Word-of-mouth marketing is often referred to as WOM and it’s a type of marketing that is dependent upon consumers spreading the word about products and services to their network of friends, family, coworkers, etc.
WOM is one of the oldest and most effective marketing tools in the world.
We are going to share some word of mouth marketing statistics in this article to show you the power and effectiveness of WOM.
Key Statistics
- 92% of people trust friends and family recommendations
- 91% of B2B consumers are influenced by WOM when making purchasing decisions.
- 74% of consumers claim that WOM is a major factor in their buying decisions.
- 56% of B2B buyers seek offline WOM for advice and information.
- Word-of-mouth advertising can boost marketing effectiveness by 54%.
- 84% of consumers say that they sometimes or always take action based on personal recommendations (WOM).
- 93% of those ready to buy something turn to online reviews first.
- 91% of consumers between 35 and 54 years old read reviews online for local businesses.
- WOM drives $6 trillion in yearly spending all over the world.
- 37.6% of dining in the United States was influenced by WOM.
Top Word Of Mouth Marketing Statistics in 2025
These statistics regarding word-of-mouth marketing come mostly from the global perspective unless otherwise noted in the list.
1. 92% of People Trust Friends and Family Recommendations
According to a Nielsen report, 92% of people feel suggestions from family and friends are more important than advertisements.
Another 88% say they trust online reviews written by consumers other than family and friends.
We can see that WOM has a huge impact among friends and family suggestions and consumer reviews and ratings.
(LXA)
2. 91% of B2B Consumers Are Influenced By WOM When Making Purchasing Decisions.
A whopping 91% of business-to-business buyers say they are widely influenced by work-of-mouth marketing when making buying decisions.
So, we see that not only do business-to-consumers (B2C) accept word-of-mouth advertising when they want to buy something, but this also happens in the business-to-business (B2B) realm.
(Demandbase)
3. 74% of Consumers Claim that WOM Is a Major Factor in Their Buying Decisions.
Regardless of whether it’s friends and family or customer ratings and reviews, 74% of consumers claim that word-of-mouth is a key element when they are making buying decisions.
Therefore, nearly three-quarters of consumers are influenced by word-of-mouth marketing.
(LXA)
4. 56% of B2B Buyers Seek Offline Wom for Advice and Information.
Another significant statistic about WOM is that in the B2B realm, 52% of buyers say they turn to offline sources for purchasing advice and information.
While that’s a large percentage of B2B buyers looking to offline sources for recommendations and suggestions, this figure jumps to 88% when you include online WOM in the mix.
(Everyonesocial)
5. Word-Of-Mouth Advertising Can Boost Marketing Effectiveness by 54%.
The fact that it’s been statistically confirmed that WOM can boost your marketing effectiveness by up to 54% is a good indicator of how powerful this realm of marketing is in today’s world.
Even though it’s difficult to measure what people say about a brand’s products and services among themselves, we experience WOM everyday of our lives and can see it for ourselves.
(More than accountants (UK))
6. 84% of Consumers Say that They Sometimes or Always Take Action Based on Personal Recommendations (WOM).
Word-of-mouth recommendations and suggestions from family, friends, coworkers, and other trusted people they know sparks action among consumers.
In fact, Nielsen reported that 84% of consumers said they either sometimes or always take action based on personal recommendations.
This can include making a purchase from a brand.
(Nielsen)
7. 93% of Those Ready to Buy Something Turn to Online Reviews First.
This statistic shows that most people who are ready to buy something will take time to read reviews on a service or product first.
In this instance, 93% of buyers said they read online reviews before they progress to making a purchase.
Further data shows that 58% of buyers are willing to pay more or even travel further to buy something from a brand that gets good reviews.
(Trustmary)
8. 91% of Consumers Between 35 and 54 Years Old Read Reviews Online for Local Businesses.
Since ratings and reviews account for a large portion of WOM, we see that 91% of those 35 to 54 years old read the online reviews for their locally owned businesses.
Furthermore, a whopping 97% of consumers between 18 and 34 read online reviews from their local businesses.
Another 86% of people aged 55 and older also read local business reviews.
