Word of Mouth Marketing As A Brand Strategy

Tomesia 1 Comment Brand Strategy Branding Marketing Social Media Marketing

Word of Mouth Marketing

There’s probably no more effective branding strategy in existence than word of mouth marketing. However, only a few people realize its actual potential in helping you build a successful business and branding system. What could be better than having real people talk others into doing business with you. It is a common thing for people to talk about a recent product or service that they were satisfied or had good experiences with.

The best part is that word of mouth marketing does not cost you anything. It is just as effective as other methods of advertising or increasing awareness about your company’s products or services but without the entailing costs and investments. Even marketing experts profess word of mouth marketing to be the most potent means of communicating a company’s marketing message.

Effects of Word of Mouth Marketing

I’m sure you’ve seen the various TV commercials or websites that sell products, so you might already be familiar with testimonials. This is a marketing ploy utilized by most business owners to provide valid proof of the benefits and claims made by the company in the form of actual users of the product.

However, there is a discrepancy here: if business owners were to tap people to provide a testimony about a product and the results experienced, then it is most likely a biased demographic. The business owner will pick only users who have something positive to say about the product, since their main intent is to influence the buying choices of the consumers.

This is where the power of word of mouth marketing becomes evident. Using this method to communicate the potential of your brand creates a personal connection between the consumers and the product or service in question. Previous users of the product or service who attained satisfaction from it can get free advertisement out of it, which is probably as effective (or more) than a TV ad but without the costs.

Word of mouth marketing can work to a company’s disadvantage as well. It happens when people who have tried the product or service have complaints about bad service, or bad quality products, and unsatisfactory customer relations. Research reveals that word of mouth marketing essentially has a bigger impact on the buying decisions of people aged between 18 to 34 and 35 to 54.

Bigger Customer Voice

It has been highly emphasized by marketing experts that if you want to maintain or increase your market share, you need to work on providing excellent customer service. This will ensure that you get a share of loyal customers who believe and trust in your brand If you’re able to successfully enhance that trust, then you are able to produce a good customer voice. Therefore, when these individuals are asked to say something about your company, they only have positive views to say.

Several companies are now devising methods to improve their “listening” ability when it comes to customer voice through social media. Improving customer communications will produce satisfied customers and consequently increase the potential of producing more positive word of mouth marketing.

Tips for Increasing Word of Mouth Marketing

In a recent study conducted to determine the most influential marketing methods, word of mouth marketing came out on top. Hence, it has raised awareness on the important role consumers play in influencing other’s buying decisions. Therefore, you can utilize positive word of mouth marketing to create your own sound branding strategy. Here’s how you can do it:

• Create a branding strategy (preferably through social media, i.e. Facebook, Twitter) that will get people interested and have them talk about it. Unless you can arouse their curiosity and attention, you will not succeed in this.
• See to it that you satisfy customer needs. When people are happy about your product, they will joyfully and willingly recommend it to others.
• Respond to feedback, whether positive or negative. Aside from promoting your business, you can utilize word of mouth marketing as a means to gather essential information on how you can improve your service and branding strategy.

Begin today to implement these strategies and your brand will only gain credibility and popularity not only in the eyes of your current clients but those you seek to attract as well.

Posted in Brand Strategy, Branding, Marketing, Social Media Marketing