How can brands increase word of mouth marketing in 2025?

Here’s a stat to stop you in your tracks: word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing drives 5X more sales than paid ads. For ecommerce marketers wanting to balance out their paid and organic spend, WoM could be an effective way to go about it. 

But whilst word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most impactful marketing channels, it’s still underused by ecommerce brands. That’s because it’s challenging to get people talking about your products organically, and it tough to measure WoM marketing.

But for brands willing to take on the challenge, the payoff is worth it. In this article, we’ll discuss how to amplify word-of-mouth marketing, showcase brands doing it well, and share practical strategies for integrating it into your overall marketing strategy. We’ll also offer some tips on how to measure the impact.  

What is WoM marketing? 

Word-of-mouth marketing (WoM) happens when customers share their experiences with a brand or product—either offline or online. In today’s ecommerce and DTC landscape, this can include everything from social media mentions and influencer shout-outs to customer reviews, unboxing videos, and referral programmes.

There are two key types of WoM marketing that brands should understand and leverage:

Organic word-of-mouth

Organic WoM occurs naturally when customers talk about your brand simply because they love it. It’s unprompted and authentic—think someone raving about your product in a group chat, tagging you in their Instagram Story, or leaving a glowing review without being asked.

This type of word-of-mouth is incredibly powerful because it feels genuine and trustworthy. People tend to value recommendations from peers more than any form of traditional advertising, and organic WoM taps directly into that trust. For ecommerce brands, delivering great products, an exceptional unboxing experience, and stellar customer service is what fuels this kind of advocacy.

Amplified word-of-mouth

Amplified WoM, on the other hand, happens when brands take active steps to encourage and scale that sharing. This could be in the form of referral incentives (“Get £10 off when your friend places their first order”), loyalty programmes, or partnerships with influencers and brand ambassadors. It also includes tactics like encouraging customers to post about their purchase with branded hashtags or entering UGC competitions.

While it’s still driven by real people and real experiences, amplified WoM adds structure and strategy to help it reach a wider audience—without losing that all-important sense of authenticity.

Word of mouth vs influencer marketing

You might be wondering what the difference is between amplified word-of-mouth marketing and influencer marketing. Good question—as the two can appear incredibly similar at first glance.

The key difference lies in intent and structure.

Amplified word-of-mouth marketing is broader. As we mentioned in the section above, it includes any effort by a brand to encourage customers to share their experiences—whether that's through referral programmes, loyalty schemes or user-generated content campaigns. While it may involve some level of incentive, the content is typically created by everyday customers who are sharing their honest opinions.

Influencer marketing, on the other hand, is more strategic and transactional. It involves working with individuals who have a dedicated following on social media (big or small) to promote your brand or product—often in exchange for payment, free products or exclusive perks. These partnerships are usually part of a planned campaign, with specific messaging, goals and deliverables in mind.

We have loads more resources on influencer marketing:

• The benefits of influencer marketing 
• An ecommerce brand’s guide to influence marketing  strategy 
• 20 influencer marketing tools to level up your campaigns
  
  

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How can brands benefit from WoM marketing?

Arguably, the most significant benefit of word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing is trust. Unlike brand-led advertising, which 75% of consumers find misleading, WoM relies on personal recommendations that feel genuine and credible. When people hear about a product from someone they trust, they’re far more likely to take action. That’s what gives WoM such an edge in driving real purchasing decisions.

WoM marketing is also beneficial because it taps into the psychology of social proof—the idea that people look to others when making choices. Seeing someone else buy, love, or talk about a product helps validate that decision. This effect is powerful in ecommerce, where consumers can’t touch or test products before buying.

Take the brand Glossier, for example. The company built its business on social proof by encouraging everyday customers to share their skincare routines and product reviews online.

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By featuring user-generated content (UGC) and reviews directly on product pages, Glossier turned casual customers into trusted voices. The result? A community-led brand with one of the most loyal customer bases in beauty.

