Word of mouth is a powerful driver in today’s world. In fact, according to Google, there are over 2.4 billion conversations involving a brand each day in the U.S. Talk about powerful! As a local business, harnessing the power of word of mouth is an important way to build your business. But, how can you make sure your brand is one that people are talking about?
Though the bulk of branded conversations happen offline, the Internet plays a vital role in the word of mouth process. For one, the internet is now the top information source motivating these daily brand conversations. Think about the last time you shared information about a brand with a friend or family member. Maybe you saw an article or ad about a product and shared it online, or brought it up in conversation with a friend or family member. Perhaps you saw a post about a local business on a social site and talked with a colleague about it. Or maybe you viewed a YouTube video and were so excited you couldn’t wait to get home to watch it with your family.
Because people are spending so much time on the Internet – today, people spend more time on the internet than in offline media – we are constantly interacting with brands whether we are aware of it or not. And these brands naturally make their way in our conversations, both online and offline.
Not only is the Internet a top source of information sparking our conversations about brands, but it’s also one of the top places people turn to for finding information about that brand after they have a conversation about it! So it’s easy to see why the Internet plays such a powerful role in word of mouth marketing today.
Is your brand proactive and visible online so it can fuel word of mouth conversations? Is your business web presence optimized so you’ll show up in a search? Are you creating content that consumers want to share to keep your brand front and center? It’s important to think about these questions. And, it’s critical to have a web presence optimization strategy for your local business, to make sure your business is visible on all the places people are searching, surfing, and socializing online.