A new world for word of mouth
Of course a business is going to say that their products are amazing and highlight the benefits of their services - they really wouldn't be marketing if they didn't! But how can we know to trust them? Word of mouth is powerful because if a friend recommends that business to us, we know we can trust them. Social media is a space where we can see what friends recommend without even having that conversation with them. Social media has the same power as word of mouth in a global and borderless way.
In that sense, I can see why people say that social media has replaced word of mouth - but I'd argue that it's just given it a boost!
Social media is more than digital
However (and I think this is what people forget!), social media is also a way for us small business owners to spark those in-person conversations among friends. Friends will often tell us about something they've learnt on LinkedIn, a funny video they saw on Instagram or something really inspiring that popped up on their TikTok FYP. Later, when the algorithm shows us that post, we'll remember the conversation and we'll actually pay attention to the post and maybe even check out the creator.
As a small business using social media as a marketing tool, we focus on the engagement that we can quantity, the likes, the comments, the shares, etc - but we forget about all the conversations that the "lurkers" are having.
Three important reminders
1 - Your engagement rate does not reflect the true impact your posts have on your audience.
2 - A call to action prompting people to reflect can be just as powerful as promoting them to comment.
3 - Social media is a space that allows you to not only benefit from word of mouth marketing from customers but also from random people that you are supporting, entertaining or educating.
Weekly social media tips
If you're one of my lurkers who loves reading my blogs when they pop up on your feed, I have something for you! Every Friday I send out a newsletter with:
• a social media related thought or tip
• the link to a free resource to help you with your social media (usually, but not always, that's my most recent blog)
• the link to a paid resource to help you even more
• and some content ideas for the following week in case your plan is looking quite empty.
Sign up here - and you can always unsubscribe if you find it's not for you.
Thanks for reading! I share a blog like this one every other Tuesday, and if you feel like they help your social media presence, and more importantly, your business - then please consider leaving a tip.
Every time this tip jar reaches £15, I'll run a giveaway on social media so a small business can access my membership group for two months.
Tesni xx
