Note: This article is the third of six-part series introducing the concept of Word of Mouth Marketing.
Read Part 1 | Read Part 2 | Read Part 3

PART 4
Positive Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies

Good word of mouth marketing strategies involve finding ways to support satisfied customers and making it easier for them to talk to their friends. Here are eight tips to help create positive word of mouth marketing strategies.

1. Encouraging communications
• Developing tools to make telling a friend easier
• Creating forums and feedback tools
• Working with social networks

2. Giving people something to talk about
• Information that can be shared or forwarded
• Advertising, stunts, and other pub­licity that encourages conversation
• Building WOM-worthy elements into products

3. Creating communities and connecting people
• Creating user groups and fan clubs
• Supporting independent groups that form around your product
• Hosting discussions and message boards about your products
• Enabling grassroots organization such as local meetings and other real-world participation

4. Working with influential communities
• Finding people who are likely to re­spond to your message
• Identifying people who are able to influence your target customers
• Informing these individuals about what you do and encouraging them to spread the word
• Good-faith efforts to support issues and causes that are important to these individuals

5. Creating evangelist or advocate programs
•Providing recognition and tools to active advocates
•Recruiting new advocates, teach­ing them about the benefits of your products, and encouraging them to talk about them

6. Researching and listening to customer feedback
• Tracking online and offline conversa­tions by supporters, detractors, and neutrals
• Listening and responding to both positive and negative conversations

7. Engaging in transparent conversation
• Encouraging two-way conversations with interested parties
• Creating blogs and other tools to share information
• Participating openly on online blogs and discussions

8. Co-creation and information sharing
• Involving consumers in marketing and creative (feedback on creative campaigns, allowing them to create commercials, etc.)
• Letting customers “behind the cur­tain” to have first access to informa­tion and content


Coming up, Part 5: Unethical Word of Mouth Strategies: How they can destroy your business.

About WOMMA
WOMMA is the official trade association for the word of mouth marketing industry. Its members are building a prosperous word of mouth (WOM) marketing profession. Thriving markets are built on best practices, effective standards and ethical leadership. Those are the qualities that bring WOMMA members together.

© 2008 Word of Mouth Marketing Association. All rights reserved. Coles Marketing Communications, a full-service public relations, marketing, creative and Word of Mouth agency in Indianapolis, is specially trained in Word of Mouth Marketing by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.