51 Need-to-Know Word-of-Mouth Marketing Statistics for 2025

Consider this scenario: Julian is thinking about buying a tumbler. When he tells his friend which brand he wants to purchase, they recommend a better tumbler. This conversation changes Julian’s mind, and he buys the tumbler his friend suggested.

That’s a simple example, but it shows the power of word-of-mouth in everyday purchases. To leverage it in your favor, you’ll want to invest in word-of-mouth marketing, which encourages your audience to talk positively about your company.

To see how impactful this marketing strategy is, keep reading for 51 word-of-mouth marketing statistics!

And while you’re here, do you want to receive more digital marketing insights delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to Marketing Manager Insider!

Don’t miss our Marketing Manager Insider emails!

Join 200,000 smart marketers and get the month’s hottest marketing news and insights delivered straight to your inbox!

Enter your email below:

Inline Subscription Form – CTA 72

“*” indicates required fields

Hidden

cf_country

Hidden

ajs_anonymous_id

Hidden

mcfxlp

Hidden

mcfxsource

Hidden

mcfxmedium

Hidden

mcfxterm

Hidden

mcfxreferrer

CAPTCHA

Email*

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

(Don’t worry, we’ll never share your information!)

How effective is word-of-mouth?

If you’re reading this blog post, you might be wondering, “how effective is word-of-mouth?” You’ve heard the hypothetical scenarios like Julian and the tumbler, but you want the facts.

In short, word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly effective because it builds trust. Customers trust what other consumers tell them more than they trust what a brand tells them.

Check out these stats that show how word-of-mouth impacts consumer behavior:

1. 92% of consumers trust recommendations over a company’s messaging.
2. Nearly 83 percent of consumers trust recommendations over branded ads.
3. Globally, 88% of people trust personal recommendations the most of all channels.
4. Recommendations are trusted by 50% more people than other channels, such as banner ads and SMS messages.
5. 70% of consumers believe the opinions of other consumers.
6. Compared to other types of advertising, word-of-mouth marketing is 37% better for retaining customers.
7. 73% of Millennials feel responsible for helping friends and family choose the right purchases.
8. People talk about brands 90 times per week.
9. 73% of online shoppers agreed that user-generated content made them more confident when purchasing.

The business impact of word-of-mouth marketing

Given the significant role word-of-mouth plays in consumers’ purchasing habits, you can imagine the impact word-of-mouth marketing has on your bottom line.

These stats show how profitable word-of-mouth marketing can be for your business:

10. Twice as many sales come from word-of-mouth marketing as paid ads.
11. 20% to 50% of purchasing decisions are primarily driven by word-of-mouth.
12. Influencer marketing carries a return on investment (ROI) of $6.50 for every dollar spent.
13. Referrals from friends make someone four times more likely to buy.
14. Referral programs generate substantial leads for 60% of marketers.
15. Referral programs generate good or excellent leads for 78% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers.
16. Referred customers contribute about 25% more per day to a company’s profit margins than non-referred customers.
17. Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred customers.

Reviews & word-of-mouth marketing statistics

The above stats are impressive, right?

But how can you generate this word-of-mouth? Word-of-mouth comes in many forms, but one of the most prevalent is online reviews.

Customers use reviews as a vital piece of the decision-making process, so encouraging and managing your reviews should be part of your word-of-mouth marketing strategy.

Take a look at the stats that show how much reviews matter to businesses:

18. 93% of buyers read online reviews first.
19. 91% of adult consumers under 35 trust companies that have positive reviews.
20. 59% of people use Google to find reviews online.
21. 73% of consumers prioritize reviews from the past month.
22. Online reviews convince 94% of people to avoid a business.
23. Online reviews have changed 80% of shoppers’ minds about a purchase.
24. Local companies receive an average of 39 reviews.
25. 97% of consumers read local business reviews.
26. 74% of local businesses have one or more reviews on Google.
27. A company’s star rating matters to 54% of U.S. shoppers.
28. When products receive at least 50 reviews, they generate greater returns.
29. A trusted review makes 92% of B2B buyers more likely to purchase.
30. When local businesses have asked customers to leave a review, 68% of consumers did so.

Social media & word-of-mouth statistics

Alongside reviews, social media is a critical word-of-mouth marketing channel. Gone are the days when companies could only receive in-person customer recommendations. Now, your customers take to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more to tell their followers about you.

These social media stats reveal how often people talk about brands on social platforms — and the role this social media word-of-mouth plays in their purchasing decisions:

31. Friends’ social media posts influence 81 percent of people’s purchasing decisions.
32. Social media provides 80% of users with advice about a product purchase.
33. 78% of social media users talk about brands they follow.
34. 53% of U.S. users share positive social media comments about companies.
35. 35% of U.S. users share negative social media comments about companies.
36. 65% of TikTok users enjoy seeing creators share brands or products.
37. TikTok creators help 35% of users find brands and products.

Influencers & word-of-mouth advertising statistics

We can’t talk about social media word-of-mouth without discussing influencers. Influencer marketing has taken the world by storm, and rightfully so. Check out these word-of-mouth advertising statistics that show the impact influencers can have on your business:

38. 8-10% of consumers are considered “influential.”
39. These influencers’ product and brand opinions impact purchasing decisions four times more than other consumers’ opinions.
40. When a brand reposts influencers’ content, the reposts perform 10 times better than the brand’s original content.
41. 84% of marketers engage in influencer marketing.
42. 81% of marketers consider influencer advertising effective.
43. Purchase intent increases by 5.2 times when companies use influencer marketing on Twitter.
44. The ROI of influencer marketing is 11 times higher than other Internet marketing strategies.
45. 49% of people use influencer recommendations when purchasing.

Customer-brand interactions & word-of-mouth statistics

While influencer marketing is an excellent tool for the digital marketer, no word-of-mouth marketing strategy would be complete without considering customer service.

To generate positive word-of-mouth for your business, you must delight your customers. Every interaction your customers have with your company is an opportunity to impress them enough that they want to talk about you to their friends and family.

These stats show how customers’ interactions with you impact their word-of-mouth:

46. 94% of people who have a “very good” customer experience will likely recommend the company.
47. 72% of consumers will talk about a good experience.
48. 46% of people will talk about a negative experience.
49. 76% of people who had a “friendly interaction” with a brand on Twitter will likely recommend the brand.
50. 82% of people who had an “unfriendly interaction” with a brand on Twitter will likely not recommend the brand.
51. A personalized interaction with a brand on Twitter will likely result in a recommendation from 77% of people.

That’s all 51 word-of-mouth marketing statistics demonstrating how critical this strategy is to your business. Ready to get started with word-of-mouth marketing?

Learn how to make these word-of-mouth marketing statistics work for your business

Every digital marketing channel is an opportunity to generate positive word-of-mouth. If you want to harness the power of recommendation and get people talking about your brand, start by building a robust digital marketing strategy.

Between your website, social media, and other online touchpoints, you need to create a unified, delightful customer experience. Learn how to build a meaningful customer experience across every channel with our free digital marketing guides.

We’ve covered topics like:

• Improving your online presence
• How to do social media marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Web design
• And more

After reading the guides, you’ll be well on your way to delighting your customers everywhere you are online and earning the positive word-of-mouth you need to grow your business!