Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages 

Word of mouth (WOM) marketing is when customers share their product or service experience with their friends, relatives, and family members after using it. Other people would start using the product or service based on your recommendation. We’re living in the era of the digital age, but the significance of WOM is still there. Today, we’ll discuss the word of mouth marketing advantages and disadvantages.

Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages 

Some of the pros and advantages of word-of-mouth marketing are as follows;

Creates Impact

Before implementing any other marketing and promotional strategy; it is significant to keep in mind this statistical figure that 50% of the US people would prefer word-of-mouth recommendations. When they have to select one valid source of information out of many about a particular product or service, then they would prefer the recommendation of their friends. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

Almost Free of Cost

Your loyal customers are sharing their positive product or service experience with their friends and acquaintances, and you don’t have to pay them for their referrals and recommendations. WOM marketing allows you to approach such an audience that you can’t reach through any other medium. However, WOM is a type of strategy that works well with other marketing and promotional strategies like content marketing, ad campaigns, and SEO strategy.

Valuable Referrals

It is possible that people are familiar with your brand name through marketing and promotion. But if they receive recommendations and referrals from their friends about your brand, it would help your business to attract a lot of new customers. According to an estimate, approximately 84% of customers believe in the recommendation and referrals that they receive from their friends.

Keep Multiplying

Word-of-mouth marketing is a completely different form of marketing and promotional strategy. Other strategies require consistent investment and work, but WOM doesn’t. You just have to develop and maintain the quality product, and it would make people keep talking about your product and service. Ultimately, the growth of your customers would keep on increasing.

Easy to Launch

As I mentioned earlier, another form of marketing strategy requires huge investment and planning to start, but WOM is very simple and easy to launch. You just have to make sure that your product or service is adding value to the lives of customers and that they are successfully engaging with it. All it requires is your creative approach; you can launch and boost your word-of-mouth marketing campaign with a very limited budget.

Establishing Relationship

WOM marketing campaign allows you to connect with people and establish a relationship with them. Ultimately, it amplifies your probability of increasing your sales and revenue and the success of your company or business. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

Develop Trust

We are living in the world of the internet and digitalization. Marketers and advertisers are bombarding our minds with advertisements all the time like on the bus station, TV, web applications, browsers, etc. In short, you see ads for various products all the time intentionally and unintentionally. WOM marketing develops trust among customers and they would trust the referrals and recommendations of their trusted source, rather than being skeptical about it.

Brand Awareness

WOM marketing doesn’t stop when a person refers a product or service to their friends and social circle. Rather they would share it with their friends and acquaintances if they like the product or service, and it would keep on spreading the brand awareness of your business. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

High Sales

One of the common reasons that attract the attention of customers is the low price. If customers are doing WOM marketing of your product or service due to low price, then it would spread even faster and amplify the sale to a great extent. However, it would mean more revenue and sale for your company. It happens because people trust the source of reference that is recommending the product or service.

Short Term Scalability

The most important benefit of WOM is that it offers scalability in a short time and gives you immediate results. You can launch your WOM marketing campaign, and then you can see its results whether it is increasing the conversion rate or not. It means if you produce something valuable and interesting, then people would keep on sharing it and recommending it. It would amplify your growth and allow you to approach more people.

Word of Mouth Marketing Disadvantages 

Some of the cons and disadvantages of word-of-mouth marketing are as follows;

Uncontrollable

The thing about a WOM marketing campaign is that it is out of your controllable, you can stop people from saying things about your brand or product. They say good things or bad things about your product or service, and share it with their friends and social circle. However, you don’t have control over the views and opinions of other people and why they say things. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

Double-Edged Sword

WOM marketing is like a double-edged sword and it can work both, it works both ways. It could either boost your brand and promote your products, or jeopardize the growth of your business if they say negative things. However, your competitors could spread false rumors about your brand or product, and they aren’t good for the growth of your business.

No Exact Metrics

WOM marketing doesn’t offer you any type of exact metrics and KPIs to measure the performance and growth of your business and conversion rate. You don’t have sufficient data to make improvements in your current marketing strategy or remarket things. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

Low Coverage

The other flaw of the WOM marketing campaign is that you can’t approach the global audience with it. It would only allow you to approach the local audience of a few regions, and its coverage rate is very low. However, you don’t know for sure whether people would share your product and service experience with friends or not. (Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages)

Bad Press

If negative reviews and bad referrals and fake memes start spreading over social media, they would like a spark on the haystack and jeopardize your entire marketing effort. It is important to keep in mind that false rumors spread faster than good recommendations.

Employee Opposition

If the employees of the company aren’t happy and satisfied with their paychecks, working conditions, and holiday plans, then they would go on strike and share their experiences on social media. Such types of news and reports would push away from your brand because you aren’t treating your employees fairly.  

Conclusion: Word of Mouth Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages 

After an in-depth study of the word of mouth marketing advantages and disadvantages; we have realized that WOM marketing is highly beneficial for your business. If you’re running a WOM campaign for your business, then you should keep in mind its pros and cons.