Word of Mouth: Your Best and Worst Marketing Strategy

According to the dictionary definition of marketing, it is the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service. In other words, it’s about getting the word out for your application so those who desire it can purchase it. As someone who is creating and marketing an application, you have to find that market niche or need, and fill it with something that people either need or want.

Many apps have had great success due to word of mouth, which is the best method of marketing there is. Word of mouth is also the least effective method of marketing, as it is not quite dependable.

In other words, how does word of mouth get started? Some of you who can still remember the 1980s might remember the “you’ll tell two friends” Faberge Organics shampoo ad campaign (see Figure 4-2). One such ad features a woman telling the audience, “When I first tried Faberge Organics shampoo . . . it was so good, I told two friends about it . . . and they told two friends . . . and so on, and so on, and so on.” All the while, the TV screen fills up with replicas of herself. This old commercial illustrates how word of mouth works. By the time the screen fills up with faces, the product is completely viral.

Figure 4-2. The famous Faberge Organics ad campaign from the 1980s.

In your case, you are going to be the one who is going to be telling two friends, but you can’t possibly expect your two friends to tell two friends, nor for their two friends to tell their two friends. This is why you are going to need a marketing plan, to make certain that you tell more than just two friends. You should tell everyone on social networks.

A marketing plan is more than a method of telling everyone who needs to know so that everyone who will know will spread the word. Marketing is all about making certain that those who want or need the product can obtain it easily.

A lot of word of mouth is due to marketing departments putting words in peoples’ mouths. This is why I emphasized that you are selling a culture in Chapter 3. You need a community of followers (for lack of a better word) who are so pleased with your product that they share about your application without even realizing it.

Even though that I am in the tech and gadget blogging world, I can honestly say that the best applications that I have heard about are from my wife. Generally, she will be doing something on her phone, and I will look over on her phone and ask, “What’s that?” This is the kind of marketing that you won’t find on a marketing report.