The word-of-mouth marketing, also known as the WOM or buzz marketing means marketing activities that consist of direct and spontaneous contact with people that may be interested in a particular Product. It is based around publishing specially prepared content on blogs, message boards or social media.
What is the goal of the word-of-mouth marketing?
As the name suggests, the word-of-mouth marketing is about spreading the “word of mouth” to the potential recipients of specific, definitely positive and planned well-ahead information on a particular Product or service. Which in turn means causing a Spontaneous conversation among unsuspecting recipients.
You may have bought a Product yourself more than once after following advice from your friend, dad or neighbor. You thought at the time that you were investing your money well, as somebody had already tested the thing they recommended to you.
You were confident you wouldn’t end up with a Product that had good advertising despite not possessing the qualities promised by the manufacturer. That’s similar to how the word-of-mouth marketing works.
Why is it bad to go overboard with the word-of-mouth marketing?
Threads on message boards that are dominated by positive, saccharine and overly appealing testimonials on a particular Product might be like shooting yourself in the foot. Let’s assume, however, that the consumer falls for it and buys the praised Product. Then it turns out that the reality is different from what they read online.
In such case you can be sure that they will come back with a negative, hate-filled comment and that the last thing they will do is recommend said Product to their friends.
And then the whole “effort” put into inflating this colorful perfect bubble will be gone. And once the subsequent recipients notice that this one comment out of one hundred positive ones is so drastically different, they will think twice or give up on the purchase altogether.
How to conduct effective word-of-mouth marketing?
Consumer reviews play a very important role when it comes to building popularity of Products or services. Internet users are getting more and more willing to share their experience after staying at a hotel, visiting a restaurant, or buying a purse, shoes or a bicycle. Research shows that nearly 90% of Consumers seeks for opinions and advice on the Internet, and 70% trust them.
What are the best places for the “word of mouth”?
- Message boards
They are a source of countless testimonials and comments added by regular users and specialists on every topic. They make it easy to starts a new thread and focus attention on what interests us. - Comments under articles
News websites make it possible to add comments under articles. Appropriately adapted content published under texts on the topic that suits us might improve sales figures. - Blogs
Partnering up with bloggers or vloggers in the area of word-of-mouth marketing helps make new recipient groups more active and increase sales. Their activity consists of writing objective reviews of the Product tested and encouraging discussion. - Social Media
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instargam, YouTube etc. make it possible to express opinions on the purchased Product or service. User recommendations translate to website traffic and increased conversions.
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Is it worth it doing word-of-mouth marketing on your own?
As we have mentioned before, one of the marketing strategies that have a positive impact on a company’s image is word-of-mouth marketing on marketing message boards. When conducting this type of activities, however, one has to keep a few things in mind.
Right at the start, you need to answer yourself the question of whether you choose to conduct this process on your own.
It might be very time-consuming, however, which also means tedious and exhausting. As a result, it might also not be very beneficial. Word-of-mouth marketing on message boards is the best to be commissioned to a company or to a hired marketing specialist.
You have to keep your finger on the pulse, though, so that you don’t let your brand and its reputation be driven into a miserable state.
