By Pranav Kosuri and Douglas Andersson
Reports suggest that 62% of social media users become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it on their feed. The typical action users take is to browse the brand’s website to know more about the product or service. Hence, if used correctly, social media can be the perfect vehicle for brands to leverage and positively impact website clicks. The golden rule to generating clicks is getting the right messages to the right people at the right time. However, brands often concentrate on creating eye-grabbing graphics to entice customers, which don’t necessarily generate the desired results and often fail to leave an impact on the user’s mind. Another reason for losing customer clicks is that other brands in the same industry do the exact same thing which makes your brand just a part of the crowd and does not stand out. Like they say, out of sight, out of mind!
In contrast, word-of-mouth marketing leaves a far better imprint on customers’ memory as hearing the brand name from peers generates familiarity and, in turn, generates ‘clicks’. People use social networks to share experiences, and since this information comes from peers, people consider it authentic and refer to it to decide whether to buy.
Below are four ways word-of-mouth marketing can make consumers ‘click’ and in turn generate brand awareness, leads, sales and revenue for a brand –
Be the catalyst to start a trend
Being relevant is not about following trends; brands need to be innovative and unique. Making content viral is a well-planned strategy and does not always happen by chance or luck. When a brand creates an ad, reel or post, it needs a circle of people who will follow and share the content among their groups and thereby start a chain reaction. To convert content into a trend, brands must have a strategy and enough catalysts to start the word-of-mouth chain by share force. For example, the Gangnam style was made viral by the managing team of Justin Beiber when they discovered it a long time after its launch. Another example is the Ice Bucket Challenge which dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS on social media all over the world.
The relevance of relevant content
In this digital age, people are constantly exposed to new brands but will only interact with a small percentage of those that feel relevant to them. Therefore, for a brand to be successful, a creative campaign is no longer enough: it must be crafted in a way that speaks to a specific audience. A brand needs to be relevant to its potential customers and talk to them directly rather than trying to please the masses with appealing visuals and hoping for the best.
Users mainly look for brands for practical solutions. Therefore, if your brand doesn’t provide a relevant answer to their problem, you will lose your followers, who will seek other brands that align with their current circumstances. Brands should also keep in mind that one solution or one problem does not fit all of its customers. To cater to a diverse customer base, brands should seek to create dynamic content to resonate with the target audience.
Relevance is best achieved by getting your own customers to tell their friends and family about why THEY use your brand. When a person posts or shares something relevant to them, it is more likely that it will be relevant to their friends and family as well, as they belong to the same socioeconomic background and have the same purchasing power. Furthermore, by using this method brands are unloading its decision-making on what solution to offer to its customers instead of its marketing team.
Familiarity effect increases ‘click’ chances
Humans tend to develop a preference for things we see or hear often. In simple words, we tend to view things more favourably when they’re familiar. The impact of this in marketing is one of exposure. Customers tend to choose the most familiar brand, even if there is a better brand in the market.
Familiarity means someone has enough knowledge to have an opinion about a brand. When this opinion comes from someone within our circle, the trust and curiosity towards the brand increases manifold. Especially in the age of social media, people don’t want to miss out on things. Whether it’s hype around a web series, a product launch or a trending ad – everyone wants to be in the loop. Word-of-mouth helps create this familiarity and thus the curiosity to follow the brand. If you are familiar with or aware of a brand, you are more likely to be open to receiving the brand’s marketing messages leading to more clicks.
Speak the language of your target audience
We all find ourselves using particular jargon or terminology in how we communicate within our circle and in how we post on social media. While communicating on social media, brands must understand that customers aren’t industry experts. Hence the trick is to figure out how to communicate the products and services in terms and phrases that the ideal customer already uses. When building the brand’s communication strategy, select keywords considering how your audience communicates online and use the same terminology and language they use.
With word-of-mouth, the process becomes more straightforward as the brand advocates communicate with their audience in their language without the brand having to interfere. When recommendations come in a familiar language from a familiar face, it automatically generates ‘clicks’.
In conclusion, every customer can potentially alter perceptions of your business positively or negatively. When handled proactively, their word-of-mouth influence can be a powerful tool for your content marketing team. Long before you know it, the brand has an army of advocates that know who you are, what you offer and why it’s relevant to them. This army of advocates is your gateway to successfully making consumers click on your marketing campaigns.
The authors are co-founders at Brandie
Also Read: Hybrid OTT Monetisation Models: The Best Route to Profitability