Understanding the impact of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: “May the WoM be with you!”

Struggling in promoting your product?

For the galaxy’s sake: Don’t give up, my friend!

I will provide you with a solution.

NuqneH, as the Klingon would greet.
In my blog series, I will present to you one of the most powerful marketing tools:

Word-of-Mouth.

Before we dig deeper into the topic, the first episode will acknowledge the relevance of WoM. We have to understand the functionality of WoM to profit from its power. Let’s dive in!

What is Word-of-Mouth Marketing?

In a nutshell: WoM refers to consumer communication that contains the exchange of product information.

Through advances in communication systems such as social media, WoM competes with traditional advertising.

A study by Katz and Lazarsfeld reveals that WoM can be up to 7-times more effective than print media, 4-times more effective than personal selling, and twice as effective as radio advertisement.

Still not convinced? The following infographic underlines the relevance of WoM:

As you can see in the infographic, WoM is considered to be the driving force for the spread of information.

The spread of information has a crucial impact on shopping habits. Consumers rely on WoM information.

As a consequence, WoM increases brand awareness and the likeability to try a product.

Consumers chat about their daily experiences. They share news and opinions, which entail brand experiences: They recommend restaurants, talk about their recent vacations, and their latest purchases. If your best friend would recommend you the new Star Wars movie, wouldn’t you give it a shot?!

The Importance of WoM in Service

Especially the service sector proves to be a natural candidate for WoM-activity since it is considered as risky.

Service’s unique characteristics of intangibility, non-standardization, and inseparability lead them to be more difficult to assess than goods.

Accordingly, consumers seek information to minimize the risk of wasting money.

The competitiveness and resulting variety of alternatives enable the customer to compare and evaluate the best fit.

But how can we influence WoM communication?

Honestly, the power of marketers to influence WoM communication is limited. However, they can promote brand awareness by adopting their Marketing-Mix elements to the needs of their customer:

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

For marketers, it is crucial to understand how product conversations can affect their business performance. A satisfied customer is the best advertisement. Listen to your customers. Try to understand their desires (We can help you with that).

Why and how do consumers even engage in Word-of-Mouth?

The next episode will expose the motives of consumers to share their opinions, and the networks they use.

Luke, I am your follower!
If you want to have the force of WoM with you, better follow UXCam and stay informed.

Originally published at uxcam.com.