{"id":799,"date":"2026-04-16T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/?p=799"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:14:03","slug":"word-of-mouth-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/word-of-mouth-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Word-of-Mouth Marketing: 7 Ways to Earn and Amplify It"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Word-of-mouth marketing is the most trusted form of advertising \u2014 and the one you can’t fake. You can’t buy it, you can’t manufacture it, and no campaign will conjure it out of thin air. What you can do is build a business worth talking about, then put systems in place to make sure that word actually travels.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That’s what this guide covers. The 7 strategies below span earning the conversation in the first place all the way to capturing and amplifying it once it’s there. Start at the beginning \u2014 the foundation matters more than most businesses realize.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What is word-of-mouth marketing?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM marketing) happens when people talk to others about your brand, products, or services, in person or online.<\/strong> It also includes any actions your business takes to encourage people to share their experiences with your brand and recommend it to others. Common forms of word-of-mouth marketing are reviews, social media shares, and referrals from friends<\/a>. This results in free (or nearly free!) advertising for your brand.<\/p>\r\n

The power of word-of-mouth marketing comes from its high level of trust. Word-of-mouth recommendations usually come from friends, family members, and others within someone\u2019s circle. When someone sees a friend or family member raving about a particular brand, they\u2019re much more likely to buy because peer recommendations are seen as especially valuable<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

According to a Nielsen report, 92% of people trust word-of-mouth referrals<\/a> from people they know over all other forms of advertising.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Plus, thanks to social media, when someone shares it can have broad reach in minutes. And word of mouth doesn\u2019t just stop after one interaction \u2013 it has compounding interest. One person will tell another if they have a great experience, and another, and so on. With every share, repost, or retweet, word-of-mouth marketing carries the potential for exponential growth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

All this happens at a very low cost to your business \u2013 often, for free.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Referral<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

7 ways to build word-of-mouth marketing for your business<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Based on our experience in the referral marketing space, these are the seven best ways to create reliable word-of-mouth for your business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. Build a business worth talking about<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Before you think about referral programs, reviews, or social campaigns, the question is simpler: is your business actually worth talking about?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Word of mouth is triggered by four things:<\/span><\/p>\r\n