It’s probably the oldest form of marketing and, apparently, still the most effective: word of mouth.
Ever since one caveman told another caveman that a mammoth cooked a particular way was the yummiest, word of mouth has always been the most trusted way to build a brand and build a customer base for that brand.
And, in some ways, it’s the hardest type of marketing for small businesses to reproduce. That was, at least, until the advent of Web 2.0 technology.
Now, it’s easier than ever for one person to tell their entire network of friends and family (and their friends and family) what they think about a particular product, service or brand. Blog posts, social media channels and the fact that more and more people understand how they can generate their own content and opinions online have all meant that businesses, and especially small businesses, need to have a better grasp on what people are saying and how to engage their community better.
In a survey conducted by Neilsen Company, and brought to my attention by Jonathan Crossfield from Netregistry, people were asked which means of marketing gave them some degree of trust in what they were being told. Click on the image to the left to see the full breakdown of the results.
Not surprisingly, ‘recommendations from people known’ came in as the number one most trusted for of marketing with 90% of respondents saying they had some degree in word of mouth.
Interestingly though, ‘consumer opinions posted online‘ (70%), ‘brand websites‘ (70%) and ‘emails signed up for‘ (54%) all ranked above 50% of users’ responses.
This gives weight to what we do with small businesses all the time in their social engagement strategies: build dynamic websites/blogs and keep a consistent contact through useful email marketing programs that aren’t spammy and annoying.
If you would like to find out how I can help your small business engage with your target market and the wider community better – and in so doing create a better word of mouth profile for your business – call me TODAY on 02 4324 2594.
Do you agree with the above findings? Do you trust word of mouth referrals above all other forms of marketing? Please let me know in the comments below.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
May I ask a silly question, with regards to email marketing, how does a small business that offers a service create an email newsletter database without infringing on strict spamming laws? Sure I could write emails to the dozens of contacts I have made but apparently unless they signed up to received the email, then I’m not allowed to do it? Seems a bit catch 22? Do you have any articles or tips or wisdom on this?
I’m perplexed.
Gday Sylvia, great question.
The Spam Act is pretty clear on this but there is still a lot of grey area depending on who you speak to. The easiest thing to do is to get the contacts to ‘opt-in’ to receiving your newsletter when they first make contact with you or when they subscribe to your website or whatever the case may be.
An email out to an existing contact asking them whether they would like to receive ongoing newsletters or updates about special offers or whatever the case may be is another way to receive consent from a contact that you have already made.
Remember also that each email newsletter you send out, particularly if it is sent from my email marketing platform, contains a very clear ‘unsubscribe’ link so that if at any time the receiver does not want to get any more of your newsletters, it is very easy for them to ‘opt-out’.
The best email marketing campaigns are consistent in their contact with and message to the receivers but without being spammy and annoying.
Does that help?
Nick
Hi Silvia & Nick
Your are correct, spam compliance laws mean that you must have consent from recipients in order to send them your newsletter. Having consent will also get you superior results because they’ll be expecting to receive your newsletter.
My suggestion would be to simply ask whenever you meet a new contact or speak with an existing lead. You’ll need to make sure you are clear about what your newsletter will include so that you can let them know, that way they will be more likely to say yes! Also if you have a website, an opt-in form will allow your visitors to subscribe.
Many of my clients who publish email newsletters started with very small lists, even myself, but by consistently growing the list and consistently publishing a quality newsletter you’ll find an email newsletter is a highly effective client retention strategy as well as a sales/conversion strategy.
You can read my own article on Australian Spam compliance at http://webchameleon.com.au/email-marketing/australian-spam-compliance/
And in relation to Nick’s article above I totally agree about word of mouth. It is powerful strategy for any business. The only way to get word of mouth referrals is to make sure you have happy customers (& newsletter subscribers
!
All the best,
Belinda
Word of mouth now has a close companion “word of mouse” thanks to the marvels of social media and digital communication.
@Karen, thanks for the comment. I agree, especially with the advent of user-generated content, social media is word of mouth on steroids.
Hi Nick,
Interesting graph you’ve included in your post.
What I find especially interesting, though, is that there is still a whopping percentage of trust in the following forms of marketing:
- editorial content (eg. newspaper) 69% (which I find absolutely FRIGHTENING)
- TV 62%
- Billboards 55%
- Ads before movies 52%
Does that surprise you?