Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) is much older than any of the popular and highly-touted new media marketing methods, but it is only over the last few years that thousands of companies, both large and small, have rediscovered the benefits of this marketing method.
According to a study conducted by Nielsen, 92% of the respondents stated that they trusted recommendations from people they personally knew, while 70% of those surveyed felt confident in product reviews from complete strangers. In comparison, less than 50% of the respondents believed the claims made in the majority of alternative marketing methods.
Although WOMM is useful as an effective marketing tool for every business, the question is: Are there certain types of business which can expect better than average sales figures when more people become their brand advocates? Indeed.
Word of mouth marketing has many benefits, such as: low cost and increasing brand awareness, but one of the most important aspects of this type of marketing is its ability to develop trust. The reason WOMM is able to develop assurance from suggestions, even when the recommendations come from people the customer does not know, is because WOMM doesn’t seem like marketing at all. Since word of mouth marketing is conducted by third-party advocates who are not financially connected to the company, it is much easier for consumers to believe what they are told.
Learn how to turn your customers into promoters for your company.
Using the general perception that all WOMM is authentic, a business can create a higher-level of trust among potential customers and then leverage this trust into generating more sales.
While trust plays a large part in all businesses, several types of industries can be categorized as “trust-critical”. These industries include:
Care-giving services: A business which provides a service centering around caring will greatly benefit from positive WOMM. For example businesses in the healthcare and childcare industries are two industries which immediately come to mind, but there are many more. Any personal service, from hair salons to accountants, or home service, including plumbers and housecleaners, will greatly benefit from the trust, which WOMM can develop.
Specialty products: Word of mouth marketing is especially useful for companies which sell exclusive, or niche products. Some of the most fanatic brand evangelists promote products which are unique, or possess a particular cache. The rabid brand advocacy of Apple’s early adopters clearly showed the power WOMM can have to bring a once obscure brand into the mainstream market.
Despite the benefits of word of mouth marketing, only 6% of marketing executives are well-experienced in the technique. Learn how to make WOMM work for your business with a free ADTACK consultation.
