The world of advertising can be tough - really tough.
Finding the right medium, sending the right message, and using the right channels are only half the battle. Getting your target market to actually see your advertising, and then take action based upon it, is the other half.
Take into account your advertising budget is getting pinched, and the pressure is high in ensuring your advertising dollars are realizing a positive return on investment (ROI), you don’t have the economic luxury of trying new things out to see what works.
Consider This
- Only 18% of TV advertisements generate a positive ROI
- 84% of B2B campaigns resulted in lower sales
- Only 14% of consumers trust ads
- 69% of consumers are “interested” in ad blocking technology
Pretty depressing data if you are trying to get your products and services in front of your target market!
What's the Alternative?
There is one form of advertising that has always worked, and will continue to work, and has nearly a guaranteed positive ROI. It’s the most trusted form of advertising out there, has no shelf life, and will always be well received by your market – so what is it?
Word Of Mouth!
That’s right, possibly the most perfect form of marketing your products and services is through word of mouth.
If you’re not sure how powerful word of mouth can be, take a look at these statistics:
- 2/3 of the United States Economy is driven by word of mouth
- 10% of consumers influence the purchasing decisions of the other 90%
- 91% of consumers are “likely” to buy off of a recommendation
- 92% of consumers “prefer” a word of mouth recommendation
Looking Ahead
First off, those numbers should get you a little excited about the power word of mouth marketing has.
Couple those statistics with an advertising campaign that cost virtually nothing, and you have a real solution to your advertising concerns – money, effectiveness, uninterested consumers, ad blind target market.
Next Steps
Okay, you’re sold on word of mouth marketing, but now what? Where do you start? Well, you’re in luck.
This week we’ll be running a series of posts aimed at getting your word of mouth marketing campaign underway.
From how to build your own campaign, to generating buzz, and integrating social media we’ll get word of mouth marketing working for you and your business.
Be sure to check out the other articles from our "Getting Word of Mouth to Work for You" series!
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Photo Credit: B Tal
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- Word of Mouth Marketing Success Series
- Three Pillars for Word of Mouth Success
- Social Networks, Influencers, and Word of Mouth
- Building Buzz by Being Buzz Worthy
- Do’s & Don’ts – Word of Mouth Marketing
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Good writing. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed my Google News Reader..
Matt Hanson
Looking forward to the rest of the series! I see this at work every day at the forums I run – word of mouth is powerful, powerful.
@Tracy
I bet you do see the power of WOM in a forum setting. It’s interesting that even in a forum we trust our “virtual friends” more than advertisers.
Matt
An upcoming book on word of mouth marketing that I am expecting will be World Wide Rave which has been making a lot of buzz lately. The author of the book will actually launch a series of campaigns to prove that the techniques inside his book actually works by using them to promote his book.
Can’t wait to look at your series of tips as well.
Wayne Liew
http://www.wayneliew.com
It really is amazing when things catch on. I’ve noticed a lot of smart companies are going to mom bloggers & sites with their products. It’s a win-win proposition, companies get the word of mouth and the bloggers get material to write about/search traffic.
From what I understand a lot of people do search the internet for information about purchases. Not just big ticket items – on my board you’ll find people asking about things like “has anyone tried X detergent?” or “that new yogurt, is it any good?”
Of course, I’m biased, being a blogger and site owner, but I think a targeted campaign to reach out to sites like these can be an excellent part of a promotional campaign.
Matt,
Perfect timing! I’ve got a freebie to promote and word of mouth sounds like the perfect way to do it. Looking forward to what you’ve got to say. Thanks.
Sheryl
There is no sweeter honey than that which passes fluently from the lips of one into the heart of another.
WOM works and is absolutely solid.
Bring on the series, Mr. Matt!
George
@Tracy
I think your sense is completely accurate. People use the web to comparison shop for big ticket items, but just as often use it as a way to get recommendations for products and services regardless of price. I know I use the internet, forums, Twitter, etc to help me make informed purchasing decisions – and yes, right down to “have you tried that yogurt”. Just because it isn’t big ticket, doesn’t mean I want to buy cruddy yogurt.
Matt
@Sheryl
Freebies are great, and we will talk about them as a WOM tool.
Matt
@Tumblemoose
Not only do you make a great point, but I love it when you stop by and add a bit of literary flair to our comment section!
Matt
hi Matt,
I look forward to your series! – Steve, trade show booths
I’ve always thought that if you blow your customers away with a great product and great customer service, they will become your best sales people. The thing is though, some companies miss the part about the “great product” and “great service.” Hype and empty promises won’t work to get true word of mouth marketing.
@Steve
Funny you mention that, I actually touch on the idea of a being great in today’s article. I mention that I can’t remember the last time I got all excited to tell my friends about an average product I found!
Matt
@Wayne
Thanks for the book tip, we’ll have to check it out!
Matt
Great article. I completely agree with you on Word of Mouth and run my business that way. We are members of a local BNI chapter which is basically referral and word of mouth based. I just posted on my blog about companies cutting back on traditional advertising, you should check it out.
Trey Schaefer (magnetsfast)
@Trey Schaefer
Word of mouth is a great way to leverage scarce $$$ for advertising. Will be checking out your blog to see your take on it.
Matt