Word of mouth (WOM) is an elusive form of marketing that has the ability to either build or erode your small business brand. What are some of the characteristics of WOM as a communication medium that make it such a powerful marketing tool? What can you do to try to develop positive word of mouth for your small business?
Trust.
The foundation of any great relationship is trust. One of the reasons that people talk about your product, service or company (WOM) is because they trust your brand - as a small business owner, it's important to earn the trust of your stakeholders with every interaction. As you develop relationships with customers, suppliers and employees, trust will slowly develop - this is an organic process that takes time. The best way to build trust is to deliver on your brand promises. For example, if your small business guarantees a certain level of service, make sure you meet or exceed the expectation level you've created with your customers - falling short on brand promises will result in the kind of communication you want to avoid...negative WOM.
Increasing Viral Capacity.
As online social networks become common place, the viral capacity of WOM continues to increase. The ability for WOM to spread (at a rapid pace) beyond face to face communication or via other traditional means i.e. telephone creates both opportunities and pitfalls for small business owners. Let's use LinkedIn as an example - my 33 personal contacts connect me to a network of over 432,000 people. If I am passionate about a product/service, either positively or negatively, I have the ability to share that with my connections, who could pass it on to their network, and so on.
The most important thing to understand about the power of social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc is how quickly they can impact your small business. In today's business environment, individual stakeholders have a voice - if you do not meet/exceed the expectations of your stakeholders, consumer empowerment fueled by technology could have negative effects on your small business.
Enigmatic.
WOM is complex and difficult to control. Some of the fundamentals that help position successful WOM are:
* having a great product/service.
* building trust with your stakeholders.
* delivering on your brand promise.
* exceeding expectations.
There are no guarantees that your small business will ignite positive WOM at every customer touch point. A recent blog post by Seth Godin lists a number of reasons why your product/service may not be "worth making a remark about."
WOM can be so intangible that sometimes it's easy to lose sight of how it can affect your small business. It's really important to remember the power of WOM and to do the best you can to position your small business to reap the benefits by developing relationships, building trust and exceeding expectations. A good way to keep WOM top of mind is to be empathic across all touch points - If you were in your stakeholders shoes, how would you feel about the execution of your brand promise on your website, in your store, on the phone...and who would you tell about it?
Word of Mouth - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Smiciklas's Website.
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