Word of mouth can boost your company’s image online

The boom of social networking site on the Internet has raised the impact that word of mouth marketing can have on consumers. Word of mouth includes viral marketing, blogs, communities, loyalty programs, and other techniques that get customers talking about your product or service. In many cases, though, word of mouth isn't actually "marketing" at all. It's great customer service that earns customer respect. And it's fantastic service that gets customers talking about you.

What does this mean for your company?

While word of mouth is nothing new, word of mouth marketing is. It gives people a reason to talk about your “stuff” and it makes it easier for the conversation to take place by giving people a place to say great things about you.

Once you open the door to word of mouth conversations with your audience, you run the risk of getting negative feedback, some crackpots and you may need to assign staff to listen and learn from the conversation. At the same time, however, you’ll be earning the respect and recommendation of your customers and building powerful long-term relationships.

Author Andy Sernovitz, CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, created the Five Ts of Word of Mouth Marketing, which he identified to help companies generate a buzz factor and their strengthen online presence:

• Talkers: Find people who like to talk – often referred to as influencers, they have boundless enthusiasm and connections to relay your message to target audience.
  
• Topics: Give them something to talk about – provide simple ideas, and portable concepts, that are word of mouth-friendly.
  
• Tools: Help the message spread faster and further – provide the infrastructure to help spread the word to others, such as easy-to-forward emails, interactive blogs or online communities.
  
• Taking part: Join the conversation – when you open the door to real people, they expect you to respond when they talk about your brand. Accept comments on your blog; participate in the discussion boards; and answer the phone if they call.
  
• Tracking: Measure and understand what people are saying – learn to use the tools that show how word of mouth conversations travel and what consumers are saying about companies.

Our take-away advice: In the end, word of mouth marketing is pretty simple: give real people interesting things to talk about and make it easier for that conversation to take place.

Source: “Word of Mouth Marketing in Five Easy Steps,” Andy Sernovitz, Marketing Profs.com, January 17, 2006

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