Word of Mouth Marketing: How to Get More Referrals

Word of mouth marketing is any effort to get happy customers talking about your business to the people they know, in person, online or through reviews. People trust a recommendation from a friend more than an ad, so word of mouth often brings in the easiest customers to win. You can’t buy it directly, but you can make it far more likely: give people something worth talking about, make it easy to share, and ask.

What is WOM marketing?

WOM (or WOMM) marketing is short for word of mouth marketing. It covers both natural recommendations, when a customer tells a friend without being asked, and planned efforts that encourage them, such as referral programs, review requests and shareable experiences. Word of mouth advertising is the same idea: your customers doing the advertising for you.

Is word of mouth a marketing strategy?

Yes, when you plan for it. Most businesses get some word of mouth by accident. A word of mouth strategy makes it deliberate: you decide what you want people to say, when you’ll ask, how you’ll thank them and how you’ll track referrals. For many regional businesses, where people know each other and talk, it can be the most important strategy of all.

How effective is word of mouth marketing?

Very effective for most small businesses, because a personal recommendation comes with trust already built in. The person referred usually arrives ready to buy, with fewer questions and less price shopping. The limit is reach: word of mouth spreads only as far as your customers’ networks, and it’s slow to grow on its own. That’s why it works best alongside channels that bring in new people, such as search, social media and local events.

Is word of mouth the best form of marketing?

It’s often the most trusted, but it isn’t enough on its own for most businesses. Even referred customers usually check your website and reviews before they call, so word of mouth works best when the rest of your marketing backs it up.

How do you increase word of mouth marketing?

1. Give people something worth talking about: great service, a pleasant surprise, a fast fix or a memorable experience.
2. Ask at the right moment: when a customer says thank you or tells you they’re happy, ask if they know anyone else who could use your help.
3. Make sharing easy: business cards, a simple referral link, a short message they can forward, or a QR code to your reviews page.
4. Ask for online reviews: reviews are word of mouth that strangers can read. See our guide on how to get more Google reviews.
5. Thank people who refer: a thank-you call, card or small gift goes a long way.
6. Stay in touch: a newsletter or occasional message keeps you front of mind when friends ask for a recommendation.
7. Be part of the community: local sponsorships, events and groups give people more reasons to mention you.
8. Handle complaints well: a problem fixed quickly and kindly often creates a bigger fan than a job that went smoothly.

What is referral marketing?

Referral marketing is the structured version of word of mouth: you actively encourage and often reward customers for referring new ones. What are referrals in marketing? They’re new customers who come to you because an existing customer, partner or contact recommended you.

Referral marketing strategies

• Customer referral rewards: a discount, credit or gift for the referrer, the new customer or both.
• Partner referrals: agreements with businesses that serve the same customers, such as a builder and a landscaper.
• Thank-you programs: no fixed reward, but a personal thank-you for every referral.
• Community referrals: a donation to a local club or cause for each referred customer.

Referral marketing campaigns

A referral campaign runs for a set time with a clear offer, such as “refer a friend this spring and you both get a free service”. Promote it to existing customers by email, on receipts and at the counter, track every referral with a code or the new customer’s answer to “how did you hear about us?”, and thank people promptly.

How do you keep word of mouth honest?

Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses must not mislead customers, and that includes reviews and recommendations. In practice:

• Don’t write fake reviews or ask staff, friends or family to post reviews as if they were customers.
• Don’t only ask happy customers for reviews while steering unhappy ones away, or hide negative reviews.
• If you reward referrals or reviews, make that clear, and don’t make a reward depend on the review being positive.
• Check each review platform’s own rules, as some don’t allow incentives for reviews at all.

This is general information, not legal advice.

What are the advantages of word of mouth marketing?

• Trust: recommendations from people we know carry more weight than ads.
• Low cost: most of it costs time and good service rather than money.
• Better customers: referred customers often fit your business well, because the referrer knows both sides.
• It compounds: new customers who are happy refer others in turn.

How do you track word of mouth?

Ask every new customer how they heard about you, and record the answer. Use referral codes or links for referral programs, and watch your review count and rating over time. Those numbers show whether your efforts are working.

How we help

We can help you turn happy customers into more referrals and reviews: review request systems, referral campaigns, email follow-up and the social media and website that back up a recommendation. Our local business marketing service brings these together, and our marketing partnerships start from $4,500 + GST a month for 28 hours.

Frequently asked questions

How effective is word of mouth advertising?

For most small businesses, it’s one of the most effective ways to win customers, because it comes with trust. It works best when your website, reviews and service live up to what people hear.

Can you pay for word of mouth?

You can reward referrals, as long as you’re transparent about it. You shouldn’t pay for fake reviews or hide that a recommendation was paid for.

How do I ask for a referral without feeling pushy?

Ask when the customer is happy, keep it simple (“If you know anyone who needs a hand, we’d love to help them too”), and make it easy with a card or link.

Does social media count as word of mouth?

Yes. When customers share, tag or recommend you online, that’s word of mouth at a larger scale. See our guide to marketing ideas for small business for more ways to encourage it.

The short version

Word of mouth marketing turns happy customers into your most convincing salespeople. Give them something worth sharing, ask at the right moment, make referring easy, keep rewards transparent, and track where new customers come from.

If you’d like help getting more referrals and reviews, book a free 30-minute discovery call.