Source: InviteReferrals

Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) works because people trust recommendations from other people more than they trust messages and advertisements from brands themselves. Social networking sites are the most used platforms for WOMM. For, these facilitate a fast dispersal of information about a brand and are effective at persuading consumers to buy from it.

This blog tells you more about why businesses should employ a WOMM strategy on social media.

5 Reasons Why Employing WOMM Strategy on Social Media is Important

Word of mouth marketing has been the most powerful marketing strategy since time immemorial. With digital advancements moving social communications to the internet, specifically social media networks, WOMM on social media has gained importance.

Here are five reasons why WOMM on social media is effective.

1. Social media is popular

The foremost reason why WOMM on social media is important is, that it’s the most popular platform for social interactions today. People like to share their opinions on social media and want to listen to what others have to say there. That’s why more than half of the world (4.62 billion people) use it (Datareportal).

Besides, its users keep increasing. For, 424 million users have joined it within the last 24 months. The report also says that users on average spend 2 hours 27 minutes on social media each day. So, these platforms harbor an immense WOMM potential, which businesses can immensely benefit from by tapping into.

2. Facilitates viral marketing

An interesting content posted by a company can spread virally within minutes on social media. Videos, blogs, social media posts, images, quizzes, puzzles, etc. posted by a brand, when viewed by an enormous audience can arise discussion and collect an energetic fan community around it. There have been instances when millions have shared posts within days.

Though oftentimes content goes viral by accident, certain things make content popular. These attributes include practical value, story, public demand, social currency, emotional connection, social connection, and triggers. Employ things that would work well for your brand to promote viral marketing.

3. Enables customers to market on your behalf

Your loyal customers will be happy to spread your brand in their circle. Gently pushing them with WOMM efforts can make them advocate on your behalf. Social media has simplified social connectivity, making it easy for customers to market on your behalf. You can harness its power by driving passion and fuelling conversations.

Share your useful expertise for free over social networks. When people benefit from those, they’d want to give you something back in return and share you around. Another technique is to embrace current topics. Share insights, fun, and idea on popular trends to encourage customer advocacy further.

4. Influences brand attitude and consumer purchase intention

WOM is the major factor behind 20 to 50% of all buying decisions. A consumer is 50 times more likely to purchase a product if it is recommended by a friend (McKinsey). The most powerful and common form of WOM is experiential WOM. It’s driven by a consumer’s direct experience with a brand and its offerings. Since people rarely praise or complain about a brand when they get what they expect from it, it is when a brand deviates from their expectations that they spread negative messages about it.

Another form of WOW is consequential WOM. It is when brands employ traditional marketing campaigns to spread their brand. Its impact on consumers is positive and often stronger than that of advertisements. So, to maximize your ROI, use this form of WOMM. One more form of WOM called intentional WOW exists. This includes using expensive celebrity endorsements.

5. Equips firms to evaluate its impact

The final reason why WOMM is important for social media is that you can measure the relative impact of a company’s WOMM on its brand and sales performance. Though you might already know that this marketing strategy can be influential, you may be surprised to learn how powerful it is.

For, irrespective of your brand’s niche, you can gauge its WOMM performance rather than simply the volume of interactions it generated. Besides, you’ll get to point out what’s driving or hurting the WOMM impact. These insights can be valuable for your business. For, you can apply the knowledge gained to your advantage in your future campaigns.

How can businesses and their marketers make the most of WOMM on social media?

Now that you’ve understood that consumers value word of mouth a lot, businesses and their marketers should start putting it to effective use. Though many of them are making efforts in this regard, most of these are futile. For, they’re focusing mostly on “collecting” rather than “connecting”.

That is, brands are busying gathering social media followers that they’re neglecting to make real connections with them. Gaining 100 passionate fans who rave about your brand is epically more powerful than gaining 10,000 “fans” who signed up just for getting your free products.

So, focus on getting the love of your consumers rather than simply stopping at getting their likes. Here are three things you need to do for this:

• Engage: Listen to what your customers and prospects talk about you on social media. Become a part of the conversation and engage with them meaningfully.
• Equip: Offer high-quality products, deliver excellent customer service, share incredible stories, discuss funny happenings, and more. This way, you’ll be equipping them with reasons to talk about you.
• Empower: Empower them with different options to talk and share about you. This will facilitate moving their conversations around.

Tips to Trigger WOM on Social Media

WOMM is often free-marketing that banks on brand affinity. Here are some tips to help you spark WOM on social media.

• Take advantage of user-generated content such as reviews, testimonials, product ratings, etc. These are content created by your customers rather than your brand. Consumers trust and prefer these. Such content gets your consumers interested in your brand and brings in organic conversations associated with your brand.
• Partner with established influencers and thought leaders in your niche. Getting featured in their social media posts gives you access to their large fan base. Thus, it’s an easy and quick way to get consumers talking about you.
• Go as per currently trending topics. This has the potential to encourage many to talk about your brand. With some luck, you can even go viral on social media.
• Share content that is relevant to your niche. This can be informative, entertaining, or anything else that’s interesting to your audience.

In conclusion

Employing word-of-mouth marketing on social media is powerful in getting your brand well across to your target audience. For, word-of-mouth is something that consumers value a lot. Businesses and their marketers can put it to effective use with our tips.

Author Bio:

Shivani Goyal

Shivani is a content writer at InviteReferrals, which provides referral marketing software that allows businesses to attract new customers from existing customers through referral campaigns.

FAQs:

What is word-of-mouth marketing?

Word-of-mouth marketing is a marketing technique in which a business manipulates to generate natural discussions about its brand and offerings.

Why is word-of-mouth marketing good?

Word-of-mouth marketing is good because people trust recommendations from family and friends more than they trust advertisements and messages from brands.

What are some of the ways to trigger WOMM on social media?

Brands and businesses can trigger WOMM on social media by sharing relevant content, posting on currently trending topics, partnering with established influencers and thought leaders, and leveraging user-generated content.