Word Of Mouth: Getting It Going

It is no secret that even if the business deals with Edinburgh central heating or some other niche service or product, the best way to market it is still using word-of-mouth. People are, by nature, inclined to trust their peers and their friends more than they are some lifeless piece of paper making impressive claims about one thing or another.

However, the trouble is how to make use of this most effective of marketing machines. Since it is entirely dependent on people outside the company’s employ spreading word about the product, it is understandably difficult to pull off. After all, if a product simply isn’t worthwhile for people to talk about it, then they aren’t going to mention it.

On the assumption that the product or service is worth it, how does one get the ball rolling?

Well, the obvious place to start would be one’s own friends and circle of contacts. The inexperienced will likely do this a lot, though even the best in the field will dip into this once in a while. The point of this is to get the ball rolling, though there are the inherent risks of them not being the target market and the possibility they won’t understand the appeal of the offer. However, the fact that these are people that the marketer trusts means that they also trust him, which can go a long way towards just starting a word of mouth campaign. It also taps into something every WOM strategy needs: a solid group of supporters.

In this campaign, the right way to get people excited is to stir the ones with a lot of power to influence the market. Hand out free samples to the folks that have a lot of presence and “authority.” These are the charismatic, the magnetic, the famous, and the respected. Their opinions carry a lot of weight, so getting them on the marketer’s side is crucial.

No WOM campaign ever succeeded because it was the business being loud about its offering. They pulled it off by getting to the point where customers were doing the work for them. However, that doesn’t mean that the business can’t be responsible for building hype and getting a buzz going. Talk about it on social media, make calls, and do a little bit of traditional marketing. Above all else, stay excited. Nothing gets people interested in a product more than an enthusiastic salesman.