In our last post on ‘Word of Mouth’ we looked at how to make your customer’s purchasing experience shorter and easier. To continue on the ‘Word of Mouth’ theme today let’s consider it’s power and how to shape it to your advantage. To create your Word of Mouth strategy
Factors to focus on
The fact is everyone relies on expert knowledge to guide us through our decision-making process. When we gather our information on choosing the right solution to our problem we seek out an advisor to explain the benefits. This is why understanding ‘Word of Mouth’ offers great advantages. So these are the factors to focus on in a Word of Mouth Strategy:
- The purpose is to accelerate the decision-making process for increased profits.
- You can accelerate purchasing decisions by making the process easier.
- By avoiding the ‘pushy’ sales techniques and delivering on your word of mouth promises.
Traditional advertising relies on one response to for every thousand adverts. Gathering the information before the customer makes any purchases. Whereas when you get information from a reliable source you are more likely to take their word for it and act. In fact, the average customer will purchase on the personal recommendation made. So that’s how valuable the ‘Word of Mouth’ communication is to your marketing strategy.
Why it works
In understanding the value further, let’s break it down. We know it’s the communication between a customer and a potential customer. But it also implies a level of relationship and trust for the potential customer to take action.
So, if we compare this to the advertising message to a potential customer where there is no established relationship with you, let alone the trust element. Who are they more likely to take advice from? The trusted relationship is going to win.
From the benefits of ‘Word of Mouth’ let’s consider some of the reasons why it works:
- The information is tailored to the friendly communication between the referrer and the potential customer.
- Therefore it’s more personal, relevant and believable.
- The customer drives the information.
- With the internet, the information is self-generating and can be personally focused.
- The selected information, that is the source of the word of mouth recommendation, is identified as an expert.
- ‘Word of Mouth’ saves your business time and money.
To take this forward we need to build a strategy.
Word of Mouth Strategy
For your ‘Word of Mouth’ Strategy determine:
- Where is the ‘Word of Mouth’ coming from?
- What products are being affected by ‘Word of Mouth’?
- What is the route the ‘Word of Mouth’ travels?
When this information is complete you can plan how to trigger your ‘Word of Mouth’ strategy to grow your sales. If you need to understand today’s information and its impact on your business don’t forget to put us to the test on our FREE Discovery Call.
Today I went further into ‘Word of Mouth’ and next time I’ll go even deeper and discuss the levels of ‘Word of Mouth’. So that you can understand which is good for your business and which is not. Gill Bailey, Author, Business Growth Coach