It is a common saying that money attracts money. If you want to expand your brand, increase sales and grow your business faster, digital marketing is the key to success. But it’s usually not the case. Word of mouth can even be stronger when paired with other digital marketing techniques. The concept of eWOM has, therefore, attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to the growth of the internet and the popularity of e-commerce (Chan, 2011).  “How to grow business through Word-of-mouth marketing” https://youtu.be/_6NHKgUH8ts by Neil Patel, talks about how a business can grow from a scratch level to a multi-billion dollar company, just by using WOM as a marketing tool, if the products and services are amazing.

So when we think about amazing products and services, the first thing which comes to our mind is food. Therefore, the restaurant business is the prime-most search that continues to dominate the local search landscape for mobile phones, tablets, and PCs. Through Web-based consumer opinion platforms (e.g., epinions.com), the Internet enables customers to share their opinions on, and experiences with, products and services with a multitude of other consumers; that is, to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). Since the potential customers have moved online where they’re actively searching for good restaurants to dine, they read other customer reviews which are usually posted on review communities like Trip Advisor, Google+, etc. to support their decision-making process. eWOM here plays a crucial role in generating business and spreading good reviews for the restaurants.

Family, Friends and beyond…

Today everybody is socially connected to each other, virtually, all the time. We share our photos, stories, videos through social media platforms, especially Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, just to let the world know what’s happening in our lives. On average, we are connected to more than 350 people (mostly contributing our family and friends) on major social networking sites. This indicates that almost 300 people do have the opportunity to see, read, view and hear our stories.

Imagine what it would be like to post or share a positive review about the fantastic experience of one of the good restaurants you have visited. It creates a huge influence on the decisions of your connections and further their connections. This points out that customers trust your updates and comments & rely more on the reviews and posts shared by you on social websites more than those reviewed by travel agents or tour operators. Therefore, this is not limited only to your family and friends. These posts also attract the attention of the tourists and travelers who are searching for good restaurants to have great food and experience quality service, thus having a fun-filled holiday experience.

Source: https://www.a360coaching.com.au/build-positive-word-mouth-wom-restaurant/

Viral Campaign through Events or Contests

This video https://youtu.be/YsrGYsRcKro explains in detail how social networking is considered one of the most important tools for WOM marketing which can further help in gaining the popularity of a brand through viral campaigning. A way of creating a viral campaign is by inviting the audience to engage in what the restaurant is doing (Fox, 2016). For example, a restaurant launching a new theme-based menu which talks about special items to be served; rather than advertising the new menu, it would be ideal to request its Facebook friends to get involved by choosing a name to the theme-based menu.

An incentive or discount voucher to be offered to the person who selects the most appropriate name. This is one way of building dialogue amongst own customers which is collaborative and engaging.  You are linking your customers in your initiatives so they feel compelled to talk about your restaurant in a positive way. This increases the social reach and more and more people get connected to your Facebook page. Anthony Miyazaki also explains in his video how “Word-of-mouth” is considered to be the best marketing promotion for any brand or business provided excellent customer experience is created for the customers and they are excited to share their experience with the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_579xrpONI

Source:https://possector.com/marketing-promotion/restaurant-promotion-ideas

Eventually, for the outstanding guest experience, the products and services should speak for itself which are always supported by way of WOM. But hey, remember one thing – do not promote the content excessively or do inappropriate advertising, as it involves some risks too.

To be continued…

References

Chan, Y. Y. & Ngai, E. W. (2011) Conceptualizing electronic word of mouth activity. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.

Fox, G. & Longart, P. (2016) Electronic word-of-mouth: Successful communication strategies for restaurants. Tourism and hospitality management. Vol 22, No 2, pp211-223.

Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G. & Gremier, D. (2004) Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: what motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the internet?. Journal of interactive marketing. Vol 18, No 1, pp38-52.