The Power of Whispers: Cultivating Word-of-Mouth Marketing
What Is Word-Of-Mouth Marketing?
When you hear word of mouth, you probably think of a small-town grapevine. One person tells another person about a business or product, who then tells more people, and those people go on to tell even more people. This is essentially true of word-of-mouth marketing but on a larger scale. Any marketing done by word-of-mouth is done autonomously by customers in their everyday lives. When a customer speaks highly or lowly of your business to their peers online or offline, it is defined as word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is considered the most valuable form of marketing there is. It is said that consumers trust the words of their friends and family more than any marketing a company produces. A lot of companies already know this, but only a few have mastered it. So, how can word-of-mouth marketing help your business?
Connect With Your Customers
Companies these days aren’t connecting with their customers as much as they should. Instead, they are focused on raising their numbers in terms of how many customers or followers they have. In order to connect with your customers, try following the three E’s.
Engage
Start with engaging your customers. No one likes a company that keeps to itself and never responds to feedback. Talk with your customers, respond to questions, make them feel heard.
Equip
Then, equip them with things to talk about. Keep up your social media posting with interesting things that they can interact with such as fun facts about your business, information about one of your products, or a thought-provoking question to get a conversation started.
Empower
Finally, empower your customers by letting them know you care about them. Ask them what they think of new products and get their opinions to show you care.
The Impact Of Word-Of-Mouth Marketing On Your Business
The truth is that word-of-mouth marketing has been around for a long time, and it’s worked for that long as well. Don’t believe us? The statistics show that word-of-mouth is among the highest indicators that consumers will buy a product or interact with a business at all. People are looking for others’ opinions before they buy something themselves.
According to Bright Local, 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020, which was an increase of 6% compared to 81% in 2019. Reviews have an integral link to word-of-mouth marketing. According to Trustway Marketing, 84% of customers trust reviews made by friends, family, and even strangers more than they trust any marketing a business puts out.
Customers leave reviews that can positively or negatively affect your business due to other customers seeing them and reacting accordingly.
Types of Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
There are two types of word-of-mouth marketing: organic and amplified.
Organic Word of Mouth Marketing
Organic word-of-mouth is when consumers choose to spread the word about a business on their own accord. This can be by way of recommending the business to friends and family, posting about their experience on social media, or leaving a positive testimonial.
Amplified Word of Mouth Marketing
Amplified word-of-mouth comes from a company encouraging talk from their customers and followers through some sort of campaign, whether online or offline. These two types can be entwined with one another.
How To Encourage Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
There are ways you can encourage word-of-mouth to spread the word about your business. These are a few of them.
Become Known For Something
Whether it’s a slogan, a logo, or a concept, most businesses have that one thing that customers identify them with. Customers will naturally speak about your business if you have something memorable to offer them.
A logo identifies you, but it’s the memories and experiences people have with your company that make you recognizable to others. If you become known for something, consumers will be more likely to talk about you and spread the word about your existence and reputation.
Standing Out from the Crowd: Becoming Memorable
After years of enduring thousands of advertisements and marketing campaigns from companies, consumers often blend them together in their minds. Monotony and lack of variety are the enemies of a successful marketing campaign.
Standing out and being different is important now more than ever; with so many businesses saturating the market, you need to find something that makes yours unique. Try asking yourself “What makes my business different from my competitors? Why should people be interested in my content instead of theirs?”
How you market your business or product can be a way of standing out. See what your competitors are doing and do something different. You can also look back at a successful campaign and use that strategy with a new product.
Doing something unique that breaks from the cookie-cutter mold will increase your chances of organic word-of-mouth.
In a world of countless brands, how do you make yours stand out? Here's where differentiation becomes critical:
Find your unique identity: What sets you apart from your competitors? What memorable element, whether it's a slogan, logo, or value proposition, can you offer your customers?
Be bold and different: Consumers are bombarded with marketing messages. Break the mold by crafting campaigns that surprise and delight. Analyze what your competitors are doing and forge your own path.
