Word of Mouth Marketing: Trust and Credibility Are the Pillars.
Remember as a kid when you played the game of falling backwards into the arms of a friend? It was a game of fun between friends. Blindly trust they will catch you. Being friends, they had earned your trust and credibility! Usually it was successful, they caught you. Sometimes, it was a miss and you fell down together unison. The hard ground didn’t seem so hard when falling on top of one another. You would certainly let your circle of friends know who you could depend on and trust. Your word of mouth was important to them!
As you got older, you might have tried this with your siblings, your kids, or grandkids or nieces and nephews just for fun. In the work setting you might have had the opportunity to participate in a team building exercise using this “game”. I had several occasions in my career when it was an exercise during a training session to see how the team trusted one another. Who’s most reliable or credible and trustworthy. Team building was the focus. Your word of mouth to your peers regarding trust and credibility was important in building a strong team. Trust and credibility in the workplace are important.
Trust and credibility are critical for any business. In business today, consumers demand positive relational experiences with every business they choose to support. Our blog on 5/11/20 Business Development: The Playbook Has Changed Outbound versus Inbound Media explains what this means. Word of mouth marketing is free advertising. Our last blog,12/1/2020 What’s the Word? It Can Be Word of Mouth Marketing or Advertising! provides more detail on this subject. Customer experiences that are positive and rewarding for them lead to referrals and testimonials about your business and your products and/or services. The satisfaction of the consumer is supported by their trust and credibility of your business brand. Word of Mouth Marketing: Trust and Credibility Are the Pillars. The trust and credibility are the momentum for the ongoing word of mouth communication for your business and its brand. In our 12/1/20 blog, What’s the Word? It Can Be Word of Mouth Marketing or Advertising! We provide insight into the meaning of word of mouth. It means to pass information from one person to another. It is a form a referral communication from person to person.
Trust is powerful because it builds loyalty, it impacts credibility, and supports effective communication. Trust is an earned reward, that develops over time because your business kept its promises. Your credibility inspires belief in your business brand and your products and/or services. It develops as well because of promises made and promises kept. They are very strong characteristics in word of mouth marketing. They influence how people interpret what they hear and how they make purchasing decisions. Trust and credibility support expertise in the referral communication, too. Word of Mouth Marketing: Trust and Credibility Are the Pillars.
Word of Mouth marketing is powerful in developing brand identity for your business. Nielson reports 92% of consumers believe in recommendations from friends and family more than advertising. Recommendations are held in high esteem as 74% of consumers say word of mouth is a key influencer in their purchasing decisions according to bigcommerce.com. Brand loyalty and brand trust promote credibility that word of mouth marketing depends on!
A positive word of mouth advertising and marketing strategy keeps customers coming back. That is brand loyalty and brand trust at its finest. A positive word of mouth means referring other customers that will keep coming back. This obviously leads to referring more customers… because the word of mouth is seen as trustworthy, reputable and credible. These influencers understand the power of communication and its impact on promises made and kept in business! Word of Mouth Marketing: Trust and Credibility Are the Pillars.
About the Writer: Becky Blaesing has vast experience in all aspects of business development. No project is too big or too small. She resides in Ooltewah, TN with her husband and 2 rescue dogs, affectionately known as “the boys” Miggy and Sherman. She enjoys traveling with her husband (but not during COVID of course), golfing, riding her motorcycle, mountain biking, hiking and spending time with family and friends.