Do you have a lot of people talking about you? If not, there are a few things you can do to make yourself more referable.
Does word-of-mouth marketing really work? Is there a way to measure its success? Yes, there is. One way to measure success is to notice how many referrals you’re getting without having to ask for them.
This is when marketers create campaigns to encourage or speed up the conversations that already naturally occur within their customer base.
Here’s how to use word-of-mouth strategy to your advantage:
1. Establish a foundation for word-of-mouth advertising
Before you can begin to focus on word-of-mouth marketing, you need to set up a solid foundation. This means creating a base upon which word of mouth can occur. Here are a few tips on creating a strong foundation.
The dirty secret
If you want to be successful with WOMM, the most important thing to focus on is providing great customer service.
If you don’t provide good customer service, your business will likely suffer.
You won’t get new customers if you’re not doing well because no one will refer you.
It also requires a personal relationship between the person recommending the product and the person considering the purchase. Referring to word of mouth as a method that requires more than just a good product implies that there are other necessary components for it to be effective. In addition to a good product, there must be a personal relationship between the person recommending the purchase and the person considering it.
Word of mouth marketing is more successful when all aspects of your business are of high quality. This means that a strong product alone is not enough. Why? Because people want a complete experience. Don’t believe it? There is plenty of research that backs this up.
Customer service is important because it is a form of social currency. If you want people to spend their social currency on you, you have to give them a good reason to do so.
If you have great product and unparalleled customer service, people will be more inclined to spend their social currency on you.
Brand matters
To be referable you need to give customers the full experience. Meaning, make it easy and be open for communication. Along with having a product people want.
Even though we live in a digital age where it’s easy to share information, you still have to make an effort to be referable. To make this easier, marketing should be a team effort.
Often, people forget that everything is marketing, and that when everyone on a team is involved in marketing, it is easier to present the best image of the team. It is important to remember that every customer interaction is a marketing opportunity.
One effective way to further your brand’s reach is to ensure that those who interact with customers on a regular basis are well-versed in its story and history.
If you want to improve your brand, it’s a good idea to try to see things from your customers’ perspective. What do they expect from your brand? What do they like and dislike? Once you know this, you can make changes to improve things. It’s also important to understand the problems that your employees have. What makes their job difficult? What do they wish they could change?
The founder’s qualities play a big role in the brand and culture of the company.
If the people in charge of a business don’t act in a way that reflects the company’s values, the whole system could break down. However, if the company’s values are communicated clearly to everyone, the experience for everyone involved should be improved.
Communication is expected
Good communication is essential for providing great customer service and making sure that all your marketing efforts work well as a team.
People can spot a fake a mile away. People appreciate responsiveness in others, especially when they need help with something or have questions. However, they don’t want responses that sound fake or like they’re coming from a machine. It’s easy for people to tell when someone is being insincere.
They are looking for more personalized and relaxed communication, which may seem strange in this day and age of social media and the internet. However, there are ways to make today’s modern communication more personal.
Tools like Drift, Zendesk, and Intercom can enable you to respond to customer inquiries in real time, from your app or website.
A study by Zendesk showed that 92% of customers were satisfied with the live chat feature, compared to other options like voice (88%), email (85%), web form (85%), and social media (Facebook 84%, Twitter 77%).
Customer service via live chat is a convenient way to communicate with customers and meet their expectations.
Use social media
The best way to create a word of mouth channel is to use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This way, customers can easily talk to you and share your business with their friends and followers.
An additional benefit of having your business on social media is that your customers are already there. So by being where your customers are, you are making it easier for word of mouth to occur.
People are more likely to refer you to others if you keep up communication and share resources, jokes, and updates with them.
People tend to talk about the things and people they like. So if you want people to talk about you, make sure you’re the kind of person or thing people would like. We wrote an article on how effective social media is in driving word-of-mouth marketing if you’re interested in learning more.
2. Understand where your referrals come from
It can be helpful to understand your customers’ motivations for making purchases and why they might refer others to your business.
Some factors you may want to consider when choosing a product could be the cost, quality, or customer service in comparison to your competitors.
However, it is not only about the essential features you need to have to compete with others.
It is important to not only have primary information like price and product available, but also to have customer reviews and recommendations, as customers will research these before making a purchase. As such, it is important to request feedback from customers at every opportunity.
Feedback from customers can help you understand what works and what doesn’t.
It also provides you with information about what your customers are interested in.
This dialog will help you understand why customers will want to buy from you, and in turn, create a foundation of trust that will draw in referrals and other customers.
3. Design your program with the user in mind
What can you do to encourage people to talk about your product or service? This is the question you need to have in mind if you want word of mouth to occur.
To encourage open channels of communication, design your referral program idea with the user in mind.
