Beyond all the fancy marketing techniques of SEO and Web2.0, all the competitive analysis and regression plotting — isn’t the best marketing of all when a friend tells you to try something because they liked it and thought you might too?
Two different posts inspired me to write about “word of mouth” this morning:
-  Why Conversational SEO {Marketing} is worth talking about
- The story of an email newsletter and how it increased Brand Awareness
Developing a referral can be extremely difficult (if not impossible) unless you have a good product or service. You also need to be authentic and honest.
 Then logical. And willing to share.Â
 Isn’t word of mouth marketing just comman sense?!?
It’s like the ripple effect that keeps on going.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you’re right – it’s too easy to get caught up on the technology and forget to look at the *reasons* someone might want to recommend you (link to you, stumble you, digg you etc).
Then again, the media do allow us to make new connections in more convoluted ways – because I jumped here through the web although now I can’t remember how ! :-)
Joanna
Hi Chris,
You raise some great points about the value of word of mouth marketing. And you’re right… virtually nothing else can come close to its power.
However in our industry (small business computer consultants), all too often consulting firms think word of mouth marketing is their entire marketing plan.
The reality is that word of mouth marketing is a VERY nice bonus or dividend to cash-in on when you have high levels of customer satisfaction. However word of mouth marketing, without more proactive stimuli, is very difficult to forecast.
As a result, most small businesses (at least those in our industry) still very much so need a balanced marketing plan as opposed to relying on a one-legged table.
Thanks for raising awareness of this issue.
Best regards,
Joshua Feinberg
Absolutely.
‘Tipping point’ (title from famous book) is what brands are ultimately always trying to achieve. Clever SEO can never achieve this. Only a company / product / service that tries to be a brand.
Next question. In this day and age, what is a brand / how do successful brands now, differ to successful brands say 10 years ago?
One of the best things about the clients that come in through “word of mouth marketing” is that they’re ready to buy. Chances are they asked friends, “Who could help me with….?” and they recommended you. There was no need to prospect. You didn’t need to help them recognize they needed your service. They completed their buying process before you ever met them. So, the question is how can you create more “word of mouth”? Certainly by providing excellent service to your clients but why not widen the circle? Consider cultivating the individuals that your most promising prospects turn to for referrals. Ensure that they, too, know the types of results you’ve achieved for your clients. Does your company have a systematic strategy for cultivating referrals?