Web of Mouth

By Joelene Wickens-Orlando
Posted Sunday, October 10, 2004

Word of mouth marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Like viruses, such forms take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, and even to millions of people.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ve undoubtedly seen those buttons on web sites that say ‘click here to send this page to a friend.’ With this simple tactic, your site visitors are able to provide you with “web of mouth” advertising for your web site, and each successive visitor can do the same. Word-of-mouth advertising has traditionally been one of the most effective advertising strategies available. The Internet does not change that principle, but makes it easier for you.

How can you build more ‘web of mouth’ advertising to your website? You want your customers to talk to their friends about their experiences in doing business with you, and why not set up forums, chat rooms, blogs and ‘refer to a friend’ to bring your level of word of mouth marketing to a whole new plateau? Word of mouth marketing doesn’t cost you any money, and you reap the benefits from this form of marketing as it simply functions without any implementation on your part once you set up a good solid communications system on your website. What’s really nice about the various methods of ‘communications’ tools out there, is that you can view what people are saying, and what they’re discussing, and you have the opportunity to jump in periodically. The most effective way for you to promote your site is to become a regular participant in discussions relevant to your site. Why? By showing that you are taking the time to actually read what people are saying, and offering input with useful content, reflects how seriously you take other people’s opinions or thoughts about your business.

Using your website along with a very cohesive mix of advertising forms of customer relations in forums, chat rooms, signature files, tell-a-friend, and blogs, you can spread your marketing messages from person to person, reaching potentially more people than normal word of mouth could ever create, generating a continuously growing stream of new leads for your business.

To stimulate the word of mouth advertising, check out these different types of ‘web’ interaction tools that will definitely get your business noticed!

Forums:

There are three general types of forums that you may want to consider for your website. Usenet newsgroups, web-based forums, and email discussion lists. Usenet is the system of online discussion groups where participants post messages related to the newsgroup topic. Web-based forums exist solely online. You don’t need a newsreader to participate, and some sites include a discussion area where you can register by submitting your email address, along with your “sig” (signature file=name, title, company, email address or URL). Usually there is a password entry requirement to participate. Your site should have a password entrance for users to participate. Email discussion lists are forums where group members send in messages of interest to the forum and they are compiled into one large message and sent to everyone who has subscribed to the list. You have to sign up initially to receive the discussion via email. The nice thing about this email list is once you receive the messages, you can add your comments or contribute to the list to keep the topic moving. Usually all comments or feedback will go through a moderator, which it edits the lists to make sure the messages remain on topic and initiates new conversations, and keeps the nature of the lists in an appropriate light.

Tell-A-Friend:

Every website should have this on their pages. It’s a great way to get extra visitors. I very often will use this feature if I find something of interest or value and pass it on to my friends. It’s a simple format and when you click on it, it will generally have fields for you to fill in your name, the recipients name, your email address and of course, the recipients’ email. When the recipient receives your email, it will show as a summary of your website and a link to your site. All the end user has to do is to click onto your ‘link’ to get right to your site.

Guest book:

A guest book is a web page where anyone can leave a note about you or about your product and/or service for you or anyone to see or read. The comments left on your guest book can be positive or negative (yep, you have to take the good with the bad folks!) Guest books can be an interactive feature that can provide the necessary feedback the web site owner needs to make to their site, product or service.

Chat Rooms:

A chat room is a website, part of a web that provides a venue for communities of users with a common interest to communicate in real time. Forums and discussion groups, in comparison, allow users to post messages, but don’t have the capacity for interactive messaging. You just register to the chat room of your choice, choose a user name and a password, and log into a particular room and begin chatting. Generally there is a list of the people currently online chatting, and it alerts you if anyone new enters or exits the chat room. Users type a message into the text box, and the message is immediately visible in the larger communal message area and other users respond accordingly if they wish. Some people just sit and watch to hear what others are saying about a particular issue, which is then called ‘lurking’. The other users know you’re there, even though you may not be participating. Manners and common courtesy should apply to all real time interactive tools. Foul language, or demeaning vocabulary is not acceptable and can offend others that are on board.

Blogs:

Blog is short for a web log. (See my article on weblogs for a detailed description). It is basically a journal that is frequently updated and intended for the general public consumption. Blogs represent the personality of the author or the web site. Blogs have common elements, updated frequently, (usually daily, but sometimes 2 or 3 times a day), informal, grouped by date with links to archives of older posts; informative and/or inspiring (the good blogs).

There you have it. You’ve discovered a couple of ways to get people talking about your site, and to spread the word about how terrific your business is. Get some action moving through your site where everyone is talking and sharing good insight about your products and your services, and more importantly, sending this valuable information about you down the wire to thousands of potential customers. On a final note, take this thought with you. Those who hesitate in creative marketing techniques will always be behind the eight ball.

About the Author
Joelene Orlando is a Web enthusiast and a staff writer/consultant for eMarketing Answers with a broad knowledge of topics covering Internet marketing and communication strategies for both consumer and small business owners. (http://www.emarketinganswers.com) is dedicated to providing free, comprehensive emarketing resources and online promotion tools.