The Power of Word-of-Mouth Advertising in the Digital Age

It seems so fundamental from a marketing perspective. It baffles me so many business people are still not really taking full advantage of the age-old power of "Word-of-Mouth" advertising. 

Back in the day, word-of-mouth was literally talking to your neighbor, friend, co-worker or doctor about advice. And tremendous credibility was given to such referrals. Remember how "9-out-of-10 dentists recommend Crest?" worked so well...for so long. But now, the Digital Customer Journey includes searching online for reviews and testimonials to find people who are in the same boat as us. People LIKE US who are happy with a decision they made. 

To create a compelling testimonial, it should be real and unscripted, like the example in this blog. A good videographer will: 1) Know what you want to get the person to say, 2) Make the talent feel completely comfortable, 3) Ask questions that invite spontaneous, enthusiastic response, and 4) Edit those answers into a succinct story that speaks to the key attributes of the client being praised. 

If a client has many points of difference or competitive advantage, then try to capture multiple testimonials from many sources to get a multi-dimensional approach. The more sources, the more credibility.