In today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation can have a much bigger impact than traditional word-of-mouth marketing. Previously, word-of-mouth was spread from person to person through recommendation in exclusive conversations and interactions. Modern WOM marketing describes both brand-directed efforts and natural instances where users share their satisfaction with a brand, online and offline.
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Startbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino campaign is an example of WOM Marketing
What is WOM Marketing?
Word-of-mouth marketing or WOM marketing differs from natural word-of-mouth referrals to a brand's products and services in that it can be the result of a promotion, encouragement or other influence from a company, known as “ seeding .”
When a consumer has great service at a restaurant, exceeding their expectations, and then tells them about it on social media, or when someone has a great experience using a product in a new way and tells everyone they know, these are examples of word-of-mouth marketing. Furthermore, word-of-mouth doesn’t stop at the first interaction, but tends to lead to a cascade of subsequent interactions.
Why is Word of Mouth Marketing important?
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful asset in a marketing strategy. Not only does it spark audience interest, but as the name suggests, it gets people talking.
88 % of people trust reviews written by other consumers as much as recommendations from personal contacts . According to Nielsen , 92% of people say they trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of advertising. However, only 33% of companies say they have a strategy to encourage WOM marketing.
Learn more about how to launch a campaign to create product reviews
For these reasons, it is important not to neglect the importance of opinions, ratings and recommendations when planning a brand's marketing strategy.
Why does it work?
Essentially, it's all about trust. People listen to and value what others say, which means that when they hear about something from a friend or a previous consumer, they are more likely to buy. This is due to two factors: social value and trigger.
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Social value is based on the idea of exclusivity . In short, we like to feel special. Hearing about an exclusive event or something secret works as a purchase trigger because of our need to belong to a select group.
Examples of WOM Marketing Strategies
An easy way to encourage word of mouth is through marketing strategies that take advantage of the social value factor , offering exclusive information (for example, secret menus).
Triggers are a natural social mechanism that remind us of a brand or product even when we don't see any advertising. For example, imagine your friend tells you about a special happy hour deal on Tuesdays at a bar near the office. On Tuesday, when another friend mentions going for a drink after work, you'll be prompted to remember the place they told you about the Tuesday deals.
Tuesday becomes the trigger that amplifies the effect of WOM gambling data india phone number marketing. In this way, word of mouth can also be a way to improve existing customer acquisition strategies .
User Created Content
Another reason word-of-mouth marketing works is because of the same principles that make user-generated content marketing so successful .
User -generated content is created and shared voluntarily by everyday consumers, while word of mouth is the organic exchange of information or opinions about a product, company or brand from one consumer to another.
For example, another Starbucks user-generated content marketing campaign was the red cup campaign. In it, Starbucks asked its community to create content with these new steps and use a special hashtag in their posts:
red cup starbucks
Post created by Starbucks encouraging user-generated content – source: rafflepress.com
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User-generated content using the official campaign hashtag
Promoting and using user-generated content has a triple effect :
First, influence your users to share your content with an incentive . This can be through free products, participation in giveaways , or simply the possibility of being featured on your blog or social media.
Users share their unique content on their social channels with their followers.
You repurpose that great content and use it on your own channels (after getting permission, of course) – VoxFeed makes it easy .
The original user is excited to see that your brand has shared their content, and they are likely to re-share your post. Plus, if they are a fan of your brand, they will likely tell their partner, their mother, their dog, and anyone else who will listen.
Encourage the creation of reviews
A very effective type of user-generated content is reviews . Getting customers to write reviews is one way to facilitate the spread of word-of-mouth marketing.
When potential buyers read reviews, it builds customer trust by showing them that a verified customer is endorsing your brand. In fact, product reviews are the most useful way to remove buyers' doubts about a product. The dilemma is that very few customers create or write them. To help you with that, you can launch a product review campaign.
Product reviews
Create a Memorable Experience
One of the best ways to leverage word of mouth is to create experiences that get people talking. With the rise of social media, this has never been more relevant. People love to share their experiences, whether it’s through Instagram Stories, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or any other popular medium. Create a shareable experience, and you’ll inherently spark word of mouth marketing.
Experiential marketing can be as big as Burning Man and Coachella or as small as your hot dog company hosting its annual sausage-dressed employee parade.
