When we talk about marketing, we talk a lot about things like social media, digital marketing, blog posts, influencer marketing, search engine optimisation, PR, and customer service. All of these are examples of great marketing strategies that businesses might use to promote their products or services.

But one of the things we tend to talk about a bit less is the importance of word of mouth marketing (also known as peer to peer or referral marketing). However, that’s not to say that it shouldn’t still be a part of your small business’s marketing strategy! In this article, we’re going to tell you why.

Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) involves marketing a product or service through organic social interactions.

An example would be if someone purchased a particular product, and had a great experience using it. They might then share their experiences using it with their friends and family members, who are likely then to go on and purchase the product to try it out for themselves. They might then share their experience using it with their friends, and continue to spread the word that way.

There are three main types of word of mouth marketing:

• Peer to peer (where a customer shares a verbal recommendation with their friend or family member)
• Face to face marketing (where you market your product to potential customers face to face – e.g. by setting up a samples stand or promotional kiosk where you can talk to them about your product, and they can give it a try for themselves)
• User generated content (UGC) on social media (where people post about your content on social media – e.g. by posting a photo and tagging your business – which then gets your brand in front of their friends and followers)

All three of these word of mouth marketing strategies can have lots of benefits for your business. For example, word of mouth marketing can help to:

• Reach new potential customers
• Build brand loyalty
• Increase brand awareness
• Keep your brand in the forefront of potential customers’ minds

It is also a lot more cost-effective than many other types of marketing.

In addition, word of mouth marketing could actually be one of the most effective types of marketing. Research shows that 92% of consumers base their purchasing decisions on word of mouth recommendations that they’ve received from their friends. It is also believed to be the driving factor behind between 20 – 50% of purchasing decisions.

Although word of mouth marketing is often something that occurs organically (i.e. where people mention a brand casually in conversation), there are also several things that you can do as a brand to get people talking. For example, you might:

• Offer referral codes that offer your customers a discount off their next purchase if they refer a friend or family member
• Share reviews, testimonials, and case studies from current customers who have had a good experience with your product
• Use social media to encourage your current customers to create their own user generated content featuring your product, and tag you in this
• Leverage the power of influencer marketing
• Focus on providing a great customer service experience to your online customers

If you’re looking to get more people talking about your business, we can help. At Tomedia, our marketing experts can advise you on how to create the perfect word of mouth marketing strategy. To find out more about the services we offer, click here.