Here are some other benefits ecommerce brands experience when they invest in WoM marketing:

• Reward real brand advocates: Loyal customers naturally share brands they love, and referral programmes can turn them into ambassadors.
• Customers create user-generated content: Reviews, social posts, and unboxing videos build trust and give you authentic content to repurpose across your channels. So the more people are spreading the word about your brand, the more likely they’ll create content for you with UGC.
• Cost-effective: With minimal upfront investment, you can drive growth, especially when your product is strong enough to spark conversations on its own.
• Higher conversion rates: As mentioned earlier, people trust people. Recommendations and reviews from real customers help reduce purchase hesitation and nudge buyers across the line.
• Improve brand credibility: Organic conversations about your product show new customers that your brand is trustworthy and worth exploring.
• Strengthen community and loyalty: Seeing others engage with your brand creates a sense of belonging and builds deeper emotional connections.
• Support SEO and discoverability: UGC often contains keywords and backlinks that improve search visibility, and review-rich pages tend to rank higher.
• Extend your reach beyond owned channels: WoM spreads through private DMs, niche communities, and real-world conversations, which are places your paid ads won’t always appear.
• Better ROI on paid channels: When word-of-mouth is strong, people actively search for your brand—without needing a paid ad to nudge them. That means you can rely less on branded search terms, spend less on paid campaigns, and still drive high-intent traffic to your site.

7 ways to increase word of mouth marketing for your brand

Here are seven ideas to help you get more bang for your WoM marketing buck:

1. Incentivise customers who share your products with rewards

Want people talking about your brand? Give them a reason to. You can offer rewards or benefits when they share your brand with others, leave reviews, or spread positive word-of-mouth recommendations. These rewards could be discounts, free products, loyalty points or special perks.

How to implement a rewards programme
Start by setting up an automated referral or loyalty programme using marketing automation software like ReferralCandy, Yotpo, or Smile.io, which integrate into ecommerce platforms. You can offer rewards such as discount vouchers, exclusive products, loyalty points, or cashback for successful referrals. When a customer refers someone new, both parties will receive a discount on their next order.

Example of a DTC brand with a great rewards programme

Dr. Squatch has successfully used this strategy with their loyalty programme, ‘Squatch Rewards.’ Customers can earn points for their purchases and activities like referring friends, following social media accounts, reading content or leaving product reviews. Participants can then redeem these points for discounts or exclusive items.

2. Encourage reviews 

Reviews play a huge role in incentivising purchases. Social Pilot reports 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 3 out of 4 consumers trust a business more if it has positive customer reviews.

So if you want customers to buy from your brand, a great strategy is to encourage them to review your company online. This can be in the form of a reviews on Google, social media, TrustPilot, or your own website.

How to capture more reviews

Building a review strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Using a dedicated review platform like Yotpo makes it easy. Once integrated with your ecommerce site, Yotpo automatically sends review requests to customers after they've made a purchase. 

You can customise these emails to reflect your brand voice, include incentives like discounts or loyalty points for leaving reviews, and even showcase the best feedback directly on your product pages. 

💡 You can also make use of Yotpo’s AI features which we’ve mentioned in our article covering AI marketing tools for ecommerce brands. 

Example of a DTC brand that captures reviews well

Parch Spirits encourages customers to leave written testimonials, which they then add to their product pages.

These ratings and testimonials are often the extra push a customer needs to complete a purchase—especially in a competitive category where many products appear similar at first glance.

But it's not just the presence of reviews that matters—it's how people use them. Shoppers today are savvy. They don’t just glance at the star rating; they dig deeper. On platforms like Google Shopping or Amazon, users can filter and sort reviews by most recent, highest or lowest rated, or even by product variant (like colour or size). Many will specifically look for reviews that include photos or videos to get a more accurate sense of what the product looks like in real life.

