It’s no secret that word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful tools to effectively marketing your product and your business. It is also one of the simplest and most trusted forms of communication and marketing to reach the majority of the target market. Let’s face it: You’ll trust a friend’s voice infinitely more than you will a billboard ad. To marketers, this can be both a tool and a detriment to your brand.

There are many advantages of word-of-mouth marketing — one of these being, well, it’s free! Any promotional tool that’s free is a winning tool for me! (Well, for you, too). Word-of-mouth comes into play more than you may think. Even if it’s in day-to-day conversations, a Yelp review or event comments made in passing to a friend: It all matters. When comments are positive, this tool can become essential for sales of products and services while boosting your brand recognition.

On the flip side, if the talk around the water cooler about your brand is negative, this can be extremely harmful to your company image. Since trust in products and services can lie greatly between friends and family, if a loved one has a negative experience with your product or service, the chances of the other person going to you drops severely.

“So, how do I prevent negative word-of-mouth marketing?” you may ask. Well, it comes down to doing the little things right. First, ensure your product or service is up to code and you are satisfying your customers’ needs and wants every time, to the best of your ability. If a problem arises, address your client’s concerns as quickly as possible to resolve the situation. If it was your fault – own up to it. Handling a mistake with professionalism and speed could actually result in your client trusting, respecting and relying on you more.

No matter the situation, positive word-of-mouth marketing can be an easy, effective and free tool for success. So start talking and get your brand out there!