Think about a time when one of your friends rambled on about an amazing product or service. Intrigued and impressed, you tried out that product or service for yourself. When first trying out the product or service, you have certain expectations of it, having your friend’s opinion and thoughts at the forefront of your mind. 

While your friend may not have been doing it on purpose, they are nonetheless participating in word of mouth marketing. This type of marketing technique is powerful. According to a survey on direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, 16.4% of U.S. consumers said that they first heard of a brand through word of mouth. This is only after online search at 24.8% and social media advertisements at 34.6%.

As a business leader, you can hope that the quality and reputation of your products and services will increase your customer base and brand awareness. However, as opposed to merely hoping, there are ways to develop an effective word of mouth marketing strategy. 

With the right marketing team, a business can get current, new, and even potential customers to start the conversation about your products and services. A way that marketers can do so is through creating memorable experiences for customers. This can be in the form of product demonstrations, great troubleshooting skills, and even participating in events that allows employees to interact with the public. 

These experiences offer your business a chance to make a great first impression. From that, the follow-up and lead funneling process can be sped up due to your target audience’s thoughts on your products, services, brand, and business as a whole.

What you should also take into account when it comes to word of mouth marketing is the need to build a community. Rather than simply focusing on selling products and services as commodities, creating a positive community for your customers and supporters can be a step in the right direction. 

A community can be built on a social media platform using a hashtag, through customer interactions with a prominent business executive, or even engaged customers on an online forum. These individuals can participate in conversations and product reviews, educating other interested parties about your business and brand. These online and offline conversations can then lead to an increased amount of lifetime loyalty. 

Ensure that community members are heard when it comes to their feedback as well. Getting valuable feedback is an integral part of improving products and services. The ability to go through with promises and fulfill customer requests can create an impact in this regard. 

Encouraging your employees to promote your business and brand can also be an important part of your word of mouth marketing strategy. Since your employees are already familiar with your business’ products and services, they can be the best supporters even outside of work. 

What’s important here is that these employees should be happy about what they do on a daily basis, as well as what your business represents as a whole. Employees who are satisfied with a business are invaluable, as they can share their positive thoughts and feelings about products and services outside of work online and offline. 

Whether it’s empowering your customers, community, or employees through noteworthy conversations and experiences, developing and implementing an effective word of mouth marketing strategy requires expertise. With the help of the Find Your Audience team, you can begin taking your business to the next level. We conduct thorough market research, stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends, as well as create customized plans for clients around the world. 

Let Find Your Audience be your marketing partner. We can be reached at either 647-479-0688 or hi@findyouraudience.online, and we cannot wait to work with you!