What is word-of-mouth marketing and how to use word-of-mouth to promote it?

Word-of-mouth marketing refers to the enterprise's efforts to let consumers spread their product information and brands through the communication between relatives and friends. This marketing method is characterized by high success rate and strong credibility. This marketing method based on word-of-mouth communication is called word-of-mouth marketing. From the practical point of view of enterprise marketing, word-of-mouth marketing is a marketing method and process that enterprises use various effective means to arouse customers' discussion and exchange on their products, services and the overall image of the enterprise, and encourage customers to introduce and recommend to the people around them.

Three steps to implement combined word-of-mouth marketing

1, the first step of word-of-mouth marketing-encouragement

Trendy people, the mainstream people who consume products, even the first audience who experience the reliability and superiority of products, will spread the texture, raw materials and efficacy of products to the circle of friends around them at the first time, or tell people around them about the 5S system and meticulous service experience of product enterprises and businesses, thus attracting others' attention to a new product, a popular song or a new business.

Recently, Procter & Gamble's tremor advertisement has attracted the attention and discussion of all parties. We feel that Tremor advertising has done enough in word-of-mouth marketing. With everyone's encouragement and sensational promotion, P&G invested some time and energy, but realized the low-cost strategy of word-of-mouth marketing.

We firmly believe that encouraging elite consumer groups, combining and expanding word of mouth can stimulate consumption and make products extremely influential. Indeed, brand companies such as Procter & Gamble, Amway and Wuliangye have been working hard on word-of-mouth marketing. On the one hand, they mobilized all resources to encourage consumers to buy; On the other hand, we should work hard on word-of-mouth marketing combination boxing, do everything possible to expand the audience, and carry out word-of-mouth marketing tactics combining "one-on-one" and "individual" to reduce operating costs and expand consumption.

2. The second step of word-of-mouth marketing-value

Without sincerity, word-of-mouth marketing is ineffective and loses the meaning of word-of-mouth communication. Any company that wants to achieve brand promotion through word-of-mouth communication must try its best to decorate its products carefully and improve its sound and efficient service value concept, so as to achieve the best effect of word-of-mouth marketing.

When a consumer comes into contact with a new product for the first time, he will first ask himself,' Is this product worthy of my publicity?' Validity is their passport to gain a foothold in the market, so what they have a "word of mouth" must be something they can trust and value. "

When the information or experience of a product is easily talked about by people, and the product can naturally enter people's talk after dinner, we think that this product is very valuable, so it is easy to form a word of mouth.

Spreading products is valuable. For enterprises, it is necessary for enterprises to have a reasonable positioning, so that market early adopters can fully express the value of enterprise products with the focus of attention and correct understanding of products.

3. The third step of word-of-mouth marketing-return

When consumers get product information and make purchases through the media and word of mouth, they hope to get corresponding returns. If the products or services provided by for-profit enterprises and institutions really make the audience feel that they are worth the money, they will successfully push the product or service concept to the market in a short time and achieve the goal of low cost and profit.

Skills of word-of-mouth marketing

It is the dream of business operators to let every customer publicize the "virtue" of their business. But is the formation of word-of-mouth purely accidental, completely accidental and spontaneous? Renee Dye, an expert in management and marketing at McKinsey & Company in London, and her colleagues found that it is no accident or coincidence that word-of-mouth advertising creates explosive demand, but there are several rules to follow. Enterprises can predict the spread of word-of-mouth advertising by analyzing the interaction and influence between consumers, making it networked, knowledgeable and global, which requires our marketing to pay great wisdom.

1. Make the advertisement catchy.

Not all goods are suitable for word-of-mouth marketing, and word-of-mouth marketing plays different roles in different goods. According to the analysis of authoritative survey companies, from the product types that people are willing to spread information, "clothing, shoes and hats" (53.4%), "daily necessities" (46.7%), "household appliances" (39.2%) and "food/beverage" (37. 1%) have become the main product topics that people talk about. Further analysis shows that people of different ages and genders exchange different goods: the younger they are, the more frequently they talk about the information of "clothing, shoes and hats", especially among the respondents aged 18-25, they exchange "clothing, shoes and hats" (6 1.7%) and "mobile phone/pager" (50.7%). With the growth of age, "daily necessities", "food" and "housing" have gradually become the main products of people's communication; Clothing, shoes and hats (65.3%), daily necessities (54.8%) and cosmetics (44.2%) are women's favorite topic products. Men, on the other hand, often talk about household appliances (50.6%), mobile phones/pagers (45.3%) and housing (42.0%).

Therefore, in order to make more effective use of word-of-mouth, all marketing activities should be aimed at these groups who are more willing to spread such products, and first spread the information that these groups are most concerned about. Genet Dai suggested that marketing experts should pay attention to two standards: first, products should have certain uniqueness, such as appearance, function, use and price; Second, products should have the potential to be suitable for word-of-mouth advertising and make advertisements catchy.

2. Guide customers to experience consumption.

There is a slogan on the message board in every office of Dell Headquarters: "Customer Experience: Grasp it". The so-called customer experience is "the sum of the interaction between customers and enterprise products, people and processes". In other words, let customers stay in the whole process of manufacturing, or let customers enjoy the fun of consumption in person, thus forming a strong consumer desire to "get what they want at the price they want, at the time they want, and in the way they want". Dell even thinks that "customer experience is the next battlefield of competition".

