Spreading awareness about a brand through referrals and recommendations is known as word of mouth marketing. It can be more effective than other marketing strategies. People discuss their experiences with family and friends about brands, services, and products.
A friend or family member recommending a brand leads to the highest level of trust for 94% of people.
For every business, word-of-mouth is crucial, and it only comes from customers. Providing better quality products at affordable prices, sustainable products, etc, leads to customers trusting your brand and increasing chances to recommend it to others.
Customers talk about your brand with their networks, sharing experiences with family and friends. They do marketing for you for free.
Here you can convert your customers into marketers.
Several influencers on social media communicate with their followers and share positive experiences and opinions of brands with a wider audience through word-of-mouth on social media. Social media is a helpful and effective option for delivering the message through word-of-mouth.
How brands generate word of mouth on social media.
Previously, we discussed how social media plays a crucial role in generating word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) and its effectiveness.
Now, we will discuss how brands can actively generate Word-of-mouth of your business on social media.
1) Great Customer Experience
A positive customer experience plays a crucial role in your business because a happy customer will likely become a loyal customer, boost revenue, and promote your business through word-of-mouth marketing.
The key to generating positive word-of-mouth is providing a great customer experience. If your products and services make your customers happy, they are more likely to suggest or support them to their social media followers based on their positive experiences.
2) Ask for Recommendations
You can actively find out customer recommendations on social media by including requests in their email campaigns or social media posts. You can also inspire your customers to create and share their content with their followers about the brand, such as product reviews, photos, or videos.
User-generated content can assist to generate authentic connections between the brand and its followers, thus increasing positive word-of-mouth. Running social media contests or giveaways that encourage followers to share the brand with friends and followers is another effective method. You can also encourage customers to leave reviews or recommendations on social media platforms like Facebook and Google My Business. Positive reviews and recommendations assist to generate word-of-mouth by providing social proof of the brand's quality.
Offering exclusive deals or discounts to social media followers can encourage them to share the brand with their networks, potentially leading to new customers.
3) Implement Customer Suggestions
You can generate positive word-of-mouth by implementing customer feedback. To gather feedback, you can use tools such as surveys, polls, and email campaigns for analyzing this feedback and this feedback assist to identify areas for improvement and enhance the customer experience.
Responding to customer feedback is equally important, as it shows the brand's commitment to improving its products or services. You can respond positively and constructively to negative feedback, and responding in a positive manner can generate positive word-of-mouth.
Sharing customer success stories on social media can also assist in generating positive word-of-mouth. By highlighting how your products or services have positively impacted your customers, Also you can inspire others to try them out.
Implementing customer suggestions can ultimately lead to increased customer loyalty.
4) Respond to customer queries and comments
You must have to respond promptly and professionally to customer queries and comments on social media to generate positive word-of-mouth. You can also monitor their social media channels for comments, questions, and concerns, respond in a timely and friendly manner, and provide helpful information and solutions to customer problems.
Personalizing responses by using customers' names and acknowledging their concerns can assist to build positive relationships and generate positive word-of-mouth. You should also resolve customer issues promptly and effectively, offer follow-up support and thank customers for their feedback to demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction.
By responding to customer queries and comments on social media, you can build positive relationships, and generate repeat business.
5) Identify people who talk positively for your brand
To identify people who are talking positively about your products or services, you can use social media monitoring tools. By monitoring social media channels, you can engage and encourage them to continue spreading positive word-of-mouth.
Many brands can engage with brand advocates by liking, commenting, and sharing their posts to build relationships and encourage them to continue talking positively about the brand.
To further encourage brand advocates, you can offer exclusive discounts, early access to new products or services, or other encouragement to build loyalty and continue promoting the brand to their followers and networks.
Identifying and engaging with brand advocates on social media is a valuable way for brands to generate positive word-of-mouth, increase their credibility and reach, and build strong relationships with customers.
Other Channel that can help brands get Word-of-Mouth
1) Social Media
One of the most significant and well-known channels is social media, where you can encourage your followers to share their experiences on their social media platforms, but the trouble is that not everyone can create good content, or every business owner didn't use social media.
2) Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing permits affiliates to acquire a commission to promote someone else's products or services. It is an effective strategy to improve sales, but the cons of affiliate marketing are you cannot establish your customer base.
