How can SMBs promote positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in an online environment?
I would like to write an article about positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for business.com Therefore, I would like to get more insights from SMBs. If you are an SMB owner/employee, please feel free to answer my question. I have a few questions:
How do you utilize word-of-mouth marketing for your business? Specifically, how can you encourage/foster positive eWOM in the online environment? For example, how can you encourage your customers to share positive testimonies, review your products/service online, and refer your business to their peers on social media sites? What are your methods to encourage your customers to do so? What social media platforms do you use?
In the meantime, how you reduce negative eWOM in social media?
Your insights are greatly appreciated!
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Dec 22, 2019
Hi, Jose,
Thank you for answering my questions!
Yes, my research findings suggest that offering good products/services that meet or exceed customer expectations is the first and most important step to foster positive eWOM online.
I think it’s fine to encourage customers to review products online after receiving and using the products. However, it may not be appropriate to offer incentives to have customers to do so. Consumers want the see objective reviews.
Maybe I can rephrase my question as:
How can SMBs “foster” positive eWOM online?
Thank you!
More inputs from community members are welcome!
Dec 20, 2019
This is a tricky question because some review sites are wary of manipulation of reviews. On the other hand, positive reviews can attract more business as they affect how trustworthy they are perceived. The simple answer is to provide goods or services of exceptional quality. Sooner or later, positive reviews will follow. While a business should never pay or incentivize customers to leave positive reviews, I do not see a problem with encouraging happy customers to express their delight online. Among the best review websites are Yelp, Facebook, and Google.
Thank you for answering my questions!