People love to talk. They do it all the time. About the weather, a new pair of shoes, the concert they went to and about you and your products or services.

Of course you want them to say nice things about you, not just in their personal conversations but especially online. Online word of mouth happens in the form of reviews, blogs and on social media. Online word of mouth happens fast and can spread very far, plus it will be there ‘forever’, so you want it to be positive.

Word of mouth marketing is about earning that positive conversation. People will always ask other people about you before purchasing from you. How many times have you seen a Facebook post with the words ‘does anyone know a good [insert service/product]’?

In the end marketing, and word of mouth marketing, is pretty easy.

If people like your stuff, and they trust you, they will tell their friends about you.

All you have to do is make customers really, really happy.

You are getting talked about, whether you like it or not so you might as well get involved in the conversation.

Social media is the ideal way for businesses to get involved in conversations.

I was suitably impressed by a recent story of a long standing bakery in the UK and the way they handled a very unfortunate online disaster. The way they joined in the conversation was fantastic. That’s exactly the way businesses can join in the conversation.

This example is one that’s reactive, but the same thing can be done to create and direct conversations online. What do you want customers to say about you online? What do you do that makes them talk about you? How do you make them really, really happy?