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While business and marketing have changed a great deal in recent years, some things have stayed the same. For instance, global business hasn’t removed the importance of the personal touch, and all of your digital marketing efforts don’t change the fact that word of mouth marketing is still the single best indicator that your company is headed in the right direction.
Not only is a personal recommendation a sign that you’re doing something right, but word of mouth is also a free solution that has the potential to keep on giving. Unfortunately, word mouth in the age of global reach and saturated markets can quickly get complicated, and also relies on your ability to furnish these efforts with some competition-stealing capabilities like the following.
# 1 – Audience understanding
We receive more recommendations from influencers etc. nowadays than ever before, and with most of us only cherry-picking a small selection of those companies, word of mouth is now about more than just impressing on an individual scale. Instead, you need to ensure that you’re targeting the right people in the first place and that they, in turn, recommend your products to viable prospects. The right branding, advertising campaigns, and more especially stand to help here by narrowing down on who you need to target, and are only possible if you utilize the analytics and insights now available across your online activities. Checking these regularly, and making sure that you’re building a brand that more clearly says who you are, and who’s most likely to enjoy what you do, can significantly turbocharge any word of mouth recommendations you receive moving forward.
# 2 – A visible business presence
Far from heading straight to your physical store, most people who hear about you through word of mouth will search for you online. If they can’t find you, or if they have to trawl through countless pages on Google to do so, then they’re likely to either forget about the recommendation or just click on top-ranking contenders. That’s something you need to address with a more visible business presence that immediately captures attention which has already been sparked. For one thing, this means improving your search standing using SEO marketing initiatives like content and web design. Make sure, too, that you’re visible on social media, preferably with hashtag campaigns that mean your name already rings a bell when people recommend you, significantly increasing your chances of turning leads that someone else has created into conversions.
# 3 – Products that don’t disappoint
The true power of word of mouth comes from its cyclical nature. One person recommends someone, who recommends someone else, and soon you’re enjoying a self-perpetuating cycle of free marketing. Unfortunately, this is only possible if your products always live up to their own standards, and evolve to keep every consumer as interested as possible. This means piling as much focus as you can into priorities like product development, quality stock sourcing, and of course, tried and tested finished products that are sure to get people talking.
