The star-review culture has informed the business world under no uncertain terms that word-of-mouth advertising packs a real punch.
There are, in fact, few things more powerful than a recommendation from a trusted friend, colleague, or genuine blogger. If someone goes out of their way to recommend a brand or product to you without an affiliate link, you’re inclined to believe them, and so are your customers.
This is why enhancing your word-of-mouth marketing tactics is such an important, yet subtle, marketing goal. You want to create an experience and artefacts of experience powerful enough to bring in new customers who may have never even seen your website or one of your online ads.
While social media is where most brands go with this tactic, today we have five more practical tips for creating real-world recommendations to the friends and family of your current customers.
1. Excellent Gift Boxes and Gift Baskets
By far one of the best ways to word-of-mouth reach new leads is through gift boxes and gift baskets.
Every year, each of your customers gives out a large collection of gifts to the people they care about most. But not everyone is a hand-picked gifter. Many choose an attractive package of goodies already wrapped and ready to go.
Gift boxes are a fantastic way to not only get holiday season (and year-round birthday/wedding/etc.) sales, but also to get your brand products and logo into the hands of someone new who was not originally a customer. The gift recipient will have received a wonderful collection of items, beautifully wrapped, and you would have received a word-of-mouth recommendation for your brand all at once.
2. Loyalty Referral Programs
Among the more traditional options is a loyalty referral program. The concept is simple. You start with customers who are already members or subscribers to your loyalty program. They enjoy a few customer bonuses based on this status like better prices and the occasional personalised deal. But they can get more rewards if they recommend a friend who also joins the loyalty program.
Most referral programs incentivise the word-of-mouth spread by rewarding both the original member and their recruited friend. This is often a shared discount or a gift sent to both parties.
3. Best in Class Services
Another important way to earn word-of-mouth marketing is to be the absolute best in your industry at something.
Your product might be the most helpful for parents or you might have the best interactive help section. What you choose to excel at should depend on what your audience cares about. But if you are the number one option in your industry, or at least within the top five, then customers will recommend your brand as a matter of course.
4. Attractive Reusable Packaging
Want your brand to hang around a customer’s home or travel kit forever? Then package your products in attractive reusable containers. Perhaps your liquid bottles are glass or crystalline plastic with labels that peel off cleanly to provide lovely containers even after the product is gone. Or perhaps your boxes are sleekly designed and black both inside and out, making them excellent organiser storage once the product is removed.
The key to turning this into word-of-mouth branding is an elegant logo placed somewhere subtle but attractive, even after the primary labelling is removed. When guests ask where a customer got that lovely soap dispenser from, your brand will be the next words spoken.
5. Live Events with Swag
Lastly, never forget the power of live events. Live events bring your brand to life in the minds of customers. Suddenly, you are not just another icon on the internet, you are an organisation with real experiences to share.
Customers who have attended a live event or even seen one go by that they could not attend will tend to feel more strongly about your brand. Those who make it and pick up the swag-bag will have branded items at home for a long time. And those who have a blast will no doubt share their memories with friends and family.
Word-of-mouth marketing is something you build carefully with layers of credibility, memorability, and engaging your customer base so that they remember and mention your brand to those they know and others who could make use of your services. Contact us today to find out more about word-of-mouth marketing and how your brand can build your results.
