Tapping into the Power of Word of Mouth

If listening to the groundswell generates insights, talking to the groundswell is effective, then energizing the groundswell is a more powerful and riskier strategy because it means tapping into the power of word of mouth by connecting with customers. It is powerful because people believe other people more than media. Word of mouth is a powerful amplifier of brand marketing, achieving results no campaign can achieve. It is risk because although the power of word of mouth is potential but companies also have to burden to risks of negative reviews. To be general, the power of word of mouth can both make and ruin a company.

When talking about energizing customers, what first come to my mind are those social networking sites that offer local search and user’s reviews and rating service. In China, the most popular such site is “Dianping ”, and in US the “Yelp” is its corresponding one. According to the survey, 96 percent of customers use online reviews to help them make purchase, that’s why those reviews and rating website are with pretty high click rate. I almost browsed “Dianping” everyday when I was in China. Although I have been in US for just one month, I have used “Yelp” to search some local restaurants in Stockton and read their reviews frequently. My personal experience and impression of these online services are typical. It seems that compared to those companies’ official websites, costumers tend to pay more attention on these third-party review platforms like “Dianping” and “Yelp”. So, if customers are closely dependent on online reviews and ratings websites, companies should try their best to energize their customers.

But one problem is that many companies will ask their employees to leave some positive comments and reviews on those third-party review platforms, pretending they are the real “customers”. Moreover, a company’s competitors will play a dirty trick, leaving negative reviews to ruin their competitors’ reputations. This will confuse customers and make those online reviews unreliable. Also, in order to gain more online compliments, some companies will make a “deal” with its customers. That is, if you are willing to say nice things about their products or service, the company promises some “prizes” for you, such as a discount or an extra gift. My personal experience is that once I have put some negative reviews of a restaurant on “Dianping” because of my unsatisfied dinning experience, and the next day the manger of the restaurant made a phone call to me, asking me to delete the online negative words. She said if I do so, the restaurant will give me a 50％ discount next time. I refused, and obviously, my impression on that restaurant became even worse.

 All these problems and my personal experience indicate that large amount of companies realized the great influence of online reviews and rating, and spared no efforts to build a positive image on those platforms. According to the groundswell, three techniques are given to companies who are trying to energize their enthusiasts are: Tap into customers’ enthusiasm with ratings and reviews; Create a community to energize your customers; Participate in and energize online communities of your brand enthusiasts. No matter what method a company is aiming at, I think the “POST” principle is what it should always observe. A smart company will consider the propensities and characteristics of their customer base and then design strategies and chose technologies that matched the relationships it already had, rather than racking its brain to defame their competitors or using some trick for as much as good reviews.

Actually, all online creators, conversationalists, critics, joiners and spectaculars are participants in the process of “energizing the groundswell”, and that make this strategy powerful and influential. For customers, they are expecting more reliable and credible online reviews, ratings and communities. For companies, selecting the most appropriate strategy for word-of-mouth communication is of long-term significance.