3) Influencer Marketing
Another channel is influencer marketing, where you can collaborate with influencers who can promote your products or services to their followers, but there is also the problem that it is very expensive. From small to large, every business owner does their business in their own way, but influencer marketing is not every business can afford.
To overcome these kinds of challenges you can use MouthPublicity.io, it is the best platform to grow your business reach. Utilise MouthPublicity.io to create offers to attract customers. It increases customer engagement and traffic to your brand.
Who is more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand?
Other individuals are more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand. These people can be your employees, partners, or even industry influencers who have a level of influence on social media. Identifying and engaging with these individuals can assist your brand in gaining more visibility and credibility on social media.
1) Happy customers with a level of influence on social media
You have to focus on happy customers who have a level of influence on social media to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand.
Brand advocates can significantly impact a brand's reputation, and reach when they speak positively about your brand on social media. Their posts, comments, and reviews can reach a wide audience. To build relationships and increase credibility and reach on social media, brands should identify and engage with brand advocates on social media. This can be done by monitoring social media channels, using social listening tools, engaging with brand advocates, rewarding them, and collaborating with them.
2) Employees
Employees can be valuable brand advocates and are likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about a brand. As representatives of the brand, employees can provide authentic and enthusiastic recommendations about the brand's products or services. They may also have personal connections and networks that can be leveraged to spread positive word-of-mouth.
To encourage employees to become brand advocates, brands should create a positive work environment. Brands should prioritize employee engagement and satisfaction, as employees who feel valued and engaged are more likely to speak positively about the brand both inside and outside of the workplace. Additionally, providing employees with opportunities for professional growth and development can assist to serve a sense of loyalty and pride in the brand.
Brands can also encourage employee advocacy through training and education. This can include providing employees with information about the brand's products or services, as well as social media guidelines and best practices for sharing brand content. By empowering employees to become brand advocates, brands can increase their reach and build a strong reputation both online and offline.
3) Business partners
Business partners, including suppliers and distributors, are likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand. By having firsthand experience working with your brand, they can provide genuine testimonials about the quality of your products or services. To encourage business partners to become brand advocates, it's important to establish strong relationships built on trust and mutual benefit.
This can be achieved by maintaining open communication and addressing any concerns or issues promptly. Brands can also provide marketing materials and other resources to their partners, such as product samples and brochures, to make it easier for them to promote the brand. By doing so, brands can increase their reach and build stronger relationships with their partners, which can ultimately lead to greater brand advocacy.
4) Industry experts
Industry experts are likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about a brand. Brands can establish a relationship built on mutual respect and trust with industry experts by providing them with exclusive access to content, events, or products and seeking their feedback and input on new initiatives or products.
Collaborating with industry experts on thought leadership or featuring them in brand content can help to build credibility and increase reach within the industry. By leveraging the expertise and influence of industry experts, brands can increase their credibility and reputation within their industry, and expand their reach to their target audience.
How interest shapes word-of-mouth over different channels
Interests can shape word-of-mouth over different channels in various ways. Social acceptance or recognition can motivate individuals to share positive experiences about a brand on social media, as it can increase their status among their social circle.
1) Social acceptance or recognition
The need for social acceptance or recognition drives people to have a sense of acceptance, and word-of-mouth (WOM) is one way to achieve that. People talk about products not just because they are interested in them, but also to become part of a group or social circle. When people use written communication, such as social media posts or comments, their conversations about products are more detailed and well-constructed.
2) The need to stand out
People want to distinguish themselves from their social groups, and one way to achieve this is through word-of-mouth (WOM) conversations. In oral discussions, there is less pressure to make a lasting impression, so the conversation is typically less structured, and only the top-of-mind brands or products are mentioned. However, if those who want to stand out are experts in their field, they can become thought leaders in their niche by participating in Word-of-mouth conversations.
3) The motivation to do something good
People are motivated to do good for others, and they may discuss products to achieve this goal, whether to help someone reach a goal, solve a problem, or bring happiness. if the discussion is oral, it may be less elaborate with a more personal touch.
These factors, which go beyond just the interest in a product, contribute to word-of-mouth marketing. Moreover, the mode of communication also determines the extent to which the WOM will take place.
How technology and mobile affect WOM marketing
The rise of technology and mobile has brought significant changes to word-of-mouth marketing, providing various new platforms for consumers to express their opinions about products and services.
