“Word of Mouth Marketing” is not new. It had its roots in ages when people praised a product in front of their friends and relatives. The conversation usually depicts the benefits of the product and what problems the product solves.
Nonetheless, today people hear recommendations everywhere, right from an online review to a social media post. They make decisions based on that.
More than 75 % of consumers purchase based on WOM recommendations. Such is the power of WOMM.
Read this blog to know more about the Word of Mouth Marketing statistics in 2021 and adapt it to attain success.
WHY IS WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING POWERFUL :
Source: InviteReferrals
Word of Mouth Marketing is an organic way of passing the information from different channels to the audience. It could be in person or online. But the pandemic has forced us to shift everything to the online space. Now Social Media has become a great aperture for WOMM.
The customers share it when they feel overwhelmed by the services they procure from a brand. Likewise, an employee can also bring more sales through an employee referral program where he can refer products and services to others.
Why is it a powerful and essential ingredient in e-commerce marketing :
- It is a free form of advertisement which customers do when they feel nourished by a brand.
- It creates a ripple effect in the market as one person tells the other and so on, the process continues.
- Brands can engage the existing customers with the rewards to recommend the products to other friends and acquaintances. It is much easier to spread the word rather than adopting new strategies now and then.
HOW TO USE WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING :
The first step to use Word of Mouth Marketing is to connect with your customers. If they are not interested in you, why would they pass a word for your brand? If you want a real fan base, you shall provide them something tangible.
Source: InviteReferrals
Below are the steps to create a more loyal fan base and use WOMM to your fullest potential :
- Make your brand more interesting :
Word of Mouth Marketing is all about sharing and caring. Your customers will only share the exciting stuff, which has an intriguing sense. For example, Facebook users are more likely to share the content, which gives educational content to the people and creates a positive image in the people’s minds.
- Give value to the customers :
Even if your brand is not that famous amongst the people, you can tie the brand with a cause. Spread it amongst a few people so that they can share it with others. Give them value or reward them for spreading the word. Unique experiences will make WOMM more attractive.
- Evoke emotions in customers :
Emotions drive people more, and once you evoke an emotion amongst the people, you will automatically create value amongst them. They are more likely to share their experiences with other people, which makes them happy.
WHAT ARE THE WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING STATISTICS :
Let us see the power of Word of Mouth Marketing through the statistical data that will prompt you to adopt the powerful tool.
We have divided the Word of Mouth Marketing Statistics into four categories :
- Why is the Word of Mouth a powerful tool?
- Evidence that WOMM works
- Who trusts WOMM?
- What are the results from WOMM
- Why word of mouth marketing is powerful :
Source: InviteReferrals
- Recommendations from friends and family :
According to Pew research center, more than 72% of people receive recommendations from friends and family members, making Word of Mouth marketing a popular sharing tool. In other words, people trust their close ones before they are likely to purchase products.
- Online reviews to try local business :
According to the local consumer review survey, most people would like to rely on online reviews before going for a local business. The online reviews impact consumers’ minds instantly and nudge them to go for a local shop or business.
- Rating matters a lot :
Businesses that get ratings between 3 to 4 stars are likely to attract more customers than those with lower ratings. More than 72 % of consumers consider a business with a rating of 3 stars, and around 27 % would go for a business having reviews of around two stars.
- Quality of Word of Mouth Leads :
A survey was conducted to collect the responses for leads closing rate and leads’ quality through WOMM. Closing rates for leads were found around 3.98, and the lead quality was astonishingly well( around 4.20 again on a scale of 5).
- Build an online community for referrals :
Propagating brand awareness is quite essential in boosting word of Mouth Marketing. Social media platforms have played a significant role in building a community of users and customers, which turns into word-of-mouth referrals with average rankings of 8.87 and 8.52.
2) Evidence that word of mouth works :
- A leading purchase influencer among millennials :
More than 74 % of the customers find WOMM as a prominent influencer for their purchasing decisions. Today’s millennials believe in taking risks; they want to test the new innovative trends in the industry. That’sThat’s why when they hear recommendations; they tend to fall for them more than the adults.
- Social media referrals :
Consumers love to talk about the products and services they adore. The social media platforms give the brands the freedom to create marketing strategies that first boost the referrals, which in turn bring in new customers. More than 71% of the customers are likely to purchase from social media referrals.
