5 effective ways to implement word-of-mouth marketing
With all of the above in mind, let’s now go over some of the most effective ways to initiate the spread of word-of-mouth about your brand, including:
- Influencer marketing
- Hashtagged user-generated content
- Promotion of existing social proof
- Supporting an important cause
- Hosting branded promotions, giveaways, and other events
As we discuss each of these tactics, we’ll:
- Explain what the tactic entails
- Talk about why the tactic is so effective
- Provide examples of majorly-successful companies “doing it right”
Let’s dive in.
1. Collaborate with (micro AND macro) influencers
Though influencer marketing is no longer the newest trend in the eCommerce marketing realm nowadays, that doesn’t mean it’s any less effective than it was a few years ago.
(In fact, we talked this past April about our experiences using influencer marketing to help two eCommerce startups increase their clickthrough rates by 6%.)
But it’s not just our clients who are still implementing influencer marketing to great success. Data collected by 99Firms shows that:
- Searches for “influencer marketing” have increased 1,500% over the last three years
- 63% of brands plan to increase their marketing budget in the years to come
- The niche as a whole will become a $10 billion industry by 2020
The modern consumer typically recognizes influencer marketing for what it is. In other words, they know that influencers are paid or otherwise compensated for creating content featuring a certain brand.
But the nature of influencer marketing isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker to today’s consumers. As shown in the graphic below, the effectiveness of an influencer marketing campaign depends heavily on how much the consumer trusts the influencer in question.
Which brings us to why influencer marketing is so effective in the first place:
Influencer marketing is built on the two-step model of informational flow, which theorizes that information stemming from a single, centralized source (i.e., medium) will be better received by individuals when communicated via a trusted “opinion leader”:
This is a vital part of influencer marketing:
The influencer must have forged, on some level, an authentic relationship with its audience in order for the campaign to successfully spread positive WOM.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the influencer has to know and speak to each individual person in their audience. It means that their influencer marketing content must fall in line with everything else surrounding their relationship with their audience.
For example, Kendall Jenner’s audience undoubtedly trusts her recommendations when it comes to things like fashion and accessories:
But her out-of-place (and out-of-touch) appearance in a 2017 Pepsi commercial completely fell flat in terms of generating a positive buzz. While there were many reasons the Pepsi campaign failed, there’s no denying the role its inauthenticity played in the whole ordeal.
Side note: For more on developing authentic influencer marketing campaigns that engage your target audience, check out this post on Core dna’s blog.
2. Hashtagged user-generated content (UGC)
Soliciting user-generated content is another key way to get some major exposure for your brand.
UGC not only acts as proof-positive that a given customer:
- Does, in fact, use the product in question
- Get enough value from said brand that they’re willing to create content featuring the company’s products and promote it on their own social media hubs
For example, here’s just a fraction of the content created by travel company Away’s raving fans:
(Source)
The message communicated by this vast collection of images is clear:
Away’s products — and the brand, overall — are an integral part of these individuals’ traveling experiences.
(Which is exactly what Away aims to be.)
While UGC on its own can be fairly effective in spreading positive WOM, the chances of a piece of UGC spreading like wildfire increase substantially when appropriate hashtags are attached to it.
Since hashtags work to categorize content in various ways on different social media platforms, they provide yet another avenue for brands to show off the content created by their audience members.
Again looking to Away, the company often uses the hashtag “#travelaway” on Instragram — with their audience following suit:
(Source)
It’s worth noting that this hashtag has nearly 60,000 posts associated with it, with the company itself only being responsible for around 1,500 of these.
In other words, the vast majority of Instagram posts tagged with “#travelaway” were created by others looking to spread the good word about their new favorite travel brand.
There are three overarching keys to creating an effective user-generated content campaign:
First, it’s essential that you set clear guidelines and expectations for the type and quality of content you hope to generate. Overall, you want to ensure the content your audience creates:
- Showcases your product and brand in a highly positive light
- Focuses on specific features of your product, or specific value your brand brings to your customers’ lives
- Aligns with your brand’s overall content library
Secondly, while you’ll have little to no control over the type and quality of content your audience publishes on their channels, you can still showcase the “best of the best” UGC you’ve collected on your website and social media profiles.
For example, Kettlebell Kings created an entire section of their site dedicated to user-generated content:
(Source)
Finally, it’s also a good idea to diversify your hashtags based on your overall goals for a given UGC campaign (such as who you’re looking to target, what products you’re looking to promote, etc.).
For example, Starbucks uses hashtags to promote the creation of UGC that’s focused squarely on their products:
(Source)
…while also using other hashtags for more overarching events, such as the company’s annual #RedCupContest:
(Source)
It’s fairly safe to say that most of your customers aren’t going to create ultra high-quality, shareable UGC on their own volition. But, with proper guidance from your team, your raving fans should be more than capable of coming up with their own take on your current campaigns.