In fact, media-rich reviews often carry more weight than written ones alone. Seeing how a product looks in someone else’s home, how it fits, or how it arrived helps set expectations and builds trust—especially for first-time buyers who might be hesitant to convert.

So while strong reviews build credibility, it’s the detailed, visual, and relatable ones that truly drive conversions. Brands that encourage customers to leave honest, media-supported reviews are giving future buyers exactly what they need to feel confident clicking “add to cart.”

3. Invest in your brand marketing

People don’t talk about a brand just because it has a logo and a colour palette—they talk because something about it catches their attention. Whether it’s the witty, irreverent tone of Surreal, the playful activism behind Tony’s Chocolonely, or the adventurous, editorial aesthetic of Passenger, what these brands have in common isn’t just a strong identity—it’s intentional storytelling and creative that connects.

Great brand marketing works because it creates a reason to remember you and to share you. It might be a tongue-in-cheek out-of-home campaign, a short-form video that nails your audience’s humour, or a beautifully crafted piece of lifestyle content that speaks to their values. Whatever form it takes, the goal is the same: get people talking, feeling, and sharing.

When customers connect with your brand emotionally, socially, or culturally, they’re far more likely to mention it in conversation or post about it online. That’s where real word-of-mouth momentum starts.

A distinctive brand also makes all your other marketing more effective. As covered in our [brand awareness strategy guide], when people already recognise and trust you, your paid ads work harder, your emails get more opens, and your customers become advocates, not just buyers.

How to invest in your brand marketing

Here are some ways to invest in your brand marketing to create a lasting impression over time:

• Define your brand identity clearly: Create recognisable logos, consistent brand voice and messaging that reflects your values.
  
  
• Focus on storytelling: Develop stories around your brand that resonate emotionally with your audience, making them memorable and shareable.
  
  
• Create educational and engaging content: Publish blogs, newsletters, or podcasts that position your brand as an authority and build customer trust.
  
  
• Collaborate strategically: Partner with complementary brands or influencers to reach new audiences and amplify your message.
  
  
• Build out social channels: Regularly post relevant brand content across social media platforms to create multiple touchpoints with customers.
  
  
• Prioritise customer experiences: Delight customers through outstanding service, unexpected treats, or personalised interactions to encourage organic advocacy.

DTC brand example with outstanding brand marketing

There’s sparkling water, and then there is Liquid Death—the rebellious alternative to boring bottled water. This challenger brand got the world talking about it with its bold packaging, edgy humour and unique storytelling.

Their investment in strong, personality-driven branding and viral campaigns led customers to enthusiastically share their purchases on social media. This generated organic buzz and significantly boosted word-of-mouth awareness—helping increase brand awareness from 26% to 34% in just one year. 

4. Work with influencers

Working with influencers is a proven strategy for boosting word-of-mouth marketing, especially since 63% of consumers are more likely to buy products recommended by influencers they trust.

Statistics show 84% of brands agree that influencer marketing is effective, and for every £1 spent on influencer campaigns, brands can expect around £4.12 back. Even better, influencer-driven leads tend to be high-quality, with 82% of brands reporting influencer marketing delivers better quality leads than other marketing methods.

Beyond immediate sales, there are several other influencer marketing benefits. It grows your brand credibility and trust, boosts brand awareness, and helps you reach new niche markets on social media sites. Influencers can also provide valuable feedback on products, so that brands better understand customer preferences.

If you’re looking to generate buzz around your products, now is the perfect time to identify influencers your audience loves, and partner with them.

How to work with influencers

Launching an effective influencer marketing campaign involves several steps, from finding the right partners to managing and tracking their impact. Here’s how to get started and some influencer marketing tools you can use as you start your journey:

• Find relevant influencers: Influencer marketing tools like Upfluence and HypeAuditor can help you quickly discover influencers who match your brand values and have engaged followings.
  
  
• Manage your campaigns efficiently: Use dedicated tools like Aspire or Dash to keep campaigns organised, brief influencers clearly and track their content performance.
  
