Start Driving Awesome Word of Mouth Marketing

Word. Of. Mouth.

Three words that immediately elicit a response whether you’re a consumer or business person. When a consumer hears those words, he or she imagines something that is either liked or disliked among friends or like-minded individuals. More importantly, it’s something they often must witness themselves. When a business person hears those same words, his or her mind conjures up thoughts of an ideal that is sought after but often just out of reach.

Word-of-mouth can be an amazingly powerful marketing tool. If you can get people talking about your product or service, it can take off very quickly and help your company as a whole. But is this a tangible marketing tool or another one of those elusive silver bullets? The answer is yes … if you know how to utilize it effectively. Below are some things to keep in mind when developing a marketing strategy that could increase the likelihood of your product or service being discussed among family, friends, forum chats, social media, and MORE. Let’s get started.

What You’re Selling Doesn’t Have to be Particularly Interesting

Let’s come right out and say it. Not every product or service out there is exciting. Not everyone can get to sell video game systems and iPhones. The world needs financial advisors and makeup products, too. While it’s true that online discussions are often limited to “cool” stuff, face-to-face communications — which do still happen despite what Facebook might want us to believe — often include whatever’s at the top of a person’s mind at the time. So if you’re trying to hock toilet seats, buck up … you have a chance at word-of-mouth, too. The real trick is to create a marketing strategy that will help you get in front of consumers so that conversations can begin.

Providing Samples Can Generate the Ever-Elusive “Buzz”

If you’re selling a product and hoping to gain good word-of-mouth, i.e. “buzz” from someone who has never tried your product, well … good luck. That kind of strategy obviously won’t work. What you want to do is offer some kind of sample, however small. When someone has actually tried something and liked it, they’re more likely to talk about it amongst friends. This isn’t because people are greedy and don’t want to shell out money for what you’re offering. They’re simply being leery of a product they’ve never used. And if you can engage them in some way, such as asking for suggestions on how to make the product or packaging better, this level of connection will enhance their experience.

Branded Giveaways Can Help Spread the Word

Not only is it important that you get some word-of-mouth going on a specific product or service, you need this to happen with your overall brand as well. Consumers need to equate your company with what they’re enjoying. If you are able to give away items with your brand stamped on it, whether it’s t-shirts, hats, stickers, or something else, you are likely to see an increase in word-of-mouth. Also, if you can successfully connect an everyday item to your product, you improve your chances at having a big success on your hands. A great example is that when we see a duck, many of us now think of Aflac. A chihuahua on the street is likely to elicit thoughts of Taco Bell. If you can even come close to that level of recognizability, you’ve already won.

The truth is, there is no tried and true formula in how to create great word-of-mouth. It is something that every company strives for with each product or service they produce, but there’s a hit-or-miss factor involved. By using the above techniques, you can increase your chances of getting talked about. And once you get good word-of-mouth, it’s easier to duplicate that success.