Recommendation of your freelancing service by a friend, family or colleague (44.7%)

Accordingly, getting clients through recommendation by friends, family and colleagues stands out as the second channel for freelancers to get business as given by ‘‘Freelance Business’ survey. It contributes about 44.7% of clients to freelancers.

According to Peter Cunningham the Marketing Director of Buyapowa, 88 percent of consumers trust word of mouth. As a freelancer, online freelancing platforms are not enough. I know that in Africa, especially in developing countries, we highly rely on freelancing platforms because that is where consumers start when they want services from our location. It surely is time we worked out our way to promote ourselves through the word of mouth (WOM).

A friend, family member or colleague knows exactly what you need and how you want it done. They are therefore unlikely to recommend something that will not meet your needs. WOM marketing is largely offline for Africans and happens to be at the time of need. This is not to say online recommendation is dead yet offline tends to give more details and more intimate.

 

Word of mouth marketing

From WOM comes Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM). This refers to all your attempts to create a conversation about your brand and/or, where a conversation already exists, influence it in your favor and direct it towards generating a desired outcome.

 

Means of making it work

Simple things that add up to WOMM can include the following:

• Keep your brand and business in your mouth as you talk to friends, family and colleagues.
• Ask your friends to share social posts about you or to create and post content about their experience with your brand.
• Show case your positive rating and experience in conversations.

These can be done piece meal, that is, whenever you get a chance or create one. Target social settings and be also ready to listen to what would make your brand more visible to the market. You are better off doing this your yourself as opposed to hiring some influencers or celebrities to do WOMM for you.

 

High level strategy

WOM is hardly possible to get started unless customers have had an encounter with your product or service. If your business has started already, make an effort to know how customers understand you and influence them to talk spread the word. If you haven’t started, make an effort to get that first client so that you get a chance to engage with someone to get them to do WOMM for you. If it calls for it, make an offer (could be a free offer) that won’t be resistible to potential clients.

It is within ethical business practice to incentivise existing clients, friends and family to recommend your business. They just should be truthful about your services. The recommended approach is to let your recommenders prepare a user content experience testimonial that is ready for sharing with whoever you get in contact with. This could be a flyer with a testimonial, a digital video, etc.

 

I plan to later share at least one case study on how some businesses have effectively used WOMM to gain clients.