4. Create an epic first experience
If you want people to rave about your company, offer a customer experience that is better than they expected.
In today’s market, it’s not enough to simply have a great product that meets a need–you have to go above and beyond. One way to do this is to include a personalized thank-you note and free gift with each online purchase. This small act of kindness will go a long way toward building customer loyalty.
It is important to try to make a good impression whenever you are doing something related to your business, as this is what will encourage customers to speak positively about it. Giving a average or poor experience is not likely to motivate people to recommend your company to others.
Sell quality products
The quality of the products you source and sell is crucial to providing an outstanding customer experience.
Great customer service, a hassle-free buying experience, and products that live up to their promises are the key components of an experience worthy of word-of-mouth praise.
Provide an experience that is consistent with your branding. For example, if your restaurant portrays itself as family-friendly with healthy food, don’t have too small of a dining area where there’s no room for baby strollers.
Seamless order process and site UX
This suggests that most brands are not doing something right when it comes to the functionality of their website because on average, only 1.53% of visits to ecommerce websites turn into a purchase.
A bad user experience can make customers so frustrated that they give up and abandon their shopping carts.
Indicate shipping charges and delivery times prominently to avoid unpleasant surprises during checkout. The most common reason for people to abandon their shopping carts are an un-intuitive shopping process and a lack of information. You can make your site easy to navigate by letting customers identify their own needs. You should also make it very clear how much shipping will cost and how long the delivery will take to avoid any surprises during checkout.
You can give new website visitors options of what product they want and then have a chatbot or intake form to help them filter items by price. You can also provide thorough product descriptions, videos, or pictures of the product being used.
Run a tight operation
Customers who have had a bad experience with your company in the past are less likely to do business with you again in the future. Data shows that 58% of consumers stop doing business with a company because of a single poor customer experience. This means that it is important to provide good customer service in order to keep customers coming back.
You should manage your inventory using just-in-time methods, basing your reorders on historical data so that you never have too much or too little. Find a supplier you can rely on who can fill large orders quickly.
It is important to have a system in place for customers to easily get in touch with a human for complaint resolution.
Go above and beyond for the customer
To exceed customer expectations, businesses should tailor their approach to the customer’s needs and go the extra mile to show appreciation. Whether it’s creating a custom product, sending a handwritten thank-you note, or performing a small act of kindness, businesses can find many ways to make their customers feel valued.
An example of this is when a Trader Joe’s in Wayne, PA delivered a week’s worth of groceries free of charge to an elderly gentleman who was stranded at home during a snowstorm.
Although Trader Joe’s doesn’t usually offer delivery, they made an exception in this case. Another key factor in the customer experience is effective complaint resolution. Sometimes, you can turn a bad situation around by impressing the customer with your response.
5. Spark WOM among influencers
Reviews by credible influencers can increase brand awareness because they have the power to influence their followers’ purchasing decisions.
The study found that most consumers trust the opinion of influencers just as much as they would trust a real-world friend.
If you have the budget for influencer marketing, you can even hire a brand ambassador. A brand ambassador is someone who acts as the “face” of your company by regularly talking about your products and services, rather than just doing a one-off social media post.
Send products for free
Send your product to relevant influencers and see if they review it. Some influencers may not review your product unless they truly like it, so don’t expect reviews from every influencer.
Collaborating with micro-influencers who have a smaller following but whose goal is to share their subject matter expertise through tutorials, shout-outs, how-to-guides, and day-in-the-life vlogs can be more beneficial than working exclusively with big names who have a lot of followers.
Connect with a worthy cause
According to IBM research, many consumers said that they look for companies that have values that match their own, such as sustainability or racial equality.
Associating your brand with a purpose will make influencers more likely to want to partner with you, as they will be able to show support for causes they believe in.
In 2020 Starbucks launched the #WhatsYourName campaign. The campaign illustrated the journey of a young transgender person who was struggling to embrace their name change. The person walked into a Starbucks one day.
The barista asks the customer for his name, which the customer replies with confidently. The barista writes the name on the cup and seal’s the customer’s new identity as a male. The ad campaign was inspired by people who were transitioning and found that Starbucks was a safe space for them where their new name would be accepted.
6. Solve a real challenge
The best products are those that solve customer pain points and leave a lasting impact. For example, social media users routinely post about how LARQ, a self-cleaning water bottle that uses UVC-light to sterilize the bottle, has made it so much easier to stay hydrated while traveling.
Summary
You can start promoting your word of mouth simply, but it won’t be easy.
Word of mouth advertising can be a cheap way to make your online business grow. But before you start using a lot of bells and whistles, start with the basics.
If you give customers a good experience and manage your business well, you’re already halfway to being successful.