating Triggers

Are you and your brand able to tie yourself as a multi-approach brand? Can you approach the consumer in more than one place? A brand can design products that are triggered by their environment and link them back onto the product. This allows the people to be redirected to your page and socials. When people can remember you, they will continue to have an opinion and talk about it. A simple and very effective method of doing referral programs. For example tagging and creating content for particular brands you like, such as a video about your favorite dress or product from any place, both the customer is doing word-of-mouth and also acting as a brand ambassador/customer. Customers should be advocates of your brand, if your brand is worth it, this will raise its presence in the market.

3. Providing values

If the brand can establish itself in from of a few correct people, they create ambassadors who share their experiences with friends, family, and even colleagues. The only things worth sharing are those, which have a wow factor in themselves as opposed to those, which are either mainstream or boring to partake in. For example, when people have a great experience at a restaurant or café, they tend to share with friends and now in advanced ways ‘tag’ the location for other people in their social media lists to visit and enjoy as they did.

Digital presence has just enhanced word-of-mouth marketing by 10 times. For example, people in the USA advocate and vouch for Spectrum and Spectrum plans and packages for their internet service needs. They tend to rely on reliable providers like Grande communications and also prefer it to friends because it has great speed and great customer service, a cherry on top.

End Points

Much like this, other brands are trying to hone their customer service skills with marketing, as the customers are no longer just customers but advocates of your selling points. Using this with the right intelligence will help to boost growth and sales both in time. Branding is important and so is market presence.