There are so many ways to market your business, but the most effective and affordable way is still the classic word of mouth. It is the oldest form of marketing there is; your customer loves your product so much that they can’t help but tell their friends about it, who eventually decide to do business with you too.
This form of marketing will always work and if you haven’t adopted it for your business yet, then you are leaving money on the table.
Why Word of Mouth Matters for Marketers
Word of mouth works because it uses the power of trust to drive sales. When your business is presented as a recommendation from a friend and family, the person is going to give it more weight because they trust and value their opinion.
Many businesses are still too focused on collecting subscribers and fans on their social media platform, instead of actually spending time and energy on connecting with their fans. What marketers and business owners need to do to increase word of mouth referrals is to focus on engaging with customers and providing them with good products and great experiences that they would want to share with friends. This empowers your customers in different ways they can go about sharing.
4 Easy Word of Mouth Strategies
1. Encourage users to create content– Having users generate content for your brand is an amazing way to give them a chance to form a deeper relationship with you. User-generated videos and pictures get shared pretty quickly too. How many of us don’t watch review videos before buying a product anyway?
2. Encourage testimonials– If your business already has customers, ask them to share their experience with your business. People trust recommendations. They love seeing other people like themselves, using a product that they may want to try out in the future. They add credibility to the promises your brand makes to your customer.
3. Use a referral program– Reward your customers who are sending you referrals with a bonus, credit, or gift cards. Using incentives to encourage an action will inspire them to do it more. Who doesn’t want more referrals?
4. Improve your customer service– You can have the best business in the world, but if your customer service is terrible, then no one wants to do business with you, nor will they have anything positive to say to others about your business. In fact, negative reviews can do irreversible harm to a business’s reputation, so it is extremely important that you focus on giving the best experience to each of your customers. That way they will never stop singing your praises to whomever they meet.
At the end of the day, remember that people don’t trust ads as much as they trust other people. People are more likely to buy something if it’s recommended by a friend. If your business isn’t already focused on driving sales from word of mouth marketing, go ahead and give it a try. You might save having to spend money on paid ads too!
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