Showcase Reviews
Reviews are a prime example of word-of-mouth marketing. They provide customer insight into your business, and they are all over the web. We monitor and provide service for over 150 different review sites, but people have to go look for them at each site unless they have a service like ours that can place a live feed of all the reviews across the web in one place – on a client’s website.
Managing these testimonials and where they show up can highlight positive feedback while thwarting negative reviews. It’s best to add reviews anywhere you can, from your website to your social media posts and more.
What happens If we face negative feedback?
Addressing negative reviews and feedback effectively to maintain a reputation is more than just making a business look good. That feedback informs changes that may need to be made within the business to help spur growth.
Negative customer reviews can significantly impact a small business's reputation. Managing and responding to reviews is vital for maintaining a positive image.
Feedback Alchemy: Transforming Negative Reviews into Reputation Gold
Feedback and reputation hold the power to shape success and failure. For small businesses, the challenge of addressing negative reviews and feedback is akin to turning raw materials into refined gold—a process that demands skill, strategy, and a deep commitment to customer satisfaction. Within this challenge lies the potential not only to salvage a tarnished reputation but also to cultivate loyal customers and fortify your brand image.
The Feedback Ecosystem
The Seed of Reputation: Imagine feedback as seeds planted by customers—some bearing fruits of praise and others sprouting concerns. These seeds hold the potential to grow into the reputation that precedes your business.
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Just as smelters transform iron into steel, addressing negative feedback effectively can transform a crisis into an opportunity for growth, improvement, and relationship-building. This is often an untapped opportunity to both improve business efforts as well as find missed opportunities and convert unhappy customers into happy ones.
Strategies for Handling Negative Reviews
Prompt Response: Begin by acknowledging negative reviews promptly. Show customers that their feedback is valued and that you are committed to resolving their concerns.
Empathy and Understanding: Like a skilled diplomat, respond to negative reviews with empathy and understanding. Acknowledge the customer's experience and express genuine concern.
Problem Resolution: Offer solutions to the customer's problem. Be transparent about how you plan to rectify the situation and prevent similar issues in the future.
Systematic Approach: Negative reviews happen. A person is 17 times more likely to leave a negative review than a positive one unless prompted otherwise. While negative reviews need to be addressed individually, you also need to focus on generating more positive reviews regularly.
Elevating Reputation through Feedback
Constructive Action: Just as architects build upon blueprints, use feedback to make constructive changes. If a common concern arises, consider implementing changes that address the issue. Using a platform like Kyrios can help you capture the negative feedback before it becomes a negative review online. Keeping these from appearing on Google, Facebook, or other sites as much as possible allows you the time to take corrective measures while also attempting to convert the unhappy customer into a positive review.
Transparency and Honesty: Embrace transparency by sharing updates on improvements you've made based on customer feedback. This fosters trust and shows your commitment to continuous improvement. Communication with unhappy customers is key in these situations to help keep them from turning into negativity promoters about your business.
Overcoming the Challenges
Emotional Resilience: Negative reviews can be disheartening. Develop emotional resilience and focus on turning negative experiences into positive outcomes.
Balancing Act: While addressing negative reviews is crucial, also acknowledge positive feedback. This showcases your commitment to both improvement and customer satisfaction.
Feedback is not just commentary—it's a gift that offers valuable insights for growth. Small business owners must recognize that the journey of handling negative reviews is not just about damage control but about fostering a culture of improvement and customer-centricity.
By responding promptly, empathizing with customers, and offering solutions, businesses can address negative feedback effectively. Through constructive action, transparency, and a commitment to continuous improvement, businesses can elevate their reputation and foster customer loyalty.
Ultimately, by embracing feedback as an opportunity for growth, businesses can refine their practices, forge deeper connections with customers, and shape a reputation that shines even brighter in the face of adversity.
Bottom Line
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to connect with customers and drive growth. By fostering positive experiences, encouraging customer engagement, and showcasing reviews, companies can leverage the trust and influence of their satisfied customers to generate organic recommendations and build a strong reputation. However, it's important to also address negative reviews promptly and professionally to maintain a positive online presence.
"Tired of struggling to manage online reviews and feedback? Kyrios is your solution. Our powerful platform streamlines the process, helping you harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing and turn negative feedback into positive growth.
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