Studies indicate that word of mouth is the most influential and trusted source of information for North American consumers when considering a product or service.

In many ways, social networks and social platforms act as automated word of mouth aggregators. For instance, when I become a fan of a page, or add an application on Facebook, the fact that I became a fan shows up in my friends’ news feeds. When I’m eating at a restaurant or shopping at a store I may decide to Twitter about my experience to my Twitter followers, especially if the experience is particularly good, or particularly horrible.

So how can a brand take advantage of this “automated word of mouth?”

Make sure you have a presence
I can’t become a fan of your page on Facebook if you don’t have one.
I can’t link to a cool feature on your site if it doesn’t exist.

Participate
Brands become involved with social networks on many levels. Some do it right, some do it wrong, and some do it sort of half way in between. See my previous posts here, here and here for more info.

Place your brand at the nexus of social interactions and make it relevant
A great example of this is a well-executed Facebook application. The key is to look at the kinds of interactions that are happening between people on social networks and enhance their experience via your brand. A Facebook application that features no social interactions or social comparisons will rarely catch on. Why? It doesn’t take advantage of the platform and it doesn’t lead to anyone being notified that their friends took any actions. On the other hand, a great Facebook application will allow users to interact with each other using the application as a conduit and enhancing their overall experience on Facebook. This also leads to viral adoption, as once I “do” something to a friend, they are more likely to want to respond with a similar action.

Provide platforms for reviews, customer feedback and idea exchange
Consumers are more likely to spread the word about your brand if you give them the tools to do so. In the age of Web 2.0 this goes way beyond tell a friend. Tap into services that already exist and make it easy for users to talk about your brand. For example, want to post a link to this on Twitter or Facebook? that was easy wasn’t it? Or you can use the hand ShareThis tool below. And please, leave me a comment, let me know what you think about my post, did I miss anything? Am I way off base? Do you think I’m the bees knees? Enquiring minds want to know!