  
• Build authentic relationships: Platforms like Traackr and Grin can streamline communications, allowing you to cultivate strong, long-term partnerships.
  
  
• Encourage user-generated content: Services such as Yotpo and Pixlee can collect authentic content from your customers, amplifying trust through real-life testimonials.
  
  
• Measure your results: Continuously track influencer-generated traffic, engagement rates, and conversion metrics using built-in analytics from your influencer marketing tools.

💡 We cover all these tools and more in our influencer marketing tools article. Plus you can download our influencer marketing pack to help you get started. [Amy to add CTA]

Example of a cool influencer marketing campaign

​Huha Undies, a brand specialising in mineral-infused underwear designed for better hygiene and comfort, launched an innovative influencer marketing campaign to promote their products. 

They collaborated with micro-influencers in the health, wellness, and sustainable living niches, encouraging them to share authentic experiences and reviews of Huha's products on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. This helped increase brand awareness and build trust among potential customers.

5. Host and/or attend events

What’s a better way to get people talking about your brand than to invite them to an event sponsored by your brand?

Hosting and attending events can boost customer acquisition because it provides opportunities to engage directly with potential customers, showcase your products and build brand loyalty.

Ideas for hosting a branded event

Here are some fun ways to turn your event into a word-of-mouth machine:

• Pop-up experiences: Create a pop-up shop, tasting booth, or interactive installation that lets people see, touch, and try your products in a unique way.
  
  
• Influencer-hosted gatherings: Partner with a micro-influencer to co-host a small event, like a brunch or product demo, and invite their followers.
  
  
• Workshops or classes: Host something useful or fun—like a skincare tutorial, DIY plant potting session, or cocktail-making class featuring your product.
  
  
• Themed parties: Go all out with a theme that ties into your brand (like a beach bash for a sunscreen company or a slumber party for loungewear).
  
  
• Wellness or fitness events: If relevant to your brand, organise a yoga class, guided hike or sound bath with branded goodies.
  
  
• Soft launches and exclusive previews: Create buzz by inviting loyal customers and influencers to be the first to try a new product.
  
  
• Pop culture tie-ins: Plan an event around a trending show, movie, or cultural moment—bonus points for costumes, trivia or themed treats.

Example of a successful DTC event

Take Ancient + Brave, for example. They show up at wellness festivals, offering samples of their collagen and MCT blends to curious passersby. 

They also recently hosted a chic event with celebs like Fearne Cotton in attendance. Fearne has a huge following on her Happy Place podcast, so Ancient and Brave were able to get in front of a whole new, health-conscious crowd which generated plenty of buzz online and off.

6. Turn heads with real-world brand moments

You’ve probably seen it—someone in a giant costume, handing out samples and chatting to people on the street. 

This kind of on-the-ground marketing might seem old-school, but it works. It gets people interacting with your brand in real life, sparks conversations and creates social-worthy moments.

It works its fun, memorable, and gives potential customers a no-pressure way to try your product. Plus, if you capture it on camera, it doubles as great social content.

How to get out there in the world

Here are some ideas for getting out there and sharing your product IRL:

• Create live moments: Think beyond the usual booth. Try a themed tasting station, a hands-on product demo, or an immersive installation that surprises and delights. The goal? Make it memorable enough that people can’t help but talk about it.
  
  
• Hand out free samples: Nothing sparks conversation like a surprise treat. Plus, it’s a low-barrier way for people to try your product.
  
  
• Dress up and have fun: Throw on a quirky costume, bring props, or create a playful moment people can’t help but film and share.
  
  
• Film the magic: Capture reactions, vox pops, or behind-the-scenes clips to repurpose across your social and email channels.

Example:
MOJU Drinks, who we chatted with on our podcast, is brilliant at this. They regularly hit the streets in the UK dressed in full juice bottle costumes, giving out shots, and interviewing people for their socials.

