There are so many things you experience when starting a business, regardless of the level of planning you put in place. Those nuances, while they might be similar to another entity’s experience, are often unique to you based on your context (what you offer, who is willing to pay for your goods and services, what people need contrary to research sometimes). Uwàmìto Consulting is a relatively new business, since launching in 2019 we have supported individuals and entities (local, regional, and international) but many of our past clients did not prefer sharing the stuff on our website or social media, so we developed a standard policy where we do not post the work we do or the clients we support. So, what keeps our doors open? You guessed it WORD-OF-MOUTH and past clients returning.
Although likes and comments on our posts on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok) help our algorithms, our clients who take us seriously are people and entities who may have been referred to us or are aware of our work. We post consistently on all these platforms at least three times per week.
The first recorded use of the term “word-of-mouth” dates back to 1662 when Samuel Pepys noted in his diary that “I have not been much troubled with my cold this day…only my head stuffed with the word-of-mouth.” But what exactly is it? Put simply, it’s a conversation about your brand or business that takes place between two or more people. The conversation can be direct (I told you so) or indirect (I heard about this great restaurant). And it can happen anywhere: in person, on social media, via email or phone conversations, or even through written reviews.
How come word-of-mouth marketing is still our most successful method of acquiring customers despite COVID-19 and the emergence of social media? What have you discovered? Let's look at this concept or strategy, which we recommend you keep in mind and use as a resource when starting a business.
Traditional word of mouth has been around for centuries and has been used since the beginning of time. Though replaced by social media, word-of-mouth was used to spread the news and ‘juicy’ gossip. Word-of-mouth is not paid for and therefore doesn’t have any strings attached arguably. We discovered that there are many businesses that swear by word-of-mouth, for example, Zappos, Tinder, Tesla, Girlfriend Collective, and Wendy’s to name a few. Word-of-mouth is to date one of our most powerful forms of marketing.
The power of word-of-mouth can be powerful for several reasons:
It is bottom-line friendly, it is free!
People share genuine experiences, so their accounts are often without bias.
People take the reviews, words, and experiences of friends and people in their network seriously when deciding on a product or service.
There is something more profound about someone speaking positively about something.
It’s authentic. You can’t fake a recommendation from someone who genuinely likes you or your product – it’s in their best interest to share their experiences with others!
It’s scalable. Word-of-mouth can go viral and spread quickly at a very low cost compared to traditional marketing methods like TV ads or billboards.
So, we are not here to bash any social media site but paid advertising is not always cheap and to do it well requires more than a simple understanding of things like algorithms, reach, and search engine optimization (SEO) so you may have to outsource, hire someone, or learn it yourself. If I must purchase a product online, especially one that I am not familiar with, I always go to the review section to see how other people experience the product.
Word-of-mouth advertising can be done in any number of ways: through social media, email newsletters, and blogs, but perhaps the most effective way is through live interactions with your customers. This means having a good customer service team who are knowledgeable about their products and services to answer any questions they may have.
Word of mouth always works. In one form or another, it will always beat paid advertising and it's free! And I think that even if we're living in a digital world where industry experts can crush a startup with a blog post, there are great benefits to word of mouth. If you feel like your niche is too niche, you might be surprised by just how broad the appeal can get.
There's no doubt that in a world with hundreds of thousands of businesses, it's not easy to carve out a niche and find an audience. But social media, SEO, and networking can only do so much to generate interest. The best way to gain customers isn't through a set of tactics, it's through the power of word-of-mouth. And that requires value, what you provide at the end of the day. Of course, you need your website to be optimized for search engines; you need your ads on social media to capture the eye; you need to network at events and conventions. But more than anything else, you need your business to have value. Because if people can't say anything good about your company or product/service, then no matter how many ads you put up online, or how many tweets and posts you make on social media, there will never be any word-of-mouth marketing for your business, no matter how clever your advertising strategy is.