Do you know how Zappos.com was able to grow so fast within such a short time? It is because they relied heavily on the word of mouth marketing. What if someone told you that word of mouth marketing contributes to 13% of global consumer sales? Companies are increasingly realizing that word of mouth marketing is an important marketing tool. According to Jay Baer, 92% of consumers trust recommendations that come from people they personally know. Online reviews also attract 70% trust on your brand. As a marketer, you need to appreciate the importance of word of mouth advertising.
Infographic Source- http://www.invespcro.com/blog/word-of-mouth-marketing/
According to Nielsen, 64% of marketing executives believe that the WOMMA is the most effective marketing strategy. Strangely, only 6% claim to have mastered it.
So why are so few marketers leveraging on the WOMMA despite knowing how important it is? One possible explanation is that in the recent times, marketers have been caught up in the rat race of “collecting” instead of focusing their efforts on “connecting”.
In other words, brands are more interested in the number of followers, subscribers, readers, etc they have netted instead of also focusing on the quality of engagement they have been able to build. It is actually better to have 1000 really passionate customers than having 10,000 fans that cannot even remember how they ended up liking your page in the first place.
According to recent research, customers that are referred to a brand will probably become more loyal than those that discover the same brand on their own. According to a study by Goethe University, customers that were referred to a brand are 18% more likely to remain loyal than other consumers. A recommendation by a friend, a family member or a work mate carries more weight.
Word of mouth marketing can create buzz for your brand without spending a lot in marketing. You will be amazed at how much buzz your brand is able to get once you implement word of mouth marketing. It is easy to create a buzz around your brand because word of mouth is easily relayed through Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, LinkedIn and email, among others.