The value of implementing a mouth to mouth marketing strategy
Posted on: May 18, 2017 7:52 amMouth to mouth marketing strategies are widely known to have the greatest impact on purchasing decisions when compared to any other medium.
We know that consumers have always valued opinions about brands or products that come directly from a friend or a trusted source – but as consumers become increasingly overwhelmed by product choices and tune out to the ever-growing barrage of traditional marketing, word-of-mouth marketing has become even more important when it comes to cutting through the noise.
And it does, quickly and effectively. But how do you measure its value so you can to tell the board that that is how you should be spending your marketing budget?
What is a mouth to mouth marketing strategy?
Word-of-mouth marketing works on the premise that ‘everyday influencers’ want to be the first to know about brands and create ongoing discussions around them. These people test and trial products and then go online and have conversations about them. We know that this type of people-powered, peer-to-peer sampling works, especially with mums as they love to talk and tell their friends about new products.
A mouth to mouth marketing strategy, then, is simply one that taps into the human nature of the 21st-century mum.
How does it influence purchasing decisions?
Positive word of mouth (also known as WOM) is the most coveted form of marketing available, because of the inherent credibility that comes with it.
In fact, it is the primary factor behind between 20-50 percent of all purchasing decisions, and its influence is growing each day. The onset of the digital revolution has begun to amplify and accelerate its reach to the point where word-of-mouth marketing is no longer just an act of intimate, one-to-one communication; today, it also operates on a one-to-many basis as product reviews are posted online and opinions are disseminated through multiple social networks, as well as at the school gates.
How do we measure the success of a mouth to mouth marketing strategy?
So how do we measure the success of a campaign and calculate our client’s ROI? We use what we call our ‘Talk Calculator’.
This helps us to understand the value of each conversation and the type of net results that brands can hope to achieve. For each of our client campaigns, we deliver a detailed report outlining the ‘Customer Lifetime Value’ which is based on careful calculations using our ‘Talk Calculator’. For instance, the results of a recent campaign we carried out for an FMCG ambient product showed that we were able to deliver an increase in ROI of over 200%.
Word-of-mouth marketing is key…
With over 8.7 million mums in the UK, and millennial mums (those aged 18 to 32-year-olds) fast becoming one of the largest and most influential audiences, engaging with these mums is key for brands.
Our particular experience at Talk to Mums shows that success with talking to these mums via word-of-mouth sampling is about three important elements. Firstly, that the right people are being given the product, secondly, that they are being given the product at the right time, and thirdly that the product is being distributed by the right person. Once you have these three things in place you have a hugely powerful and effective marketing tool and are well on your way to increasing that all-important ROI.
Get in touch with us today to find out more about how Talk to Mums can help you get your products into the right hands.