Amplify the Reach of your Business - Use Word of Mouth Publicity

Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) is proving to be a game-changer for businesses all over the world. It works on the basic tendency of people to share their experiences with their friends and families, which influences the latter’s decision to aspire for it or shun it. Whether you go for a holiday or try a new pack of probiotic drinks, your consumption pattern influences that of your peer group and vice versa.

In this article, we will try to decode word-of-mouth marketing and understand how it contributes to the phenomenal growth of businesses across the world.

1. Encouraging Stats about WOMM

As per market research conducted by Neilson, 92 per cent of consumers are likely to purchase a friend’s recommendation and 88 per cent are likely to consider online reviews. Word of mouth publicity attributes for 6 trillion consumer expenses which translate into 13 per cent of consumer sales annually. However, not more than 33 per cent of businesses ask for customer feedback and reviews.

Word of mouth publicity can drive five times more sales as compared to paid media. It is one of the significant factors that can make or break a brand’s identity. The good news is that marketers are waking up to the powerful influence of word of mouth publicity and are planning to amp up their WOMM spends, both online and offline.

2. Word of Mouth Publicity vs Paid Media

Marketing is all about letting the world know about the product or service that you want to sell. Why do you set up a shop in a marketplace? So that your product is visible to potential customers. However, just setting up a shop will not bring the customers to your shop. You have to design trigger points for the customers that will make them step into the shop. Even after that, you have to keep communicating with the customers till the time they purchase your product or service. This entire exercise that goes into making your offerings visible to converting a sale is termed a marketing funnel.

Several ways are there, both paid and unpaid that help to communicate with the potential customers and lead them through the marketing funnel. Marketers around the world are increasingly emphasising on word of mouth publicity. It is the best way to win your customer’s trust and is proven to be more effective than paid media. Let’s see how both marketing techniques influence consumer behaviour.

• Paid Media – It includes the modes of communications that are created online or offline to create brand awareness and a call to action. Some of the tried and tested paid marketing strategies include – offline media such as newspaper advertisements, pamphlets, banners, television commercials, etc.; and online media such as pay-per-click (PPC), Social Media ads, Influencer Marketing, Banner Ads, etc.
• Word of Mouth Publicity – It thrives solely on customers’ experience. One happy customer begets more customers. And the numbers multiply with a compounding effect. However, if the customers’ experience is bad, it will lead to a quick downfall as well.

3. Word of Mouth Provides Better Exposure to the Brand

The only form of marketing that is the most tried and tested sale converter, and also highly trusted by customers – is the word of mouth marketing. This requires the business owner to focus on just two things – a superior product or service and an equally amicable customer relationship. It triggers repeat visits from the customers. And not just that, they bring along more potential customers, thus enabling momentous growth for your business.

Word of mouth publicity provides the best exposure to your brand as it becomes the first and the most impactful touchpoint with your potential customers. A new customer might ignore a TVC or a newspaper advertisement. However, they seldom ignore the experiences shared with them by their peer group. In most cases, a new customer is likely to start exploring a new brand after receiving information about it from a known source. And the process of exploration also entails digging more reviews and feedback about the brand experience. Need we say more on why and how WOMM provides the best exposure to a brand?

4. How to Enhance Customer’s Experience?

When it comes to word of mouth marketing, customers’ experience is the key factor determining your business’s rise or fall. How to make sure that you can replicate optimum customer experience to each one of your customers, each time they buy from you. Here is how…

