What do you do when SMS marketing, social media, and traditional marketing are not producing the results you want? If you’re one of my clients, we dig our heels in, invest in our existing customer base, and do word-of-mouth marketing. It takes on average seven touches before someone buys from you or even thinks of investing. However, when a friend shares how much they love so and so, that number is out the window. Why is building word of mouth strategy for business so important? Look at these stats below:
- 74% of customers consider word of mouth to be the key influencer in their purchasing decisions
- 88% of people trust an online review
- Around 91% of B2B buyers are influenced by word of mouth marketing
Building A Strong Connection Base With Your Customers
When I was on Twitter, I would mention brands or people of status all the time, but the ones that stood out were the ones who engaged back. If you’re only using social media to share your highlight reel, you’re missing out. Yes, your product or service is fantastic, but engage your customers in the comments. When you’re sitting on the couch or waiting room, respond to others. Engage in their post and support them. Send out special shouts or do fun activities. Recently, I saw a small business hide balloons all over different states where their customers are. With the help of local friends, they were able to surprise their customers. This not only helped with marketing, but it got their customers excited too. Customers are sharing on social media and building word-of-mouth buzz for the brand.
Reward Your Loyalist
If you know me personally or spend enough time watching my stories, I am a brand loyalist to Target, Nordstrom, Apple, and Starbucks. Well, more so Nespresso now since I upgraded my machines. I’m not the biggest fan of having discounts, but I support VIP days for your loyal fans. For example, Starbucks has a double-star day for gold status members. Or Nordstroms has their anniversary sale, and the higher you are in loyal, you get to shop earlier than the general public. Are you a skincare line looking to launch a new product? Reach out to your top twenty customers to test it. Launching a new course or ebook, send it out to your current clients.
In addition to that, a plethora of shopping carts allow you to integrate loyalty plugins to reward your customers. Personally, when I go to my favorite local coffee shop, I sign in with my phone number and earn points for every dollar I spend.
Establish Passive Word of Mouth Strategy
When I share that I love something, it’s not just one person I tell. I share it with my circle, and then I am going to hope on social media. Earlier this year, my best friend gifted me a Caraway set, and OMG, I think, within the first hour, I posted on Instagram and texted eight people. That’s the power of word-of-mouth marketing and why you need a strategy in place. Are your products or service wow status? If so, passively, people will share your company with others. When I had my boutique, every order received a next purchase & first purchase card telling the customer thank you, letting them know my socials, and a hashtag they could use. Give your audience all the tools they need to share your business with others.
User-Generated Content For Word of Mouth Strategy
When a customer takes the time to make an unboxing video or record their skincare routine with your products, they are giving you user-generated content that can be shared with their permission, of course, to your audience. Here are some great stats I recently read surrounding UGC.
- 86% of millennials say UGC is a good indicator of the quality of a brand or service.
- UGC videos can increase sales effectiveness by 20%
- Millennials 5.4 hours a day with content created by their peers (source)
When I see a friend create content for FREE on their social raving about their experience or a product, I am more than likely to buy. Recently, I searched for new pillows for our bedroom when two people I follow on social media mentioned Casper. Yes, I am aware of the brand, but them saying positive reviews got me thinking it’s worth the try. In addition to that, I am utterly grateful when customers not only leave good or bad reviews but when video or photo content is included. Your audience wants the same thing. Enable reviews on your website. Use Yelp and Google for reviews too.
Building a word-of-mouth strategy for your business does not take a lot of heavy lifting. It’s about focusing on what your customers are currently saying and echoing those conversations to back to your audience.
