What is word of mouth in marketing ?

Word of mouth is free marketing that you receive when a consumer’s opinion of a company’s service or product is mentioned in their daily lives. It usually occurs if a customer has an overly positive experience or overly negative experience. People tend to trust their friends' advice more than what a company says about their products or services. According to a Nielsen Survey 92% of consumers around the world trust word of mouth from friends and family above other forms of advertising. 

Word of mouth marketing (WOM) is different from natural word of mouth mentions to a company’s products or services, it may come as the result of a promotion by a company, also known as “seeding”. For example when a customer had a great experience at a restaurant and later tweets about it, is an example of WOM. WOM does not stop at the first interaction; it is continuous. 

How to encourage more word of mouth ?

Strategies to encourage word of mouth marketing from customers is to implement a strong customer service platform across various social media channels that operate 24/7 for example an Intelligent conversation chatbot that can solve the most pressing issues customers have. Not only does this save cost and money but it also saves time. 

Why is WOM marketing effective ?

Consumers buy the emotion, the feeling a certain product or service gives them. Which is why it is important to add value to the product or service you are trying to sell. The consumers have to see it as something useful or a perceived necessity, something they would show off or tell their friends about. A company like Apple for example focuses on it’s unique value proposition. Everything from the experience of buying your product in-store or online to the minimalist packaging is unique. According to Neil Patel “Apple has created a brand personality and culture that’s cool, fun, and friendly”. Consumers want to belong to this community. They want an Iphone, Apple Watch, MacBook etc. The same can be applied to any business for example a restaurant, you don’t want the food to be the only UVP you want people to be excited by seeing the outside of the restaurant before stepping in and having every aspect of the dining experience to have a WOW factor. This will generate buzz around your restaurant and all the marketing will be done by your customers uploading images on social media channels of the restaurant and food. This will save you money and generate a large amount of brand awareness. 

With data analysis tools at your disposal you can easily track and monitor what is being said about your product or service across all online social platforms 24/7 and get real time analysis of customers' opinions towards your brand. This way you can make sure your brand image is good and if an issue occurs you can quickly resolve it by engaging with your customers.