• Know your customer – The success and failure of your brand depend on how well you know your customers. Learn about the trigger points that influence their purchasing instincts.
• Identify your niche – If you are determined to provide the best, you should first identify your niche.
• Specialise – Identifying your niche helps you to specialise and become an expert. Remember, your product or service should speak for itself and connect with your customers. Only then, the other marketing tools will work. If you are serious about growing your business, just do one thing right. And do it better than anyone else in the market.
• Try to solve your customer’s problem – Does your area of specialisation solve a problem? If yes, you are bound to have happy customers. And they will bring along more people who need the same solution for similar problems.
• Engage, Equip and Empower – There is no shortcut to winning your customers and keeping them loyal to your brand. Engage them through your communications. Equip them by giving them a reason to talk about your brand. Empower them with tools that will help them to spread their words far and wide. Words from happy customers have proved to have amplified the sales figures up to three times.
• Emotional Connect – It has been noticed that brands that create an emotional connection are more likely to receive more word of mouth than other brands. Think of all the brands that capture our mind space these days, including Netflix, JIO, TikTok, Pinterest, etc., that have some emotional trigger that makes us talk about them.

5. Impact of Technology in Word of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth publicity has been around since eternity. Which fruit vendor to buy from? Which newspaper is read by the elite and which one is for the commoners? Which car gives the best mileage? It is the opinion of your friend, colleague, or neighbour that has led you to make a purchase.

In the digital era, the impact of WOMM has only got magnified.  Braced with technology, it can now leap the physical boundaries and attain a broader viewership. Today, if we write just one line about a brand on social media, it is viewed by hundreds of our friends and followers. This has also opened up earning avenues through affiliate marketing and referral sales.

Some of the effective tools that facilitate word of mouth publicity in the digitally empowered marketplace include blogs, viral videos, testimonials on the website, webinars, live chats with existing customers on your social media pages, going live on social media, sending out feedback forms, replying and interacting with your customers and follower on social media. You should give your followers and customers a reason to follow you and stay engaged with you on social media. This will help you to gain visibility on their friends’ pages as well. Thus, it will help you to increase the visibility of your brand.

Conclusion

Word of mouth marketing techniques is helping brands to win customers all across the world. Marketers all over the world are increasingly embracing WOMM for improving the visibility and reach of their brands. However, as you learn to leverage the impact of WOMM in your business, make sure you don’t forget to continually improve and innovate your product/ service to remain relevant to the time.

Now, here is a word of caution… while it is true that word of mouth works on emotional triggers. But, if you think of it, nostalgia is also a strong emotion. And it propels unending words of mouth! Remember old photography films? They can trigger a sea of emotion, nostalgia that you can share with your peer group. But will that lead to a sale? No. What mistake did brands like Baidyanath make that it had to lose out to its contemporary Dabur or the newbie Patanjali? Their mistake was that they could not evolve with time. Hence, be careful! Keep innovating and remain updated.

Also read:

1) Why is Word-of-Mouth Publicity Important for Small Businesses?
2) How to Get Free Publicity For Your Small Business?
3) Tips to Understand Your Market while Starting a Small Business
4) How To Register A Small Business In India? Step-by-step guide
5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

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FAQs

Q. Do I need to give gifts to keep my customers engaged?

Ans. Even though gifts have become a popular customer engagement tool, and even the best of the brands keep aside some incentives for their loyal customer, yet, the overall experience that you provide your customers is the ultimate determinant of your customers’ loyalty towards your brand.

Q. What is a referral sale?

Ans. One of the words of mouth marketing techniques, referral sale is the business deal you get when you ask your existing customer to refer you as a vendor to other companies. You leverage the trust factor that you have developed with your existing customer to reach out to a new customer, where the latter gives you a chance based on the trust he has in your existing customer.

Q. What is influencer marketing?

Ans. An influencer is a person who can motivate people with their words. Social media influencers are people who upload blogs, videos, and podcasts on specific sectors such as food, fitness, travel, fashion, etc. They endorse brands, show and mention their products in their communication, and then purchased by their viewers and followers. Influencer marketing is a very strong word of mouth tool.

Q. How to save my brand from negative publicity?

Ans. Word of mouth publicity can be detrimental to your brand if your customers start giving negative feedback. These days, businesses thrive on brand image. Hence, do everything you can to protect your positive brand image. Be prudent to keep at bay people who want to pull down your brand image. Take appropriate steps to counter their negative criticisms.