Optimising Word of Mouth Marketing through a Digital Strategy

An ad specialist, an SEO writer and a social media strategist walk into a bar…because it was recommended by a friend. When it comes to the world of business, word of mouth is, and will always be, king. In this blog, I explore the ways your digital marketing strategy can help automatically with word of mouth marketing.

What is word of mouth marketing?

Ah yes, probably a good place to start. When we marketers say word of mouth marketing, we mean results that are driven by recommendations. Think about it, when was the last time you used a service without checking with at least 1 person to see what their thoughts were? I’ll wait…

Now, we live in a big, bad world of digital communication. So what we consider to be word of mouth marketing has evolved quite drastically to say, 20/30 years ago. To be crystal clear, word of mouth marketing is any way your business is promoted via external, unpaid communication. That includes:

• Testimonials
• Referrals
• Social media comment sections/threads
• Reviews/shoutouts
• And yes, general chit chat

How can you influence word of mouth marketing?

Now, this is the juicy question. Word of mouth can be rather temperamental *insert any Trip Advisor board, ever*, so it’s important to know how you can influence what’s said. Here are my top tips.

1. Keep customers happy

Obvious? Yes. Easy? NOPE. Here’s a sobering fact:

On average, customers will share a positive experience with 6 people. On the flip side, customers will share a negative experience with 15 people.

So the quickest way to influence word of mouth marketing, is to keep your customers happy. A customer-centric approach to business is the best marketing approach you can take. If you don’t know where to begin, here’s how we do it at Re-Imagine.

Nail the onboarding process.

Map out and have a set process for what happens when a customer becomes your client. Make sure their life is as easy as possible, and that they trust they’re in safe hands with your business. Think about what they may be confused about, what their reservations could be and where they’d be most likely to need support, and go from there.

Understand your client journey.
This obviously depends on your service, but you need to understand how their relationship with your business may change as their business develops. Know your customer lifetimes, highlight what makes clients drop off, and how you can reduce that.

Check in, don’t pester.
Find a level of communication that fits your business. We do, as standard, monthly check-ins with our clients, because we’re genuinely interested in how they’re doing, and want to stay on the same page with future plans.

1. Expand your horizons

Especially in your early years of business, the best way to build word of mouth is to get out there and use your own! That is, if you’re B2B, be sure to attend industry events, have a voice and position yourself among the businesses you want to be attracting. Build the relationships. Sure, this is a long game, but by expanding your network, you’re doing great work for your word of mouth marketing.

3. Build word of mouth into your Digital Marketing Strategy

If you want to make the most out of your digital marketing strategy, you need to think of how it will influence word of mouth marketing. Always. Every piece of activity you do online helps paint a picture of your business to potential clients, you need to make sure it’s working in your favour.

The digital solution to word of mouth marketing

So, how do you build word of mouth marketing into your digital marketing strategy? Here’s how we work.

Customer-centric marketing

The easiest way to convince new customers to become clients is through great testimonials, reviews and referrals. We build this into our marketing strategies. We always ask ourselves:

• How can we best showcase the testimonials you have?
• How can we generate more?

From case studies to surveys, campaigns to client calls, you need to build and implement a strategy that nurtures your testimonials.

Social media marketing

Social media is an awesome tool for driving word of mouth marketing. But you need to be smart about it. We begin by researching the kind of people we’re trying to target, to figure out where they’re most likely to be scrolling online. From there, we strategically build creative campaigns that get them talking. Too many businesses try to keep up with trends and getting that coveted blue tick, but to sustainably build word of mouth through social media you need activity that resonates with your desired audience.

Collaborative Marketing

We build partnerships and collaborations into our strategies. Why? Because it doubles your audience. By doing collaborative activity online, such as guest blogs or events, you’re essentially teaming up with that business, to help build each others awareness across audiences. This sparks up discussions and can be an incredible way to generate word of mouth.