Word of mouth advertising is as ‘old as the hills’. Though it is not new, it is very important. Word of Mouth Advertising started with the idea that relationships build business. Therefore networking is a vital tool to the business world. It started with the business card. It has since evolved to the internet and social networking sites. Word of mouth advertising is the same as buzz marketing. The concept is to stir up a buzz about a product or service. It is helpful Word of mouth advertising is as ‘old as the hills’. Though it is not new, it is very important. Word of Mouth Advertising started with the idea that relationships build business. Therefore networking is a vital tool to the business world. It started with the business card. It has since evolved to the internet and social networking sites. Word of mouth advertising is the same as buzz marketing. The concept is to stir up a buzz about a product or service. It is helpful if the great product or service is unique.
Evangelists are people who are passionate about the product or service and are motivated to share their enthusiasm. Ways to implement ‘word of mouth’ advertising are: give product to consumers to use, give information to consumers to read, ie.
catalogs. Buzz marketing is driven by customer satisfaction. 80% of ‘word of mouth’ is offline. 10-20% ‘word of mouth’ is online. Success is in the ‘pass along effect’. An interesting fact is that 50% of negative ‘word of mouth’ is not in the dissatisfaction of the product but in the injustice the person feels. Customer service is the most important element in building a business.
There are systems and services that hire people to give ‘word of mouth’ advertising. Can we believe people who are payed to give an endorsement. Disclosure is important. If there is monetary benefit in ‘word of mouth’ advertising, it should be disclosed. There needs to be open and honest involvement in this method of advertising. Then there is social value advertising, which is simply people who like to give an opinion and feel value in doing so.
To gauge if you are succeeding in your advertising campaign, just ask the person if they would recommend your product or service. Also, we must prove our return on investment. Trust is an essential attribute and will have a rippling effect. Influential people can be like a rock in the pond that causes a rippling effect. This rippling effect can impact generations. Good marketing campaigns are structured on how far out the rippling effect or ‘word of mouth’ goes. Online the rippling effect can go on for years.
This is called . The rippling effect doesn’t dissipate after the conversation. It is archived. Reviews and blogs are a good way to get the word out. People like reading reviews on a product or service and take good stock in them. Blogging is a very popular method of buzz marketing. Social media branding and high quality advertising is sure to become one of your most potent marketing tools online for the year of 2010.
An increased flow of high quality
traffic will truly help you build your business,
relationships, and profits.
The bottom line is to just give someone something they feel good about and they will share their enthusiasm with others.