As marketers, we have immense pressure to create new and effective marketing strategies and gain more customers. While we focus on attracting and converting new customers, we often forget our existing asset, our customer base.

Yes, our existing customers can do wonders for us by their word-of-mouth.

If we talk about Word-Of-Mouth (WOM), it is not new at all and has been practised for a very long time. During earlier times, when there was no technology or electronic devices, it was how businesses marketed. Also, WOM is the most trustworthy form of marketing as people get information through a trusted source that has the ability to influence them.

So, let’s know about it in detail and how it can benefit us.

What exactly is Word-Of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM)?

Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM) aka Word-Of-Mouth Advertising refers to an interactive process of promoting a brand through its satisfied customers without providing any remittance to them. Those satisfied customers tell other users about their experience with the products and services of the brand.

For instance, if a friend of yours comes to you and tells you about how he tried a new brand and loved its products. You will more than likely trust him compared to a marketing campaign and might even try out the brand yourself. This is an example of word-of-mouth marketing.

What is Digital WOMM?

Traditionally, Word-Of-Mouth was a personal & face to face recommendation according to the user’s experience with a brand. People shared their experiences with products & services, which was the only way people could promote any business.

Slowly with time, technology evolved, and new methods of marketing came into existence. However, WOM never lost its essence and was still considered to be the most trustworthy form of marketing.

Presently, the difference is that social media has made word-of-mouth easier and more essential. Brands know that social media has the power to spur up their brand image by reaching a large audience faster. Therefore they have started to digitalize WOM through social media.

How to Digitalize WOMM?

You must be wondering how you can digitalize interaction? Well, why can’t you?  Social media is the interaction platform nowadays, and it is the platform where people express their feelings and opinions about things. In the same way, social media is being used for Word-Of-Mouth as well.

People post about products and services they love on their social media channels and can have a strong influence on their followers. They understand the fact that no one would spend their time to post about a brand’s products and services until and unless they are thrilled with it. This is how WOM is being digitalized.

How to Leverage Digital WOMM?

Studies show that 92% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. Therefore, we can use them for the better of our brand only. We can use that social proof of happy and satisfied customers on various marketing touchpoints to boost our engagements, build trust in other users, and drive conversion through them.

There are multiple ways to leverage digital WOMM, keep reading to learn 3 different ways.

1. Re-share on Social Media

Your existing customer base is sharing their love and satisfaction for your brand on their social media accounts. You can opt to re-share those posts and share them with your other followers. This will not build a better user relationship but motivate others to post about your brand too in order to get featured on your social media account.

2. Embed Social Media Feeds on Website

It might get very difficult if you have a large user base to keep re-sharing all the posts by your customers. Is there an alternative or maybe a better solution? Creating social media feeds and embedding them on your website. Also, don’t forget to optimise your website to attract and retain new and existing customers.

Widget Tools can help you with the entire process from aggregating to embedding it. You can design your feed and integrate it with your website for great results and boosting engagement on your website as well. It will also build their trust towards your brand, which might help you in better conversions.

3. Display on Digital Signages

Nowadays, digital signages are also on a roll. People deploy digital signages for brand awareness or deploy digital signages in-stores as well.

Displaying social media feeds on your digital signages using social wall tools can get users to interact and engage with the signages. These marketing methods can allow for users to start to trust your brand. Specifically talking about in-store signages, people are in your store, which means they are looking for something and are half-convinced to buy. Looking at the reviews and praises of your brand, may cut away all the doubts and result in a purchase.

Conclusion

In the end, WOM is a great way to build trust among the users and promote your brand. It can be quite helpful for your sales and brand value.

Users are the biggest asset of any brand and involving them in your marketing strategy will only strengthen your relationship. Building these long term relationships will provide you with a loyal base for the future.