Social media, online reviews, and mobile apps have simplified communication and extended the reach of word-of-mouth beyond personal networks. Technology also allows brands to monitor and analyze the impact of word-of-mouth more efficiently, leading to more targeted and refined strategies.
1) Measurability
Technology and mobile have made word-of-mouth marketing more measurable, allowing companies to track and analyze the impact of their campaigns and strategies more effectively. For example, Indian ride-sharing company Ola uses a referral program that rewards customers for referring new users to the platform.
Through the use of technology, Ola cab track and measure the success of this program, including the number of referrals generated and the resulting increase in user acquisition and revenue. This data can be used to optimize and refine the referral program to drive even greater results.
2) Shareability
Technology and mobile have made word-of-mouth marketing more shareable. Digital channels like social media and messaging apps have made it easier for consumers to share their opinions with a larger audience.
Brands can use these platforms to promote user-generated content, leading to increased brand awareness and engagement. Zomato, an Indian food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, encourages users to share their reviews and recommendations on social media and amplifies positive user-generated content on its website and social media channels.
The goal is to make word-of-mouth marketing easy and accessible for everyone, including influencers, customers, and brands. This involves creating a platform or system where individuals can easily share information and recommendations about their favorite products and brands with others. The aim is to encourage organic sharing and increase the reach of positive experiences and opinions.
3) Automation
Technology and mobile have enabled the automation of word-of-mouth marketing. You can use chatbots, social media management platforms, and email marketing automation tools to efficiently manage your campaigns and reach out to potential customers and influencers.
Automating certain aspects of word-of-mouth marketing can save time and resources for brands while ensuring that their campaigns are more targeted and effective. As a result, automation has become a crucial tool.
How to use the power of social media and word-of-mouth marketing
In this section, we will explore how to leverage the combined power of social media and word-of-mouth to maximize its impact, as social media greatly amplifies word-of-mouth. Thus, brands must include it in their marketing strategies.
1) User-generated content (UGC)
You can leverage the power of social media and word-of-mouth marketing through user-generated content (UGC), which includes reviews, photos, and videos shared by users. Encouraging user-generated content through campaigns or contests can boost brand awareness and engagement.
GoPro effectively uses user-generated content by encouraging users to share photos and videos taken with GoPro cameras on social media using #GoPro. The brand features its website on social media channels, showcasing the capabilities of the camera and encouraging more users to create and share content.
2) Prompt customer engagement
Brands can leverage the power of social media and word-of-mouth marketing through prompt customer engagement. By asking for feedback, responding to comments and messages, and addressing customer concerns professionally, brands can build trust, and relationships, and encourage positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Prompt engagement also helps to prevent negative feedback from spreading and damaging the brand's reputation.
3) Referral and Reward program promotion
Referral/reward program promotion is another effective way to leverage the power of social media and word-of-mouth marketing. Brands can encourage their customers to refer their friends and family to the brand by offering rewards, such as discounts or free products, for successful referrals.
By promoting these referral/reward programs on social media, you can increase the reach of your campaigns and encourage customers to share their positive experiences with their network. This not only drives new customer acquisition but also strengthens customer loyalty and advocacy. This way, the referral/reward program will create conversations around your brand, resulting in word-of-mouth.
How social networking can boost your word-of-mouth marketing
Social networking platforms improve the impact of word-of-mouth recommendations, Hence word-of-mouth provides wider reach as compared to other marketing strategies.
Social media has measurable and vast outreach.
In this article, we explored the effectiveness of utilizing both word-of-mouth (WOM) and social networking to promote a brand. However, the question arises as to whether social networking is more effective than WOM. Let's examine some statistics to help answer this question.
In 2017, Facebook had 236 million active users, while LinkedIn had 128 million active users. You can never achieve such reach with traditional Word-of-mouth.
In fact, on average, a consumer mentions brands at least 90 times each week to their network of family, friends, and colleagues via social media, which is an act that would be hard to achieve through traditional Word-of-mouth.
Furthermore, The numbers here show that social media has a massive reach, It would be possible through Word-of-mouth. When considering factors such as measurability, reach, and shareability, it is evident that Word-of-mouth is more effective.
Conclusion
We've examined the relationship between social media and word-of-mouth marketing, and how they must collaborate for optimal outcomes. We've also identified key influencers for generating positive word-of-mouth and how interests affect it. Now, let's explore how to combine social media and word-of-mouth to improve your brand's marketing efforts.
