4 Types of Word of Mouth Marketing You Need to Know

Marketing is the lifeline of every business, it’s an ongoing effort of bringing awareness to brands. With all the new tips, tricks, and marketing trends out there, we can’t argue with the fact that word of mouth marketing is the most powerful form. It’s also the most valuable form of marketing for every business. According to Get Ambassador, “92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know directly while 70% trust anonymous reviews posted online.” To this point, this is exactly how the rise of influencer marketing came flooding into the marketing world as a still coveted way for brands to connect with customers.

Word of mouth marketing isn’t as clear cut as it was twenty years ago, especially now with the marketing landscape is constantly changing. Yes, we know it’s confusing but here are the 4 types of word of mouth marketing you need to know about:

1. Affiliate Marketing

It’s a transaction between a brand and a third party where the brand will receive customers (leads) in exchange for financial exchange. This is how it works a brand designates $Y per lead ie: app download or X% of a purchase. Netflix and Amazon use this kind of marketing model.

2. Influencer Marketing

This is a modern spin on affiliate marketing but it uses a network of affiliates to drive traffic. Influencer marketing mainly targets people who have a large audience. Brands will manually pick influencers to partner with or work with influencer agencies.

3. Partner Marketing

Partner marketing utilizes synchronicities of two brands, each of which has its own expertise and brand equity to create a strategic alliance in order to gain market share. It’s commonly managed in house and carefully vetted by each brand. This method is commonly used with Supreme, the highly coveted streetwear brand that does collaborations with other major brands.

4. Referral Marketing

This is a strategy that is used to encourage fans of the brand or passionate customers to refer directly to their network or business. What’s great about this type of marketing strategy is that it’s been found that customers actually take action. Many brands have built referral programs in house. But the successful brands automate the entire process, using one system to track, enroll, manage and reward the ambassadors.