Thousands of years ago, a caveman discovered fire. It was warm. It gave him comfort. He used it to heat up his meat and ended up cooking it. It was a revelation that would change everything.
Now in a time like that when there was no media and no advertising tool, how do you think the news of this discovery spread like wildfire (pun intended)?
The answer is pretty obvious when you think about it. It happened through a process of recommendations and conversations.

And thousands of years later, this method of advertising is still the most efficient way to market a product/service.

Word of mouth is the oldest advertising method known to man and it's something everyone has experienced in their lives. It's about as simple as a friend of yours telling you about his new shoes that are very comfortable, to your brother recommending you a restaurant he likes eating at. To keep things simple, word of mouth is about someone talking to you about something, without any intentions of making a sale, because they aren't on the service side of the business. They are also consumers.

They are 'one of you.'

Now when someone talks to you about a product, telling you his experience with it, he attaches with the product, some values. And communicating values through products is what separates most companies from a well-established brand.

This genuine conversation feels like personalized advice and reaches out to you on a subconscious level, developing in you an affinity towards a product/service and building trust in it, building confidence in you, in turn, to go ahead and make a buying decision. And among the countless other ways you can market something, there is no approach that does it as efficiently as this one.

However, few of us think about word of mouth enough to realize its full potential. A research indicates that it is the most fruitful and trusted mode of advertising in south Asia, with a staggering average of 87% people preferring it to other modes of advertisement. And despite many statistics like that, it is taken for granted, as something that 'just happens.' As something that doesn't require strategy or a catalyst to be efficient.

But if close to about 90% people seem to like this approach of advertisement already, why not put a strategy into it and juice it to maximize the benefits?

In India, you can say that companies are giants trying to take your money from you using nefarious schemes. They will advertise with high budgets, bring celebrities into the mix, bombard your day with product placement and jingles and paint the walls of your neighborhood with their brand colour-codes.

Now while all this bling-bling can look like a declaration of the company's trust in their product, it might not be enough for people to make a buying decision.

The fact of the matter is, the company came up with the product. They have their investments at stake and they need to sell. Of course, they will want it to look like the best thing ever!

And this thought, often generated as a bi-product of advertising, is what draws a line in the sand. It's 'them' and 'us' now. Suppliers and consumers.
This is where people you know (those responsible for word of mouth) come into play as elements you can trust, and their opinions are seen as more credible. This is because that person is like you. And spreading the word about how good the product is, through the act of putting their social reputation at risk, that person is helping you make a better choice. And it's not like someone is paying them to do it.
It is selfless and genuine form their side. And this is what sells. The trust. Their word.

The word of mouth.

Word of mouth can be considered as a virus. Once it has influenced someone, that person becomes an influencer himself. Not only will that person tell others about it, but will do so willingly and enthusiastically (which is every advertiser's dream). With the advent of social media and the internet of things, It has become from being a powerful technique to the most powerful technique out there.​

So how do you do it? How do you get people to talk about you with enthusiasm and recommend you to others?
Here are a few things that work.

Remember the first advents of live cooking in India? There were no major ad campaigns for it and hardly any media attention. Yet within a year of being launched, live cooking became a staple phenomenon. This is because of the strange attraction that this new thing had. Seeing flames dance and knives being tossed exudes a strange appeal of its own while helping people cook and feel good about themselves knowing new things at the same time. Here, word of mouth came into play and soon, it was a widespread cultural phenomenon.

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New and strange things always attract some attention. Making that attention into a positive experience for people is what you need to do.

Everyone wants to feel something. An emotion, a rush, a recall of memories, a promise- and that's what you need to grasp if you want to be remembered by the people.

Nothing guarantees word of mouth more than a relatable advertisement that appeals to someone in such a way that they want to show it to their friends and family. Laugh together, talk about things afterward, trigger emotions.

You can promise them the moon with your ability to deliver it and the phone might not ring daily. But offer them a flower that smells like rain, and you'll run out of stock. No one knows what the moon feels like in their hands.

It is simple. People will talk about you if there is something to talk about. In the previous points, we talked about something new and something of quality. Now, it's about the service. The customers need a complete experience in order to feel happy and more than just talking about the product to others. To 'recommend' it.

Customer service is also important because trust needs to be earned. If the cookie is good and the aftertaste is bad, you probably wouldn't recommend it to your mates. In the same way, after the sale comes consumer maintenance. Remember- bad word of mouth can kill your consumer base and your goodwill easily. Give them a complete experience, and something to admire in you. That's what they'll talk about.
And being talked about is the dream. Isn't it?

Let this brief serve you as an introductory wake-up call about how to advertise using the most impactive method in the business of marketing. And for hands-on help and the rest of this info-iceberg, you can reach out to us.

We are VOLUME.
And that's what we help you get in your business.