(Brightlocal)
9. WOM Drives $6 Trillion in Yearly Spending All Over the World.
This significant data reveals that globally, word-of-mouth advertising accounts for $6 trillion (USD) in annual spending.
Additionally, WOM is responsible for 13% of all global sales.
If you didn’t know how powerful and effective word-of-mouth marketing was before, this statistic tells you a lot.
(LXA)
10. 37.6% of Dining in The United States Was Influenced by WOM.
Data from 2017 showed that dining out accounted for 37.6% of word-of-mouth buying decisions in the United States.
In this research, we can gather that most of the WOM purchasing decisions were made in the dining out sector in 2017.
Another 33.1% came from electronics and 32.2% from food and groceries.
(Statista)
11. 27% of Consumers Said WOM Is the Most Important Element for Strengthening or Weakening Brand Loyalty.
More than one-quarter (27%) of survey respondents (consumers) said they think word-of-mouth is the primary factor in either strengthening or weakening brand loyalty.
That’s nearly 3 out of 10 consumers that think word-of-mouth has enough influence to harm or help a brand.
(Invesp)
12. People Discuss Brands at Least 90 Times a Week.
Since only that which can be measured is known, we know from analytics that people casually discuss specific brands 90 times a week.
If we had to guess, that number would likely be doubled or more in terms of talking about specific brands in person and online each week.
When was the last time you talked about a brand online or in person?
(WebFX)
13. 64% of Marketers Concur that WOM Is the Most Effective Marketing Type.
In the professional marketing realm, 64% of marketers concur that word-of-mouth is their most effective type of marketing.
The rest either have a different preferred marketing method, or they don’t engage in WOM.
This statistic is very impressive in terms of what marketers think about word-of-mouth marketing.
(LXA)
14. 22% of Consumers in Ireland Always Took Action Due to A Friend’s Recommendation.
A 2021 survey conducted in Ireland related to how word-of-mouth impacts buying decisions revealed that 22% of consumers in Ireland always took action after getting friends’ recommendations.
Moreover, 68% said they sometimes took action based on WOM recommendations by friends.
WOM is effective all over the world.
(Statista²)
15. 30% of The Conversations Among Asian-Americans Was About Something Seen Online.
One demographic in the United States that might interest you is that 30% of conversations sparked among Asian-Americans were related to something they had seen online.
Moreover, 10.8 conversions occur among the Asian-American population in the food and dining sector.
This is compared to the 9.5 conversions among the total American public.
(Marketing Charts)
16. In Southeast Asia, Word-Of-Mouth Is the Highest Ranked Method for Consumer Education.
According to statistics, Southeast Asia may become the globe’s next eCommerce hub.
As a result of their growing social media presence, online word-of-mouth has reached the top in terms of how brands educate consumers about their products and services.
Social media ads and influencer marketing follow behind WOM.
(Jing Daily)
17. 65% of Consumers Quit Engaging with Brands Over a Single Bad Experience.
When you seek to improve your WOM marketing, it’s important to know that a massive 65% of consumers say they will cut off brands after just a single poor experience.
So, only one bad experience can separate you from a consumer unless you have a big plan to do something amazing to save the relationship.
(LXA)
18. 70% of Marketers Intend to Increase Their Word-Of-Mouth Online Spending.
One survey of marketing professionals revealed that 70% of them intend to boost their online spending for word-of-mouth campaigns.
This means they will likely engage in more user-generated content and spend more on social media influencers to talk about their brands.
(Invesp)
19. 73% of Millennials Take It upon Themselves to Their Friends and Family Members to Make the Right Buying Decisions.
A good reason to target Millennials in your brand marketing is because 73% of this generation feels responsible for helping their family and friends make the right buying decisions.
Also, there are several influencers within this generation on social media influencing others.
(WebFX)
20. Brands Can Get 3 Times More WOM when They Have an Emotional Connection with Their Audience/customers.
This data is as much a tip as it is a statistic.
If you can strive to have an emotional connection with your audience and customers, you can enjoy up to 3 times more word-of-mouth engagement among your loyal customers.
(Trustmary)
FAQs
What Is Word-Of-Mouth (wom) Marketing?
Word of mouth marketing (WOM) is where consumers spread the word about a product or service in person or online.
