So you want to increase your word-of-mouth promotion? The first step is to understand what word-of-mouth promotion, or WOM, actually is, and then you can begin to not only generate it but also increase it.
So most people will agree that word-of-mouth promotion is what you get when your customers talk about you. It is the new business you gain when a customer tells their friends or family about your product, service or business.
Typically, people view word-of-mouth promotion as being free. But is word of mouth really free, and is it good for your business? Let’s take a deeper dive …
What is Word of Mouth Promotion?
Word-of-mouth promotion is one side of a double-edged sword. There are really three types of customers: those who won’t tell a soul about your business or product, those who will complain, some loudly and publicly, and those who will talk positively about your business.
The latter of the three is the rarest and most valuable.
However, customers who complain should not be dismissed as they, too, offer value. A complaining customer is telling you something is wrong, and this gives you an opportunity to fix the issue. So lend your ear and listen, and you may even turn a complaining customer into a WOW Customer.
There are, of course, those customers whose intentions are malicious and who complain with the intention of causing harm. You should simply ignore in most cases. This is negative WOM, which is, of course, bad for your business.
What you want to do is concentrate on developing WOW Customers.
WOW, Customers are those who give word-of-mouth promotion. These are customers who have found so much value in your products, services, brand, or experience that they want to tell the world about you. These customers are not free, however.
Why do I say they are not free?
Well, in order to create WOW Customers, you have to invest in the quality of your products and services and the experience you give your customers. Your investment will likely be in both time and at least some money.
While you may not be directly purchasing WOM promotion as you would with advertising, you are nonetheless investing in it.
That said, word of mouth promotion is still far superior to any other form of promotion, as it is trusted above all and makes selling so much easier.
How to Create More WOW Customers
There are really two things you have to do to create WOW Customers who give you word-of-mouth promotion.
- You have to determine what your customers’ expectations are with regard to your brand, product, service, and experience.
- You then have to work out how to exceed their expectations.
Everyone’s expectations are different, so the only way to really find out is to be able to communicate one-on-one. In today’s world of automating conversations and marketing, having real conversations is becoming a rarity.
However, if you practice and get really good at the above two steps, your marketing and promotion are going to get a whole lot easier and less costly too. This approach is also something that can help you stand out from your competition.
