Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Hi! Welcome back to my blog.

This week, I will be diving into the concept of word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing is the feedback that consumers share with one another about a good or service. This can happen intentionally or completely by accident. Any time a consumer is talking about their experience with a brand or company, they are doing marketing for that brand. They are sharing their (hopefully) positive experience with others, and by doing so, spreading positive awareness about the brand.

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the strongest and most effective marketing tactics. When people see and hear other people’s positive experiences with a product, they are more likely to trust the product. I was positively impacted by word-of-mouth marketing when Chick-fil-A released their Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich. Chick-fil-A’s advertisements and commercials made the sandwich look great, but I was not sure that it was something I needed to try. I am confident in my traditional Chick-fil-A order (everybody has one…why fix something that isn’t broken?), so I was not sure about venturing out. Within days of the sandwich being on the menu, it was the talk of the town. My friends, family members and people I follow on social media were all talking about it. Many people were posting videos of them taking their first bite into the sandwich and giving their raw reactions and review. I received many texts from friends who expressed their love for the sandwich. I felt like “Have you tried the new Chick-fil-A sandwich?” had become a common and acceptable conversation starter. This was all word-of-mouth marketing. Obviously, I was persuaded to try it and I, along with the rest of the world, loved the sandwich. 

One of the articles I read this week offered strategies that brands can use to incorporate word-of-mouth marketing (Sukhraj, 2023). One of the strategies that stuck out to me was “Encourage User-Generated Content (UGC).” User-generated content is content that consumers make about brands and share it among platforms to reach other consumers. The article explains that UGC can be done by consumers authentically sharing their experiences, or consumers being incentivized to do so. An example of this would be an ambassador program, where consumers are paid or rewarded to give reviews and promote products online. Personally, I am more likely to trust someone’s review who was not paid to do so. When I see someone (in person or on social media) bragging about a product they love, I become very interested in it. To me, that shows that a person is so confident in the product that they are excited to share it with others. When I see a sponsored message of someone bragging on a product they claim to love, I am hesitant to trust it. Whether or not it is their true opinion, it is clear that this person was incentivized to give a positive review. 

While I find incentivized UGC to be less persuasive when compared to authentic UGC, it is still effective. After hearing a promotional message, even if the person was paid, the product is going to linger in the back of my head. When I see the product or brand in stores or online, I will think back to the positive review. This has more of an effect on me as a consumer than if there was no UGC at all. If I am deciding between purchasing Hoka sneakers or OnCloud sneakers and I saw a TikTok of a girl raving about her Hoka’s, I am more than likely going to purchase the Hoka’s. Whether or not the girl was incentivized to post the video, if it was more than I had seen about OnCloud sneakers, I would still be going with the Hoka’s.

It is crazy to think that every time a good or service is brought up in conversation, we are doing marketing for it. It feels like listening to a friend talk about their comfortable shoes or fabulous new makeup product is just casual conversation. Now I see that from a business perspective, these conversations mean so much more. Spreading good information and experiences about a product can have a great impact on it. When you engage in word-of-mouth marketing by having a conversation with someone, they can tell other people of your experiences, spreading awareness. Similarly, when word-of-mouth marketing is posted on social media platforms, it can be shared, re-posted, liked, and commented on by millions of users. Positive word-of-mouth marketing can be spread so quickly, it makes me ponder negative word-of-mouth marketing. I imagine negative experiences and feedback would spread twice as quickly, if possible. Negative experiences can be very detrimental to brands. When I read someone’s positive review on a product, I may dig deeper, searching for more feedback and opinions. However, when I see a negative review where someone completely bashes the product, I will probably divert my attention to a different brand or company.

When leaving bad reviews or sharing poor experiences with a product, it is important to be considerate of how it could negatively affect the brand. I wholeheartedly agree with being truthful about a product and sharing an honest opinion. However, sometimes we should give brands a little grace. For example, one time my sister and I both used the same makeup remover. As soon as I put it on my face, my face began to burn and turn very red and splotchy. My sister was confused why I was reacting so badly because her face felt completely fine. Clearly, my face was just sensitive to the product and I may have had an allergy to an ingredient. Instead of leaving a review that accused the product of breaking out my face, I left a review noting that it works differently on different types of skin. I believe this was an appropriate way to express my opinion of the product without bashing it. After all, it was not the makeup remover company’s fault that my skin reacted differently than most consumers. 

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most common and effective marketing strategies that consumers use every day. It is interesting to recognize the different types of word-of-mouth marketing and seeing how it influences consumers differently. Thinking back, there have been many times I have produced user-generated content that encouraged people to purchase a product without me even realizing it. 

Have a great week! Feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

Maiya Sokol

References

Sukhraj, R. (2023, May 8). 7 must-have word-of-mouth marketing strategies [infographic]. IMPACT. https://www.impactplus.com/blog/word-of-mouth-marketing-strategies-infographic