7 Word of Mouth Marketing Methods You Can Start Using Today

As you may know, it’s important to have a serious word of mouth marketing (WOMM) strategy. But how do you take the next step and develop it? Before you apply any of these methods, think about what makes your business remarkable. Is it your customer experience, the intuitive product design, or does the quality of your service far exceed your local competitors? Your greatest competitive strengths should be the core of the story you want to tell.

Of course, you’ll also need a few proven methods of execution, and some possibilities will be more appropriate for your business than others. With that in mind, here are seven suggestions that you can begin putting into practice right away:

Word of mouth marketing method #1 Incentivize your customers

Incentivize your customers to share their experiences through video or pictures with accompanying text or audio to your audience on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Then use that User Generated Content (USG) by showcasing it in a story on your website and on LinkedIn, and as a topic in a community forum. Write a blog post detailing your customers’ responses to this request and their experiences. Finally, write Facebook and Twitter posts linking to all the content you’ve just created, with your customers as the focal point.

Word of mouth marketing method #2 Hashtag it

#Hashtag it! Do your customers love a certain branded service or product? Use a unique hashtag when you’re discussing it on your social platforms and encourage your customers to use it whenever they discuss it. The mere suggestion that a product or service is hashtag worthy should encourage potential influencers to emerge and work their magic.

Word of mouth marketing method #3 Encourage online reviews

Encourage and incentivize customers to leave online reviews on all of the relevant review sites. For B2C businesses, that may include Google Reviews and Yelp, as well as HomeAdvisor, Angi, and others. Learn which review sites are applicable to your industry and region and capitalize on the influence those sites have with your potential customers. You may want to begin with encouragement just to see how naturally excited your existing customer base is about writing reviews of your company before moving on to incentives. Once the reviews start rolling in, promote them on your website, in your marketing materials, and in your store!

Word of mouth marketing method #4 Post regularly on social media

Post regularly on your social platforms and ask for follows and likes. If your customers like what you have to offer, chances are they’re waiting for you to get more active on social media. Post videos showing your product in use, user generated content, quick poll questions, and requests for your followers to tag others who may be interested in the content you just posted. You can even incentivize this behavior.

Word of mouth marketing method #5 Get involved

Get involved in causes your customers care about, promote your involvement and create an online forum for people to discuss the issue or cause. Have company leaders speak at events promoting worthy causes, create a charitable event to give to a cause, or partner with a nonprofit organization and announce that you’re giving a certain percentage of your profits from the sale of a product or service to that cause. Think about the causes that have a special emotional resonance for your audience. Health issues that affect many people such as mental health, heart disease, and cancer are applicable to virtually any target audience.

Word of mouth marketing method #6 Referral program

Create a referral program. Every company would love for its customers to find their products and services so remarkable, they can’t help but refer their contacts to your business. But the truth is, people are busy with their own lives and so many companies are asking for referrals that you may have to up the ante. Develop a referral program that offers specific rewards for referrals, such as a roofing company offering $200 for referrals leading to roof repair or replacement.

Word of mouth marketing method #7 Host a contest

Host a contest. This appeals to the competitive drive in most people. Does your product enable your customers to be more successful or more competitive in some way? Is it possible to become super proficient at using your product? Could people compete against one another using your product to achieve a desired result? Can someone be crowned a champion? Are there creative uses for your product that many people may not know about? These are all questions that can lead you to a compelling contest idea.

The more you can engage your existing customer base to think about your products and services just a little more than they already do, the more you can move the WOMM needle. Make incremental progress on a daily or weekly basis. Experiment with these ideas and learn what works best for your business. Have a little fun with it too; there’s nothing quite as satisfying as seeing your customers sharing their excitement for your company with their personal and business contacts.