A Marketer's Dream: Word of Mouth and Many Other Things

“Word of mouth is the most honest form of marketing, building upon people’s natural desire to share their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues”

(p. 131, Groundswell)

Reading avidly the chapter 7 of the Groundswell, I’ve paused to think about the word of mouth marketing more deeply. What is more, I’ve caught myself thinking that when I intend to buy something or to visit a new place, firstly I try to recall my friends’ opinion about it or I just google it. And the chapter 8 of the Groundswell reflects my attitude towards the idea “people are willing to spend lots of time helping each other, if you just get out of the way”. Indeed, when I’m in trouble with a product or a service, firstly I prefer to check if someone has faced the same problem before.

And what is still better, that we are these very people who give guidance, who ask for help on the Internet (whatever the reason), who support each other in our everyday life. For example, you can find answers to absolutely unpredictable questions. I guess some of us feel confused to ask a technical support representative a question like this one:

The groundswell is able to do everything by itself, all you need to do is to give people a topic of conversation or a question under discussion. And you’ll be outstandingly surprised when people start sharing their ideas on how to improve your product or service, or even the entire business for free. Can you imagine? For free!
If you are searching for the slightest clue why something is going wrong with your product, one of the best ideas is to open your web browser and go through ratings and reviews.

Word of mouth is a powerful, non-stop tool that can bring the positive results (and unfortunately the negative ones too) when you are online or even offline. If you do like a certain product, you’ll probably recommend it to your friends. But if you DO NOT like a certain product, you’ll complain out loud. Do not underestimate "the value of an energized customer!" In our modern world he or she is your best provider to the world of revenue, feedback and long-lasting customer relationships.

Here is an “offline” example of the successful word of mouth in the past:

In 1864, in order to sell “Shustov Brandy” more actively, the owner Nikolai Shustov hired students. They went to taverns and asked for the Shustov brandy.  Hearing that there was no that very brandy, a young man was supposed to show surprise and ask something like “How you don’t have the Shustov brandy, the best brandy in the world?” After receiving the confirmation, the visitor apologized to his lady for having brought her into this low-grade institution. A month later, the entire population of Moscow got wind of the Shustov brandy.

Another successful example is Airbnb (a website for people to list, find, and rent lodging) which has over 1,500,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 190 countries. Airbnb actively uses a referral marketing program. Word of mouth is the essential channel for Airbnb, because “Airbnb experiences are so personal”. People tend to give advice based on the most advantageous findings. Plus, they want to be the first ones who will enlighten you. "People use Airbnb to unlock incredible experiences–anything from weekend getaways with friends, cultural exchanges, and once in a lifetime events like honeymoons”. The referrals program looks very inspiring on its own. It’s a good way to get wants and needs met: “inviting friends by giving both the sender and recipient $25 of travel credit at Airbnb”. Is it possible to resist?

Is it believable? Is it self-reinforcing? Is it self-spreading?

And one more thing