Have you ever been told to try a new restaurant in your neighbourhood? Or told to shop in a so-and-so vintage boutique even when you didn’t ask for a suggestion? And even if you did ask for recommendations, have you ever wondered why some people suddenly become so passionate when they discuss a particular product or service, and start vouching like they own that brand?

The answer to this absurd yet intriguing behaviour lies in world’s oldest marketing tactic – WOM; or Word-of-Mouth.

WOM is an effective communication method utilized by organizations to influence or encourage consumers into talking about their product with other consumers. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe more on these kinds of recommendation from friends and family over all other forms of advertising. In other words, the credibility factor of the brand increases when your closed ones suggest.

However, a recent study carried out by WOMMA and American Marketing Association (AMA) found out that even though 64% of marketing executives believe in word of mouth as the most effective form of marketing, only 6% say they have mastered it.

So, how do you belong to that 6% of the population and effectively engage your consumer into promoting your business? In short, how do you make people praise about your brand?

Well, here are 5 useful tricks you can apply to generate word of mouth:

Build An Experience Beyond Expectations

If you focus mostly on creating novel experiences for your customers and go beyond their usual expectations then it is easier to tug at their heartstrings. Provide them great incidences via your service or inimitable products that your customers can’t help being impressed!

Focus On The Architecture

Concentrate on both the design of your product or the decor of your store so that you marvel your customers and generate a magical ambiance for them.

For instance, when you succeed in enthralling your customers with unique interior decorations, naturally they are awed and pass on that experience with their friend. Think about how McDonald began building playgrounds to attract kids. Or the Starbucks store in Dazaifu (Japan) which is popular not just for its coffee alone but for its store’s interior as well.

It's thin wooden sticks on its walls make it look like the cafe is inside a gigantic wooden basket! The main purpose should be to give something to the customer that can’t stop talking about it! Give them a real treat for their eyes!

Perform Extraordinarily ​

When we see bartenders tossing delicate glasses in the air, chefs twirling razor-sharp knives, or even when exotic dancers performing in the brightly lit restaurants we are often left mesmerized by the wonderment of the place.

Such astonishing routines make us want to come back again or even share our experience with others. You can even introduce an extraordinary product performance. If a product, say Samsung, outperforms other competitors then it would generate word-of-mouth trigger by the customers.

Showcase Generosity

If you sell free desserts with exquisite food or buy one and get two shirts or any of such attractive offers of your product, then your generous marketing tactics will ensure that the words spread and your get likely customers to your side.

You will have to decide how to cover up the expenses for such offers that you provide, which wouldn’t be tough since you can always recover from other sources – like increasing the entry fees or hiking up the product price to a reasonable amount. Even word-of-mouth requires capital investment and you can’t risk under-spending on it!

Don’t Sell Fake Promises ​

Try not to come up with unrealistic promises in your ad. Thinking that word-of-mouth will trigger through the ad by bringing up false assurances would only cause you to lose your clients. Your purpose is to create an army of faithful ambassadors for your company and for that you need to work on creating excellent product/service and create a long-lasting experience for your customers so that they never forget about your brand!

Ashutosh Pundir

Creative Associate

VOLUME