3. Showcase customer feedback throughout your website and marketing campaigns
Customer feedback is a versatile “entity,” so to speak, in that it can be leveraged by your company in two extremely valuable ways.
Primarily, customer ratings, reviews, and the like can be used to make improvements to your products, services, and overall customer experience. After all, what better way is there to improve your ability to serve your customers than to simply listen to what they have to say?
More to our purposes, though, you can also include any positive mentions of your brand within your WOM marketing initiatives moving forward.
As it is when promoting UGC on your own channels, this approach is sort of a “hybrid” between WOM and internally-developed marketing content.
That is, while your participating customers will be providing authentic feedback, your team will have much more control over how this information is presented to your overall audience.
Of course, there are a number of ways your company can go about showcasing such positive feedback, including:
- Individual product reviews presented on applicable product pages
- Value-specific quotes sprinkled throughout your website
- In-depth case studies and video testimonials showcased within a dedicated section on your site
For more direct and to-the-point feedback (like product reviews), you want to guide your customers to provide specific details regarding the value the product brings to their lives.
Notice, how the two reviews in the following screenshot touch on different aspects of the product (that is, the shirt’s quality and wearability):
When looking to showcase feedback regarding different aspects of your customer experience, you’ll want to ensure the placement of such feedback aligns with the context of the website page in question.
For example, say you’ve collected a ton of positive feedback regarding your reliable and flexible returns policy. In turn, you might decide to include some of this feedback directly on the page of your site that explains this policy as proof that you do, in fact, follow through with these claims.
While such quick-hitting feedback is definitely useful to gain the trust of your prospective customers little by little, you also want to present them with more in-depth testimonials from individuals just like them.
For example, health supplement company Ritual dedicates a section of their main page to customer testimonials (and does so in a tongue-in-cheek way, to boot):
(Source)
Though WOM marketing is typically associated with generating brand awareness, it’s important to not overlook the power WOM has in helping your team nurture Top-of-the-Funnel (ToFu) prospects through the sales funnel.
By showcasing social proof at various points throughout their on-site experience, you’ll allow potential customers to see just what’s in store for them should they choose to convert.
4. Support an important cause
So far, we’ve focused mainly on getting your satisfied customers to spread the news about your brand with a slant toward your company’s actual offering.
But you can also initiate the spread of WOM by championing a cause outside of your company’s “main” focus.
TOMS, for example, is a popular shoe company that almost certainly owes much of its success to its well-known One-for-One policy. That is, for every pair of shoes the company sells, it also donates a pair to a child in need.
Does the brand make high-quality shoes? Absolutely.
Still, it’s not a stretch to say that fans of the product will typically bring up the company’s charitable side when talking about the brand to a friend or colleague.
In turn, this newly-aware individual will know TOMS not as “just another shoe company,” but as “the shoe company that donates to children all over the world.”
Now, it’s worth noting that the point of championing a cause isn’t to make your company look good in the eyes of your target audience. While this positive word-of-mouth is definitely an acceptable byproduct of doing so, the modern consumer expects the companies they do business with to be socially, environmentally, and otherwise conscious of their own accord.
Needless to say, if it becomes clear that you’ve adopted a cause just to increase your brand’s reputation, the word-of-mouth that will soon be spread about your company will not be what you had hoped for.
On the other hand, proving that your organization is dedicated to doing the right thing — regardless of how it impacts your business — will surely get your equally-dedicated audience talking.
5. Host branded promotions and events
Another way to generate a buzz in a more “extracurricular” manner is to develop innovative promotions or participate in or put on fun and engaging events (basically, do whatever it takes to show your appreciation for your loyal customers)
Overall, this is about adding to the customer experience in a way they probably didn’t expect — and that will probably get them talking about your brand to anyone who will listen.
Take, for example, Marc Jacobs’ creative campaign that involved having fans create and post UGC on their social media accounts as a form of currency.
For a short time during NYC’s Fashion Week back in 2014, Marc Jacobs opened a small pop-up shop where customers were given a variety of products after posting content related to the new store.
As for generating a buzz — and keeping it going — what started as a quick three-day campaign has led to the creation of over 6,000 pieces of UGC to date (on just Instagram alone).
(And, there’s of course little doubt that those who took advantage of the company’s offer went on to rave about it to their friends through other means, as well.)
Chick-fil-A provides yet another example of brands creating events in order to spread positive WOM, with its annual Cow Appreciation Day. For one day in July, Chick-fil-A gives a free entree to any customer wearing something related to our bovine pals.
(Source)
Is it ridiculous? Definitely.
Does the company give away a ton of free food that day? For sure.
Is it all worth it? You bet:
Year after year, the additional foot traffic from new and current customers alike on that one day drastically improves the company’s average daily revenue.
If Chick-fil-A can generate WOM by asking their customers to dress as cows, the sky’s the limit for how you can get your customer base to do so.