How to Stop Word of Mouth Marketing

[subornaakter24]

Offer of a reward
Companies that pay customers for positive reviews often make a big mistake. Many customers are not offended, but they feel dishonest. You simply cannot offer money for sincerity and friendly services - unless you want to lose good attitude towards yourself.

The vast majority of people engage in word of mouth marketing simply because they enjoy it. And they value your products or services, otherwise they wouldn’t speak well of them. If you offer business opportunity seekers email list a discount on a product or a certain number of points for a positive review, the customer will probably feel awkward. Moreover, the thought may creep into the person’s head: if his friends suddenly find out what he was paid for, they will stop trusting him. So wouldn’t it be better to keep quiet?

And that's just one way things could go. Things could get really bad if the incentives you offer trigger negative word of mouth. People might think you're just paying for good reviews. That means the quality of the product is, to put it mildly, subpar.

Word of mouth marketing is based on strong emotions, and playing with them is as dangerous as playing with fire. You can lose not only supporters, but also the company's reputation.

All the ideas of word of mouth marketing seem absolutely obvious. But make no mistake: as you delve deeper into the process, you will realize that there are some serious contradictions between traditional and word of mouth marketing.

Many companies reward their customers for referring their friends. A person starts to persuade a friend to become a client of the company. The friend, in turn, thinks: "He will get a certain amount of money for this. And what is my benefit?" As a result, friendly relations are transferred to commercial tracks. And can you trust even a close person if his advice is paid for?

However, this method of using word of mouth marketing cannot be completely ruled out. For example, the telecommunications company MCI organized a promotional campaign built on mutual benefit. If a person who took part in the Friends and Family program told a friend about it, then both of them had their phone bill reduced.

That is, everyone received the same and one-time benefit, no one made money off of another person. The situation did not encourage a loss of trust, and since everyone was happy, altruism triumphed. This action can rightfully be considered an ideal example of word of mouth marketing.

Information overload
If there is too much information and it is everywhere, people become uninterested in the topic. It is unlikely that one person will ask another: "Have you seen "The Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath!"? Novelty is important for word of mouth marketing, it is an indispensable condition for its very existence. When e-books appeared on the market, everyone and their dog talked about them. Several years have passed, the information is outdated and the former excitement has long since disappeared.

Rejection of individuality
Word of mouth marketing helped Krispy Kreme achieve success. The company specialized in making and selling doughnuts – fresh, hot off the stove. Each outlet was equipped with a special sign. As soon as the doughnuts came off the conveyor, the words “Hot Now” lit up on it.

The cities where the company had branches were really proud of this and bragged about this attraction to tourists. In many places a new kind of entertainment or even sport appeared: to get in the car and drive up to the moment when the next batch of donuts was ready.

It's safe to say that the word-of-mouth marketing gods were on Krispy Kreme's side. Until the owners screwed it up.

The company decided to open a lot of new stores and compete with Dunkin' Donuts on this parameter. But as soon as Krispy Kreme put cold baked goods on the shelves of the store, people turned away from the company. The thing is, the factor that provided this chain with excellent word of mouth marketing disappeared. Hot, delicious donuts that were so hard to buy turned into the most ordinary flour product sold in any store. The company ceased to be special, and people stopped talking about it. What's the point of sharing impressions about food that can be bought at every gas station?