- Trust on recommendations :
Source: InviteReferrals
Social media is a powerful platform to fetch in customers for your business, but it comes to comparing social media recommendations and personal recommendations. More than 40% of people would like to go for personalized recommendations due to trust factors.
Social media marketing influences and is an integral part of Word of Mouth Marketing.
- Reliance on consumer ratings :
Apart from the reviews and testimonials, ratings play a prominent role in fetching the referrals’ attention. Consumer ratings can stimulate positive as well as negative impacts on people. More than 61% of the people give it a number one priority before moving towards any brand.
- Leads coming from referrals :
Source: InviteReferrals
More than 49% of the marketers believe that more than 20% to 30% of leads come through referrals. Your loyal customers are your brand ambassadors, so keeping them happy gets you double profits in attaining new leads and loyalty from the existing ones. Incentivize your current customers to bring you more leads that you can convert.
3) Who trusts Word of Mouth Marketing :
- Advertising vs. UGC :
92 % of the people believe in the user-generated content such as the images, videos, and posts they share on social media platforms. The brands repost the videos on their business accounts, which creates brand awareness amongst the people. It is a more potent form of catching leads rather than advertising.
- Trust on reviews :
As we stated earlier, people usually look up reviews before trying to purchase from a new brand. According to BRIGHT LOCALS, it takes just about 2 to 6 reviews to impact people’s minds. More than 72 % of customers say their trust increases immediately after reading reviews.
- Colleague recommendation in IT departments :
Talking about software products, people usually do not like to go out of their comfort zone. They want to get reviews from their colleagues who have a knack and knowledge about the software. More than 60% of the people, therefore, rely on recommendations from colleagues.
- Millennials influence from Word of Mouth :
The times of traditional advertising have already faded. People, specifically youth believe in Word of Mouth recommendations through either social media or their friends. They completely ignore the conventional forms of advertising such as pamphlets etc. WOMM influences more than 115% of millennials purchasing decisions.
- A four-star rating is all you need :
Ratings reflect the value of a brand and what propositions it offers to the customers. A four-star rating is a great count to pull customers. It takes effort to attain such ratings, and your customers are the co-operators that speak through your ratings. More than 92% of customers accept the four ratings as a legal trust in a brand.
4) Results from Word of Mouth :
- Visiting website after reading reviews :
Whether a customer is looking for a visit to a restaurant or a great software solution, they believe in the customer reviews. They get valuable insights from them which prompt them to visit a website. Positive reviews act as a form of advocacy. More than 57% of consumers visit a website after reading the reviews.
- Exceptional services to prompt WOMM :
More than 80% of marketers believe in satisfying their existing customers and providing them with exceptional services. They think of it as the foundation to bring in more leads. A unique customer experience creates a shout-out amongst the potential customers, thus boosting word-of-mouth marketing.
- Track word of mouth referrals :
Although it is a myth that it becomes difficult to track word of mouth referrals, there are enough methods to track them, either you can ask them a simple question or install a referral software. Ask the referrals how they found out about your business. More than 60 % of companies do this. Train the sales reps to ask the referrals – “How did you hear about us” and track the analytics.
- Trusted recommendations over other sources :
The most trustworthy form of advertisements is from the people whom we know and believe. More than 83% of the respondents believe in the recommendations they get from their friends and family. Therefore trusted recommendations always bring in more referrals.
- Acting upon the reviews :
Similar to the website visit, reading reviews stimulate action-taking capabilities within the referrals. Positive reviews instantly give a boost to purchasing, while negative will provide them with feedback. More than 72 % of the consumers immediately take action after reading the reviews.
CONCLUSION
The above statistics demonstrate the power of Word of Mouth Marketing in the success of your business. The perpetual benefit of the tool is that it does not require much of the cost investment and allows you to acquire and retain customers at a greater rate.
To look beyond funnel-inspired push marketing, companies must invest in vehicles that let marketers interact with consumers as they learn about brands. The epicenter of consumer-driven marketing is the Internet, crucial during the active-evaluation phase as consumers seek information, reviews, and recommendations. Strong performance at this point in the decision journey requires a mind-set shift from buying media to developing properties that attract consumers: digital assets such as Web sites about products, programs to foster word-of-mouth, and systems that customize advertising by viewing the context and the consumer. Many organizations face the difficult and, at times, risky venture of shifting money to fundamentally new properties, much as P G invested to gain radio exposure in the 19 and television exposure in the 19.