Discovering innovative methods for driving sales in the e-commerce sector is becoming progressively challenging. Succeeding in the current landscape necessitates the implementation of robust strategies and the utilization of opportunity. However, one aspect frequently overlooked or not fully leveraged by businesses is Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM).
Traditional Advertising is gradually experiencing a downturn
In the International Journal of Market Research, M. Nick Hajili stated: “The trust fostered by social media will notably impact consumers’ purchasing decisions. Hence, trust plays a pivotal role in e-commerce, directly shaping purchase intent and indirectly affecting perceived utility.”
According to Nielsen, 92% of individuals express a preference for recommendations from friends and family over other advertising methods. While the future prediction remains uncertain, traditional advertising forms may face stagnation.
Especially, within the context of the rising discernment of the Gen Z in disregarding irrelevant advertisements, whether by skimming or actively employing ad-blocking tools. Consequently, it is imperative to devise more sophisticated approaches to engage with customers. In this digital era, Word of Mouth Marketing emerges as a promising solution.
Differences between Word of Mouth Marketing models
While word-of-mouth marketing exhibits unique features and various touch points, its operation mechanism remains almost consistent. Thus, to clear up confusion, here is some general insight into the prevailing and widely embraced forms of word of mouth.
Referral Marketing
What? Referral marketing is a solution for promoting the products or services offered by your business to potential new customers through referrals.
Unique point: Research indicates that customers not only seek referrals but also take independent action. This marketing model prioritizes customer engagement, offering the capability to manage all activities at a significant scale.
How? Certain enterprises presently establish an internal referral program and attempt to manage it manually through email or other basic systems. However, the most prosperous companies opt for automation, employing a system to facilitate sign-ups, track, manage and reward their brand ambassadors.
Partner Marketing
What? In essence, partner marketing is a strategy aimed at aligning two brands to mutually promote each other’s images. This model predominantly finds application in B2B marketing strategies, with the objective of augmenting and refining brand awareness within similar target audiences.
Unique point: Attract and cultivate favorable brand relationships with potential customers via channel partners results in heightened sales value for both resellers and agencies, yielding prompt outcomes akin to those attained through customer referrals.
How? Frequently, it is loosely managed through the utilization of various systems that are not designed tailored for partner marketing, such as Google Docs, Excel, email,…
Influencer Marketing
What? In numerous aspects, influencer marketing is an advanced method of traditional affiliate marketing. Nevertheless, rather than relying on a network of small publishers to generate traffic, the objective of influencer marketing is to target individuals with a substantial following who are widely recognized within a specific community or field.
Unique point: Presently, an individual’s personal Instagram account with a million followers possesses remarkable influence in stimulating consumer preference for a product.
How? In the majority of instances, marketers commonly implement their influencer marketing strategies manually, contacting influencers individually and monitoring their activities through sheets or email. While there are several software solutions tailored to streamline this process, they often lack the versatility required to accommodate tasks beyond influencer management.
Affiliate Marketing
What? Affiliate marketing is a performance-based model. It necessitates a robust framework to manage the publishers and advertisers that are your company.
Unique point: Affiliate marketing proves highly efficient as payment is required solely for successful transactions. For instance, publishers strive to optimize consumer purchasing potential by executing advertising campaigns across traffic platforms like their website, blog, social media, or user data. This approach enables your business to approach more touch points along the customer journey.
How? Affiliate marketing can be regarded as a miniature combination of various digital marketing channels, encompassing SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Social, PPC, Display, Email, Native ads,… Nevertheless, at its core, affiliate marketing entails suppliers depending on publishers to endorse their products.
As previously indicated, each variant can be efficiently monitored, assessed, and yields the same outcomes: augment brand recognition and revenue growth. Nevertheless, with the benefit of payment upon successful orders, Affiliate Marketing emerges as a valuable marketing model with optimal efficacy.
According to Advertingvietnam