Word of Mouth Marketing

What is Word of Mouth Marketing?
Word of Mouth Marketing can be defined as any unpaid form of promotion in which satisfied customers tell other people, in either verbal or written form, how much they like a business, product or service. For word of mouth marketing to be successful, the satisfied customer needs to be perceived as honest and having no ulterior motives associated with the recommendation

Any time you've recommended a product to a friend, you've engaged in word of mouth advertising. Word of mouth advertising relies on personal recommendations to promote a product or service. Companies often rely heavily on word of mouth advertising to sell their product or service, because it produces good results at a very low cost.
Word of mouth is a pre-existing phenomenon that marketers are only now learning how to harness, amplify, and improve. Word of mouth marketing isn't about creating word of mouth -- it's learning how to make it work within a marketing objective.

Word of mouth can be encouraged and facilitated. Companies can work hard to make people happier, they can listen to consumers, they can make it easier for them to tell their friends, and they can make certain that influential individuals know about the good qualities of a product or service.
Companies value word of mouth advertising for several reasons. First of all, if you tell someone how much you like a business, that word of mouth endorsement doesn't cost the business any money. Magazine, television, radio and Internet ads can be expensive, but word of mouth advertising is usually free. The less money the business has to spend on advertising, the more profit they can make.
Word of mouth advertising is also valuable because it tends to produce good results. People are sometimes skeptical of standard advertising. Maybe the ad doesn't appeal to them personally, or they feel like the company is trying to trick them into buying a product that they don't want. A word of mouth testimonial from a friend can be trusted, and it's more likely to produce results.
Even more valuable are the word of mouth endorsements given by people who are presumed to be experts. Companies often offer free products or services to experts in an effort to gain free word of mouth advertising. Reviewers are sent products, or given early tickets to a movie for example, and the word of mouth advertising that is generated when they write a review more than pays for the expense to the company.
It is often said in business that any publicity is good publicity. That is because publicity is essentially word of mouth advertising. If someone hears something about a business, even if it's something bad, they will remember the name. They will likely be curious about the business because of the news. This is word of mouth advertising at work. Any time someone hears about a company and what they sell from a friend or from a news story, word of mouth advertising is helping the company become more familiar to people.

Word of mouth marketing empowers people to share their experiences. It's harnessing the voice of the customer for the good of the brand. And it's acknowledging that the unsatisfied customer is equally powerful.

Below are the five basic Steps for Word of Mouth Marketing to be a Success.
They are as follows:
1.Talkers
2.Topics
3.Tools
4.Taking Part
5.Track

Talkers are not your target customers; instead, they are the people that talk TO your buyers. By way of example, Ferrari’s talkers are not car owners, but 14-year old boys who read car magazines.

Topic is what everyone is buzzing about. This is not your tagline, your brand message or even the name of your store. Your topic should be portable, repeatable and emotional.

In Chicago, there's a deli called Perry's which is quite well known. For starters, Perry's sandwiches are enormous; they may in fact be bigger than the famous corned beef sandwich you find at Carnegie's Deli in New York. But that's not the only reason people talk up Perry's. The other buzz-worthy bit is that Perry will kick you out of his restaurant if your cell phone rings. He doesn't care if you're an MD or a Judge on an important trial - no phones - period. Inevitably when you're there some poor diner's phone will ring and the shenanigans that ensue are the epitome of buzz.

Tools enable people to easily share with others. Make it easy for friends to talk about you. That might creating a blog, or establishing a fan base on Facebook. It can be as simple as adding a Forward to a Friend button on your next email campaign.

Taking Part means to engage in the discussion. If you have a blog and someone comments on it, it's okay to post a thank you note. Has someone given your store a negative review on Yelp or a similar service? Chime in, apologize, or solicit more information. Being present means being visible.

Track we all know we need to Track our efforts. In other to take note if it working or not. When something you've done is in fact generating buzz so you can keep doing it!

Five Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies You Can Use For Your Website or Business
Here are some word-of-mouth marketing strategies you can use for your own website or business. All of them are D-I-Y and you don’t need to hire an expensive marketing firm to initiate them, although you should preferably have access to web designers and programmers, along with a basic budget for viral marketing.
1.Leverage Existing Social Networks. Online communities have a tightly knit group of users who can help to increase brand awareness for your product. Tap into these communities with tools or content targeting their specific sub-culture and you are likely to get a lot of attention.
These can include applications for platform-specific websites like Facebook, Firefox and Wordpress, which each have a large body of users. Content which examines mentions or analyzes mini-communities or sites within large overall niches will work as well.
2.Target the Influencers. Look for individuals who are trend-setters or authorities on a specific topic. They should preferably be individuals who have many personal connections or a large and loyal audience.
If these people spread your message, your website or product will very easily be disseminated within a targeted group of potential users.
Identify these influencers, build a relationship with them and market through their existing sphere of social influence. Examples of influencers include celebrities, power users on social websites like Digg and popular webmasters or bloggers with many loyal supporters (e.g. Ashley Qualls).
3.Exclusivity and Scarcity. Many websites or businesses launch virally through the private beta approach by offering a limited number of site invites. Some dangle the bait of limited edition products or temporal discounts. Combine this with influencer marketing and you’ll have an excellent method to disseminate brand awareness for new websites, products or services.
Exclusivity invites curiosity and scarce products generate consistent demand and conversation. Remember how people were incessantly asking for or writing about Gmail, Joost or Pownce invites a while ago?
4.Micro-Market. While online viral marketing leverages the interconnectedness of the web to spread unique content or user-supported promotional schemes, micro-marketing focuses on marketing to the individual by providing highly customizable products.
Nike and Puma’s Mongolian Buffet are examples of micro-marketing schemes which allow you to design and purchase your own unique sneaker online. Micro-marketing can be combined with scarcity and existing social networks to generate word-of-mouth exposure.
5.Industry Marketing. Instead of focusing directly on customers, focus on the people who can build your brand. Instead of seeking for thousands of views from a wide audience, make your mark within a niche community to build relationships and leverage-able connections.
Finally.
Get recommendations from others in the similar industry to be mentioned, promoted or included in an industry-specific ranking or recommendations list. This builds your overall brand within a specific niche, which in turns promotes your site to traditional media and buyers looking in from the outside.