Understanding Word of Mouth Advertising

We all know word of mouth is one of the most powerful advertising mediums around. A recent study even showed that word of mouth advertising is 1000 times more powerful than standard ad impressions.

To help you understand how it works, we’ve compiled a few basic principles behind the medium:

• Not everything is buzz worthy. Some services and products are never going to get people talking. Sometimes the subject is embarrassing –would you want to chat about athlete’s foot medication? Sometimes it just never comes up in conversations –how often have you and your friends discussed the best brand of bananas?

• “Good” isn’t good enough. A company with ok customer service and decent products may be a good company –but that doesn’t make them great. People share amazing experiences, not average ones. Some people have written the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, about their broken laptop and received a brand new computer after a week. If that was me, I’d sure be bragging to my friends about it. How about you?

• Faked buzz backfires. Many companies try to fake word of mouth advertising. Whether the company hires someone to make an internet video featuring their jeans or pays someone to sit at the bar and order their premium vodka, it is dishonest. No one likes to be lied to, and it’s even worse when it’s a company you’re supposed to trust.

• Conversations can’t be manipulated. Some companies try to issue cease and desist orders against websites or individuals who have complained about this product or service. As a result, these brands generally receive a backlash against them much worse than the complaint itself.

Did you know both Crocs and Scion have actually sold more products after many people criticized their designs?

• Asking never hurts. It’s impossible to force people to talk about a company, but you can always ask. Send press releases to free online PR sites and your local papers. Tell people leaving your shop to “mention me to your friends.” Sometimes, even a brand worth talking about is forgotten, so don’t hesitate to remind people.

Some business will never get word of mouth, that doesn’t mean the company is bad, that’s just the way word of mouth advertising works. But when it does work, it can be very powerful. That’s a task that is hard for even the biggest companies in America to achieve fully.

Have you had good or bad luck with word of mouth? Let us know in the comments.

Photo courtesy of faberitius