It’s bold, it’s entertaining, and it gets people talking.

7. Build customer loytalty

It doesn't need to be said that satisfied customers play a crucial role in word-of-mouth marketing. At the very least, brands should be responding quickly to enquiries and doing their best to solve any issues that customers face before, during and after the buying process.

But if you really want to build loyalty, go one step further and exceed customer expectations. Surprise them with something thoughtful—like a discount on their birthday or a free sample tucked into their order. These little moments show customers you value them, and they’ll be more likely to come back again and again.

Hairstory is a great example of this. They often send surprise gifts or exclusive discounts to their subscribers to keep them engaged and loyal to the brand.

Want to hear more? We chatted with the team at Hairstory about how they encourage repeat purchases on our podcast. 🎧

Measuring WoM marketing strategies

Word-of-mouth can be tricky to quantify, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. With the right tools and methods, brands can track how conversations convert into awareness, traffic, and sales. Here are some ideas to help you measure your success:

• Monitor social media engagement: Track mentions, tags, shares, and comment activity across platforms. Tools like Brandwatch, Sprout Social, or Hootsuite can help you identify trends, spikes, and recurring themes tied to your brand.
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• Track referral traffic: Use UTM parameters by adding tags to your URLs in tools like Google’s Campaign URL Builder. This lets you see which sources and campaigns drive traffic and conversions in Google Analytics.
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• Use customer surveys and feedback: Ask new customers how they found out about you. A simple “How did you hear about us?” field at checkout or in post-purchase emails can surface word-of-mouth referrals.
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• Use social listening to gauge sentiment: Brandwatch, Mention, and Talkwalker let you monitor brand sentiment, track recurring keywords, and flag influential posts or users driving the conversation.
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• Monitor brand search terms: An increase in direct brand or product name searches can point to successful WoM activity. Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs can help you track keyword movement and volume.
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• Use QR codes to track offline referrals: For in-person events, printed materials, or screens, generate QR codes linked to custom URLs—then track performance using tools like Bitly, Google Analytics, or QR code platforms with built-in analytics.
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• Track review volume and ratings over time: Monitor how many reviews you receive and how your average rating shifts. An increase in volume or consistency in high ratings often correlates with successful WoM activity—especially if customers mention they heard about your brand from someone else.
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• Analyse repeat purchase behaviour from referred customers: Look at retention and repeat purchase rates among customers who came in via referral. Higher loyalty among this group often signals strong WoM and brand trust.
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• Watch for mentions in niche communities or forums: Not all WoM happens on social media. Monitor platforms like Reddit, Facebook groups, or niche forums related to your industry for product mentions and conversations.

Make the most of your WoM content

You’ve got people talking—now it’s time to make the most of it. One of the biggest benefits of word-of-mouth marketing is all the visual content it naturally generates. From rave reviews and unboxing videos to influencer shout-outs and street-style snaps, this is the kind of content that builds trust and converts.

The best brands don’t let this content disappear into the feed. They embed it into their marketing strategy, and use it across their website, emails, social channels and ads to keep the momentum going.

Here’s your next move: capture mentions, visuals, and glowing reviews. Then store, sort, and share it with Dash. Keeping all your content in an easily accessible location means the rest of your team is able to make the most of it in brand campaigns. For example, ecommerce managers can update product listings using Dash’s Shopify integration and CRM managers can drop content into Klaviyo email campaigns. It’s the easiest way to keep your word-of-mouth machine running and make sure your best content works harder (and smarter) for your brand.

With Dash, you can:

• Easily search for content using keywords and tags, so you never lose track of that perfect quote or image
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• Use collections and portals to organise and share assets with your creative agencies
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• Drop UGC directly into product pages with the Shopify integration, adding social proof where it matters most
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• Resize and crop images to fit the specs of each platform without needing a separate design tool

👉 Try Dash free for 14 days and turn WoM buzz into marketing gold.