It’s one of the world’s oldest and most powerful and effective marketing methods to this day, especially in the digital realm.
Why Is Wom so Important?
Something about consumer behavior that hasn’t changed since the beginning of the world of marketing is how much consumers trust recommendations from friends, family, and people they know personally.
That said, one study showed that an impressive 92% of modern consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over all other types of advertising/marketing.
So, it does matter that you have a quality product, but mostly it matters how you treat your customers.
What Are the Benefits of Word-Of-Mouth Marketing?
Word of marketing has power behind it and offers these benefits:
• Credibility: WOM provides you with a higher level of credibility among your target audience. Consumers are more apt to trust recommendations from their trusted network.
• Better brand reputation: When customers have a positive experience with you (especially multiple good experiences), they are more apt to talk about it among their peers online and in person. This strengthens your brand reputation and boosts customer loyalty.
• Broader audience reach: As customers discuss your brand with their network of family, friends and others, your message spreads more quickly than you can imagine. Therefore, this results in attracting a wide audience, which comes with its own benefits.
• Cost-effectiveness: Word-of-mouth marketing is probably the most cost-efficient method of marketing today. While you shouldn’t solely rely on WOM, it should be one of your marketing objectives. Generating WOM doesn’t require much money and it comes with a big return.
• Boosts in sales: Since WOM increases your credibility and brand reputation, spreading the word about your brand and products/services will ultimately result in more sales. That’s the natural progression of consumer behavior in this instance.
What Are Some Common Mistakes Made in Wom Marketing?
While WOM is an amazing and powerful marketing method, you will need to avoid these common mistakes:
• Buying fake reviews: Never buy fake reviews. It’s a poor business practice that is likely to damage your reputation and credibility.
• Censoring negative comments: It’s important for consumers and customers to see that you’re open to all forms of feedback, not just positive.
• Failing to reward customers for referrals: You need to foster your customer relationship by rewarding your customers who give your referrals. They give you their feedback and recommendations for free; don’t they deserve something in return?
• Making it difficult for customers to share feedback: It’s important to create an easy and convenient way for customers to give you feedback online and especially on social media.
What Are Some Examples of Word-Of-Mouth Marketing?
Here are few examples of WOM:
• A customer recommending a restaurant to friends/family/network after enjoying good food and service after a meal.
• Someone posting a positive review of your product or service on social media.
• A blogger writing about their experience with a service or product.
• Celebrity endorsements of brands are posted on social media.
What Are the Challenges of Word-Of-Mouth Marketing?
Like all kinds of marketing avenues, WOM comes with benefits, but also some challenges.
Here are some challenges that come from WOM:
• Lack of control: You have no control, or very little control about what customers may say about your brand or products/services.
• Unpredictability: It’s difficult to measure WOM effectiveness since customers can choose what they say and where they say it. It’s an unpredictable ideal.
• Negative feedback: Most of the time, customers are more apt to deliver positive reviews and say nothing at all if they have a negative experience. It has to be egregious for them to say negative things most of the time. However, sometimes people are less than kind or very picky and they want people to know it. Always handle negative feedback with positive responses and be professional.
• Limited reach: Word-of-mouth marketing isn’t as targeted as other types of marketing. So, it can make it challenging to reach out to a specific audience through your WOM efforts.
Conclusion
We have learned from this data that word-of-mouth marketing can make or break a brand’s credibility and reputation.
Those elements of building a brand are not easily rebuilt but require a full rebranding and renaming most of the time.
Imagine doing all that work to build high credibility and brand reputation just to lose it because of poor customer experience(s).
Let’s face it, how brands treat people outweighs its marketing efforts.
As per this article, word-of-mouth marketing is dynamic, powerful, and wildly effective.
This kind of marketing has been used for centuries and still works today.
It’s especially big in the digital world with so many social media influencers and ways for users to rate, review, and provide feedback online.
You may not be able to measure your offline word-of-mouth marketing efforts as well as your digital efforts, but the fact remains that this is going to happen regardless of how much or how little you spend.
That said, increasing your spending and engagement in word-of-mouth marketing can boost your customer loyalty and your sales.
After reading the word of mouth marketing statistics in the article, we hope that you feel more enlightened about the concept and its effectiveness and power in the digital world.
