How Word of Mouth Affects Your Brand

“Word of mouth is the most powerful form of communication and marketing out there.”

– Mark Hughes

Word of mouth marketing is often confused. It all boils down to getting people to talk about your company. It’s the water cooler chatter over that great new Amazon.com product, the after the Super Bowl blogging about which company created the best commercial or worst case scenario…how you spent an hour on hold with ABC company and they still refuse to solve the problem.

Word of mouth marketing is so important to the reputation of a company and the success of a brand, there is a Word of Mouth Marketing Association – WOMMA, http://www.womma.org/ There are even studies devoted to tracking word of mouth marketing effects.

A study conducted by WOMMA in 06 cited the following brands as having the most Word of Mouth Marketing:

Ford

Verizon

Dell

Cingular

Wal-Mart

Chevy

Toyota

Coke

Honda

Apple/iPod

It’s important to note that not all word of mouth marketing is good marketing. People are more likely to complain about a company than they are to promote a company positively. As anyone for a review and you’ll see – arms need to be twisted and bribes offered to motivate reviews. However receive bad service and people run home to post reviews on their computer to tell the world how awful a company is.

Social media marketing tools have become an integral aspect of word of mouth branding. Blogs, chat rooms, membership sites, forums, and of course social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter are all excellent resources for business owners looking to take advantage of word of mouth marketing power.

Social marketing gives business owners the ability to communicate with their target audience on a more personal level. Word of mouth recommendations and endorsements are more valuable than any advertisement, affiliate program, or marketing tool for one very simple reason. If an employee or partner promotes your brand it’s viewed as marketing. If a customer promotes your brand, “I just love Amazon.com’s new Kindle,” that is seen as an extremely valuable endorsement and it plays right into one of the most significant buying behavior triggers – social proof.

Tips to help increase positive word of mouth marketing using social media tools like blogs and networking sites include:

1. Make your information or networking page interesting – entertaining and interesting information spreads like wildfire.

2. Earn the trust and respect of your prospect and customers – people are happy to promote brands they like and brands and companies who follow through on their claims.

3. Make it easy for them to spread the word – always provide contact information including an easy to remember URL or phone number. Every marketing tool whether it is a blog or a brochure needs to have contact information.

4. Give people something to talk about such as a special offer or promotion or a fantastic innovation.

5. Respond to positive and negative feedback. Thank people for positive feedback, blog posts, reviews and endorsements. Address negative feedback as soon as possible to mitigate the effects.

Word of mouth marketing has a profound effect on your brand. One positive comment from a well respected person in your industry and opportunities can rain down upon your business.