What Makes Word of Mouth Such a Powerful Marketing Tool?

In a market stuffed with advertising techniques, gimmicks, and strategies for businesses of all types trying to sell their products or services to increasingly fickle, demanding consumers, one strategy stands out above the rest: word-of-mouth marketing.

What is word-of-mouth marketing? Simply put, it's when consumers who've had a positive experience with your product, service, or business in general tell other consumers about it, and those consumers tell even more, and so on. It's essentially a chain reaction of good vibes for your company.

A familiar, modern example is the concept of viral video. Someone, somewhere on the Internet sees a video they really enjoy - like, for example, an Old Spice commercial that ends with a horse - and they immediately send links to all of their friends. Those friends send links to their friends. The video's number of views spike, search engines rank it higher, and soon everyone knows about Isaiah Mustafa, the "Old Spice guy."

The Old Spice Guy knows viral

Why does word-of-mouth work?

Two of the biggest factors in effective marketing are awareness and consumer trust. Traditional advertising - such as print ads, online banner ads, billboards, radio and television commercials, and direct mail - is fairly good at raising awareness, but not so great at inspiring trust.

Most of today's consumers are conditioned to expect inflated marketing tactics, and aren't inclined to believe a company's claims of how "wonderful" or "amazing" their product or service is. Everything is taken with at least a grain of salt, and sometimes several large grains, depending on the source.

The source, however, is the key to the effectiveness of word-of-mouth marketing. People are far more likely to listen to their friends, acquaintances, or any non-salesperson about the quality and value of products or services. In fact, a recent Nielsen Global Survey was asked to rate the level of trust they placed on a number of marketing methods, from text and banner ads to magazine and television ads. 92% of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising.

Word-of-mouth and social media

The rise of social media propagates word-of-mouth because it's so easy to share with your network of friends. With just a few clicks, you can transmit items of interest to your entire online social circle through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more.

Creating sharable content is a driving factor for success in word-of-mouth marketing. It's not enough for companies to deliver high-interest content - to take advantage of the viral nature of the Internet and social media, your content has to be easy to spread around. If a consumer is forced to take several extra steps to let their friends know about your cool stuff, chances are they won't bother. In an ideal world, people who love what you're doing could simply give you permission to share on their behalf.

SocialHP puts the power of word-of-mouth in your hands

While word-of-mouth marketing is undeniably the most effective strategy, it's also been the most challenging and time-consuming to implement. But with SocialHP, the world's first word-of-mouth advertising software, the process is fast and easy.

Check out how our word of mouth software works!

Using the SocialHP social media publishing engine, you can post handcrafted messages to the personal social media pages of thousands of brand ambassadors and based on the average number of friends the typical brand ambassador has on SocialHP, you'll be amplifying your message by an incredible 331%

Find out who's working hard for your money with the Peer Influencer Index

While services like Klout.com reveal general social media popularity, SocialHP's "Peer Influencer Index" shows you how effectively ambassadors on your team delivery your specific brand message. The Peer Influencer Index keeps track of clicks per message, total number of clicks per blast, average lifetime clicks per blasts and more

Finding the most influential people for your product and turning them into brand ambassadors is the best way to power your company through social media. How will you make word-of-mouth work for your business?