Of all the places to buy stuff online, social media is where people suffer the biggest purchasing fright.
Many a time, buyers are scared that brands may not be who they claim to be on social media. And as such, many would rather buy from a brand’s website than a random page on social media.
In truth, we can’t blame them. There have been too many reports of unscrupulous vendors and brands on social media. Too many to last a lifetime.
How then do brands convince prospects that their page can be trusted? How do you get first-time page visitors to put their reservations aside and buy from you?
Through word-of-mouth awareness.
Word-of-mouth awareness simply refers to spreading awareness about a brand through referrals and recommendations. In other words, it involves someone telling others about how good a brand is.
It is one of the oldest marketing strategies in the book and one that has a reputation for providing instant results.
If you need users to trust your brand on social media, investing in word-of-mouth awareness is an absolute no-brainer. In fact, it should be what you do the most.
The question then is: how do you spark word-of-mouth awareness about your brand on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other social channels?
We will show you how in this post. But first, let’s see what the numbers say about word-of-mouth marketing in general.
Word-of-mouth marketing statistics
Roughly $6 trillion of annual consumer spending can be attributed to word-of-mouth marketing. In the coming years, it’s estimated that online word-of-mouth marketing commitments will increase by 70%, while its offline counterpart will surge by 30%.
More than 3.3 billion brand mentions exist in 2.4 billion brand-related conversations per day in the US. 86% of consumers trust Word-of-mouth more than any other form of marketing.
Word-of-mouth-converted prospects spend 200% more than the regular customer.
Word-of-mouth-converted prospects tend to refer 2x more than the average consumer.
As you can see, it’s evident that word-of-mouth marketing is, indeed, a highly efficient strategy.
Ways to spark word-of-mouth awareness about your brand on social media
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Create user-generated content (UGC)
Word-of-mouth awareness involves people telling others about your brand. Technically speaking, that may be impossible to achieve on social media since prospects aren’t located in the same place.
However, creating and publishing high-quality user-generated content on your page is a great way to spark word-of-mouth awareness. With UGC, prospects will see proof that others have already patronized your brand and are happy with their experience.
As the name suggests, user-generated content is any form of content – images, videos, text, and audio – created and posted by users on social media. In most cases, a UGC is posted on the customer’s page, wherein the brand in question is tagged along with the post or mentioned therein.
In general, UGC are quite believable and trustworthy from a consumer’s perspective. And that’s why they’re a good means of generating word-of-mouth awareness.
How to generate UGC content for word-of-mouth awareness on your page.
On your page, invite customers to create content detailing their experience with your product or brand in general. Then encourage them to publish this content on their page while tagging you in the process.
In most cases, you may need to incentivize customers to encourage them to participate in this. For instance, you can promise customers that you will repost their content on your page, thus giving them free publicity in the process. More often than not, customers jump at the sound of this offer.
Who doesn’t like free PR?
If that doesn’t work for you, you can incentivize customers with giveaways, discounts on purchases, or other enticing freebies.
Another alternative is to purchase real human followers (customers) from likes.io and then ask them to create UGC content for you. Simple and easy.
For those who might say bought followers are mostly fake and bot accounts, I’ll like to remind you that bot accounts cannot create UGC content. To create a UGC, the follower (customer) would need to sit in front of a camera and show their face. Not sure a bot can do that.
Don’t worry; Likes.io offers strictly authentic followers.
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Get shoutouts and mentions from influencers
Another way to get word-of-mouth awareness is via influencer marketing.
As you know, influencers are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise in a specific niche. When they speak about something, people (their fans) listen and follow their instructions to the letter.
There’s no doubting your authenticity once a reputable influencer vouches for you. Such is the kind of influence influencers wield on social media.
The only challenge with influencer marketing is finding the right influencers to work with. Many a time, you may find guys with tons of followers, but eventually, you’ll realize they don’t really exert much influence on the decision-making of their audience.
If you can find a good influencer to give you a shoutout or recommend you to their fans, rest assured that you have nothing to worry about again. Just go home and sleep. With that, you’ve already acquired the social proof you need to convince anyone you’re legit and reputable.
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Get recommended by industry experts
Similar to influencers, industry experts are reputable personalities in their various niches. When these people talk, people listen.
In fact, unlike influencers, industry experts don’t need to tell their listeners what to do before they take action. All it takes is a mention, and people are already flocking to the said page.
For perspective, imagine someone like Brian Dean – a reputable digital marketer – speaking highly of a brand or someone at an industry event. What do you think will happen afterward?
Almost everyone at the event will want to check out the brand.
That’s how powerful industry experts are.
You can leverage this tactic to spark word-of-mouth awareness for your brand by seeking an audience with an industry expert. If you can, you can interview them in a podcast or vlog and ask them to publish it on their page. Or you can simply share your product with them and hope that they speak highly of you somewhere someday.
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Get people to participate in a brand-themed activity
Imagine you get an opportunity to be present at a Coca-Cola unveiling event, what would you do with the pictures and videos you take from the event?
I’m willing to bet you’ll litter your social media pages with them.
That’s what we’re talking about.
A great way to get people talking about your brand or sharing your brand with their network is by involving them in a brand-themed event.
For instance, imagine you throw an invitation to your Facebook fans asking them to join you on an all-expense paid trip to Dubai. How do you think they will react to this?
You guessed right already.
The point here is to come up with something you know your fans and followers will be happy to be a part of. If the event/activity is truly exciting, you bet they will be the ones to tell their friends and network about your brand. And with that, you get your word-of-mouth awareness.
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Giveaways and freebies
This is another old trick in the book.
You want people to tell their friends and family about you? Give them free stuff.
It is just simple logic. They will go out there and tell everyone about the newest generous brand they’ve found.
If you want this strategy to work even better, you can encourage referrals by promising to give better prizes to anyone who brings others.
In no time, word will spread about your brand, and people will start flocking to your page.
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Exceed expectations
People have preconceived notions about social media brands. For example, consumers generally believe that social media brands often overprice their products. Many a time, you hear people saying stuff like, ‘I can get that same product for less on Target. It’s way more expensive shopping for it on Facebook.’
This kind of preconceived thought is common amongst social media users.
A smart way to spark word-of-mouth awareness for your brand would be to exceed these expectations. Whatever it is you believe people think of brands in your niche or social media brands, strive to better them.
That way, when people experience you, they will be stunned and will ultimately tell others about the rare experience they’ve had with you.
Final Words
Having people tell others about you is the best and the most effective way to gain loyal customers. If you’re lacking on the word-of-mouth marketing front, please make sure you fix things today.
With the tips in this post, we believe you have everything you need to spark word-of-mouth awareness about your brand on all social media channels.
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