Pfizer's "Iacocca" has not invested much in advertising, but it can be popular all over the world in a short time. The important point is that with the help of customers' experiential consumption, people's discussions and disputes about the positive, negative, pros and cons of this product have become the focus of gossip in almost every country, and the "blue pill" of "Iacocca" has become a world-famous product under word of mouth.

The experience of experiential consumption is unforgettable. Because of this, more and more products choose experiential consumption, and use this ancient and magical marketing method to guide enterprises to go more steadily and further in marketing.

3. Learn to use brands to make recommendations.

Let excellent brands recommend some brands that have not yet established a good reputation, which will receive unexpected results. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods frequently appear in Nike product advertisements, making Nike a world-famous brand; Coincidentally, at the 23rd Olympic Games, after drinking Jianlibao, the China women's volleyball team beat the American women's volleyball team to become the world champion with the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, and Jianlibao became famous in one fell swoop.

For a new product, the recommendation of famous brands will undoubtedly help to eliminate consumers' doubts. For example, when Newway products begin to appear in the market, customers need to be convinced that the products will not have aftertaste and are very safe. The first point is easy to prove, as long as customers can do risk-free tasting. But it is more difficult to convince customers of the second point. Newway products are safe, and this quality characteristic can only be verified through long-term use. When brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi launched Nutrilite low-sugar products, they virtually supported their statement that Nutrilite is a safe substitute for sugar.

It is conceivable that if a certain brand of automobile engine is jointly recommended by Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, BMW and other brands, we can assert that users all over the world will use it with confidence and boldly, and this brand will be in short supply.

4. Let the brand and the story spread together.

Stories are effective tools for spreading reputation, because they are spread with emotion. In the new century, the Italian leather shoes "Fareno" quietly landed in the China market, and was loved by domestic movie stars, successful men and political celebrities not only by the fashion, exquisite workmanship and exquisite materials of "Fareno" leather shoes, but also by a legendary fairy tale.

1 189, the holy Roman emperor Frederick I and the kings of Britain and France led the third crusade to Jerusalem. When traveling near the Alps, the weather suddenly changed, heavy snow fell, and the Crusader's feet were frozen and could not move. In desperation, Farinaud, a Roman knight, asked others to wrap their skins around their feet and move on. 14-15th century, a famous leather shoes manufacturer in the northern Italian city named his top leather shoes "Fareno" to commemorate this interesting event of General Fareno. The reputation of "Fareno" spread from this.

Beautiful and meaningful legends can always make your products unforgettable. It is estimated that the popularity of the TV series "Dazhaimen" will definitely make the reputation of Tongrentang Pharmacy resound throughout China.

5. Pay attention to every detail of yourself

What affects consumers' reputation is sometimes not the main body of the product, but some unremarkable "parts", such as buttons of suits, buttons of household appliances, a word of maintenance service and so on. These "insignificant" mistakes will arouse consumers' resentment. More importantly, it is difficult for brand enterprises to hear these antipathy, and it is also difficult to improve it quickly and thoroughly. Often sales are greatly reduced, but I don't know where the root cause is. According to a survey by a professional market research company, only 4% dissatisfied customers will complain to the manufacturers, but 80% dissatisfied customers will tell their relatives and friends about an unpleasant experience.

In the shopping hall of new york Meirui Company, there is a big information desk. The main function of this information desk is to serve customers who have not bought anything in the company. If a customer goes to Murray's company and doesn't get what he wants, the waiter at the information desk will take you to another store with this kind of goods. The practice of Meirui Company is not enough, but it is a tangible "detail", which is talked about by people and deeply remembered. Not only won the trust and admiration of competitors, but also made customers feel intimate with Meirui Company. Whenever they go shopping, they always go to Meirui Company. More and more customers come here, and the business of Meirui Company is getting more and more prosperous.

6. Provide quick and thoughtful service.

A touching story of Haier:

A user in Fuzhou called Qingdao headquarters, hoping that Haier could send someone to repair his refrigerator within half a month. Unexpectedly, the maintenance staff arrived at his house the next day. Users can't believe it. I didn't know until I asked that the maintenance personnel arrived by plane overnight. The user was moved and wrote the following words on the maintenance list: "I want to tell you that I bought Haier refrigerator." From the perspective of simple benefits, the round-trip fare is almost the same as the refrigerator price, which is not worth the candle; But from the perspective of corporate image, it can win a good reputation for Haier and attract potential customers for the enterprise.

EMC, a leading enterprise in the American computer industry, believes that once customers trust the company, the company must try its best to maintain this trust. If the company can prove its determination to be responsible for its customers to the end, customers will not leave. Therefore, when there is a problem with EMC's storage system, EMC will provide customers with two choices: one is to get a brand-new EMC system, and the other is to be paid by EMC, and the customer specifies to buy other brands of systems. At that time, some people in the company questioned this way of losing money to let customers choose solutions, but customers finally realized EMC's commitment to be responsible to customers. Because of EMC's attitude of being responsible to customers, although the price of products is higher than that of other companies, many EMC customers still insist on choosing his products. In addition, you can also build a good reputation for brands or products by means of leaderboards, social welfare activities, limited sales and other forms.

It is worth reminding that to win popularity, you only need to invest a lot of money and carry out intensive advertising bombing, which can be formed in a short time; To win public praise, we must do all the basic work very carefully, in place and persistently. Only when products and services exceed customers' expectations can we get their recommendation and publicity. Those services and initiatives that are ahead of competitors or ingenious will make consumers enjoy it while vividly spreading.

Word-of-mouth marketing is showing its eternal charm.