In every viral marketing stunt word-of-mouth marketing was the fueling force that exalted the message. It’s nearly impossible for any piece of content to go viral without word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing on a global scale is one of the hardest things any great marketer can ever achieve. It’s also one of the goals that should be built into every ambitious marketing campaign. It can happen by accident, which often times it has. It can sometimes happen by creative critical planning. it even oftentimes happens outside of the influence of the brand. However it happens, it can drive up revenue and make brands really profitable.

How Viral and Word-of-Mouth are Connected
It’s important to understand that when discussing word-of-mouth you are talking about viral marketing. When the information or content no longer has to work to promote itself, and the viewers naturally start promoting the content, you have viral. This is how viral and word-of-mouth are deeply connected.

Oftentimes word-of-mouth marketing can come from negative publicity, which every brand should watch out for like poison. It doesn’t help with brand marketing and yes it’s not difficult with the negative media to make negative information launch. Positive viral marketing is ideal, unless you’re a musician like Miley Cyrus.

The Psychology of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word-of-Mouth marketing is nothing new, in fact it has always existed since people could communicate with each other. As humans when we experience the “wow” and we love to talk about it. Creating the wow experience is not taught in business schools, but it really is the above and beyond. It’s the unbelievable. It triggers our emotions and inspires us, even if it’s to anger. It changes our day by changing our perception or view. It happens often, and as humans we usually are looking for it.

The way word-of-mouth happens has changed. It has certainly changed over the centuries with the growth and expansion of technology. In lieu of ancient Romans chatting about the latest new wine, consumers share their enthusiasm for products by way of active social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Getting an influencer on a major social website to just say one thing can now spread a message all over the globe.

Technology and the digital world have connected the world. With the digital world connecting the world of information, information now has the potential to be global within hours, even minutes.

Before the digital age we relied fully upon media sources to spread information to different regions of the earth. Now our social sites have a global footprint in the world of information. Businesses still have to execute creative strategies, even though social profiles hold their power.

A Very Brief History of WOMM

In the 20th century, there were a number of memorable ad campaigns that really got people talking. Some, like the understated “Think Small” Volkswagen ads that debuted in 1959, actually changed the face of advertising. Slogans such as Alka Seltzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” and Coca Cola’s “It’s the real thing” became part of the cultural vernacular of America. Before cable television companies brought hundreds more channels to American living rooms, most people watched the same shows and saw the same commercials.

Pull vs Push Marketing
There are loads of marketing strategies, but they all boil down to one of two advertising philosophies: pull and push. Both can push word-of-mouth marketing, but pull can be ideal.

Push marketing strategies place a product where it will be seen by a massive number of potential customers. Usually in a display ad, or in a location where the eyes can see it. Think of the ubiquitous ads you see every time you log into Yahoo. While that kind of in-your-face marketing may indeed work, it doesn’t tend to build lasting brand loyalty where it matters: in the hearts and minds of consumers.

Push marketing can work with word-of-mouth marketing. The product has to be strange, different, unique, really incredible or yes, really horrible. Remember we have the new Farmers Dating website. They have commercials, they’re slightly odd but people are talking about this website because it’s so different and it even seems like a joke.

Pull marketing relies on the consumer seeking the product or the brand. Word-of-mouth marketing creates pull marketing because the consumer naturally wants to experience what their friend might have experienced. You’re not pushing a product into someone’s face, they’re looking to see the product. When we hear about things we want to experience, so we go seeking it.

These aren’t necessarily strategies, but they help give you an idea of the way marketing should happen with a viral word-of-mouth campaign.

Marketing with Humor

Marketing campaigns that make people smile or laugh out loud tend to be remembered longer than campaigns that present facts in a more somber fashion. Think of the silly green animated gekko that touts Geico Insurance products. Superbowl commercials are designed around this. They make us laugh, we talk about them at work for the next week. We subconsciously then buy their products when our brains register the need. This is how brands do it.

Controversial Marketing Strategies

There are times when an ad campaign that takes consumers by surprise is exactly the thing to keep the attention of your target demographic while easing your marketing message into their minds. Think of Dove soap’s True Beauty campaign of a few years ago. A sketch artist drew pictures according to the way women described themselves and again the way they actually appeared. The campaign sold a lot of soap and really got people talking about enacting important changes to popular concepts of beauty.

Using Social Media to Build Word-of-Mouth

Social media traffic is not the highest converting traffic for websites online, and many businesses recognize that’s not where its value comes in. It does work though and businesses shouldn’t ignore it. With marketing in the new age of the internet it’s easy to become obsessed with conversions. Social media marketing can compliment the conversions in all the other fields of marketing. Businesses should create word-of-mouth with video content, article content, and graphic content. This should be placed and promoted on social channels.

Video Marketing
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and some companies do a great job with their word-of-mouth social marketing. Video content with social media can push word-of-mouth if you use it right. Using it right can mean addressing negative responses about your product (A PR role). It can display features in your product, this will also spin word-of-mouth. Xbox does a great job with their video content. They get people talking about Xbox by showing entertaining videos about there new and exciting games coming out. Other companies like Nu Skin for health, and Dell for technology do good word-of-mouth promotion on YouTube by combatting product issues. Videos can be posted on promoted on all of the other social channels as well.

In Conclusion
Word-of-mouth marketing is very difficult, this is what makes it great. People do change generation by generation, but the principles will remain the same. Evaluate for yourself what’s working and what’s not. For your industry and business it might be completely different. Be creative and spontaneous, give the ‘wow’ experience a try. Most importantly, have some fun, it will work if you don’t give up.

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