Effectively Leverage Word-of-Mouth
Marketing Through Social Media
I’ve heard from many businesses that word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is their best form of advertisement. It is true. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the oldest marketing tactics for any marketer. How does one effectively leverage word-of-mouth marketing through the rise of social media?
As the popularity of social media rises, word-of-mouth marketing is becoming increasingly important for all businesses.
Social Media and the Power of Word-of-Mouth
Even today, Facebook is ranked number one among all social media platforms. There is more to it than that. Social media is a word-of-mouth platform on steroids. Think about this for a second.
How many times do you like, comment, or share content on any given social media channel? This is word-of-mouth advertising via the Internet. It allows you to connect and build relationships with your customers and prospects.
Your customers are your best asset in marketing your business. We’ve all done this. “ I shopped at the cutest boutique the other day.” You have to try this restaurant in town. They make the best ribs.” Or “Thank you for the compliment on my hair. I have a stylist I love at a salon down the road from me.” This is a friendly conversation to most people, but to businesses, particularly business-to-consumer (B2C), it is an organic way of marketing their business.
Word-of-mouth through social media has the potential to be a powerful tool for your marketing toolbox.
How to use Social Media Word-of-Mouth
Consumers trust their friends, family, and networks, which is why they are such powerful marketing tools.
According to a Nielsen study, 92% of consumers trust suggestions from friends and family more than advertising—this stat alone solidifies the word-of-mouth use case.
Sure, you may have thousands of social media followers, but do you know what influence your following has on using social media for WOMM?
Consumers today rely on social media when it comes to researching who to do business with. On most channels, you have groups for various industries and communities. Inside these groups, consumers are confident in the information they share with their network when asked: “Who would be a good person or company to drywall a section of my home near Waconia, MN.”
Today, social media is all about your customers and how you can help them. As the question above highlights, a potential problem is needing a person for drywall. Another example is restaurants have the advantage of daily updates regarding specials, hours, and capacity. It is a remarkably simple strategy to use on social media. This is just another example of interaction with customers to deepen the relationship and earn their trust even when they are not on your site or in your place of business.
Step into your customers’ shoes and try to see the world through their eyes. They are being challenged in how they do business these days. What information do they need to decide where to do business during a pandemic? Business regulations are evolving daily. Helping your customers understand your current operations is one way to utilize social media.
Next, what other pain points may they be facing? Map out the kind of content you can create to solve your customers’ problems when they need it. This could likely include blogs, videos, visuals, webinars, social media, and more to build your online community.
Additionally, there are many social media channels out there, including Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and more. It is important to remember to go where the customers are. Do not make them come to you.
As a result, you will better understand your customers’ needs and figure out how to connect with them on various social media channels to develop your brand further. Social media marketing is a long-term commitment. It will take resources to maintain it. Hootsuite and Sproutsocial are just two social media management platforms that monitor and post across multiple social media channels at one time.
Action Items
That’s it! Although word-of-mouth marketing on social media may feel overwhelming at first, you can see an ROI among your followers when you align a great product or service with a good strategy.
Leverage and collaborate with users and others to boost your brand awareness and drive engagement on these platforms. Let’s make sure all of your efforts get reviewed in the way you intend them to! Finally, don’t ever be afraid to ask your customers to leave a review on Google or engage with your social media content. Just remember: people love to share their experiences. Especially on social media. You got this!
