Word-of-mouth marketing
What is word-of-mouth marketing?
Word-of-mouth marketing is growth through people recommending a product to others, in conversation, in communities, in reviews or by sharing. Companies encourage it by making a product worth talking about, delighting customers and making sharing easy, sometimes with a referral programme.
Much of it happens in private (dark social), so it is often bigger than analytics show.
Why word-of-mouth marketing matters
A recommendation from someone people trust is the most persuasive marketing there is, and it costs little per customer.
Related marketing terms
Referral marketing rewards existing customers for bringing in new ones, for example with credits or discounts for both sides.
Dark social is sharing that happens in private channels, such as messaging apps, DMs, email and private groups, where it is hard to track.
Social proof is the tendency to trust what others do and say: reviews, testimonials, user counts and creator recommendations that reassure buyers.
Community-led growth is growing a business through a community of users who help, teach and recommend each other, with the company as host.
Net Promoter Score asks customers how likely they are to recommend you from 0 to 10, then subtracts detractors from promoters.