Here's another interesting article I came across that talks about how word-of-mouth can drive revenue for your business. The article talks about how many people now use user generated content such as , reviews, blogs, and other things to find out what products to buy. 51% of people now buy products based on user generated content.
The article also lists several things that a company can do to step into the brand talk surrounding their company or product.
What brands can do to step into brand talk:
- Be where your target audience is around
- Listen to the conversation
- Respond to the conversation
- Publish and share buyer persona relevant and remarkable content on the web and in social media
- Ask for opinion about your products and your business
- Ask for any suggestions for product and services improvement
- Be authentic, be honest and be helpful
- Keep the conversation on run
The article goes on to say that in 2017 the Millennial generation will have more buying power than any other generation. There are also some interesting charts towards the end if the article that show the difference between Millenials and Baby Boomers in terms of what they will and wont buy without first checking user generated content. Not surprisingly Baby Boomers are still very reluctant to base decisions off of user generated content while Millennials tend to rely on it more when making decisions.
As much as social media can be considered a powerful tool to get the word out, it is also a huge risk for large and small companies alike. (http://wealthartisan.com/2011/06/03/10-reasons-large-companies-are-scared-of-twitter/)
ReplyDeleteI can easily say that "The Ford Taurus had been the worse piece of machinery I have ever owned, and that included a mailbox hung on to a fence with two paper clips, which still stands today."
While I can fully defend that particular statement, many people can make false claims to deface large companies for nothing more than a laugh. It must be noted that while social media can generate revenue, it can easily destroy a small business.
I agree with you 100%, however, as a responsible consumer you also have to know how to weed through the garbage and ignore the outliers. See how many people have reviewed a product and if the average customer rating is good than it's probably a safe bet that the product is good as well. There are always going to be people that don't like a particular product or have personal reasons for trying to deface it. Take the Dyson vacuum for example. Most reviews are overwhelmingly in favor of it. However, there are people who post reviews about how horrible and over priced it is. In reading customer reviews I tend to use the "majority rules" principle.
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