Thomas Ridley Foodservice’s content writer, Kat Lawson-Phillips, asks how a business can measure the impact of word of mouth

Spoiler alert! There isn’t really an answer. But after working in PR and Marketing for a little over ten years, I’m still generally surprised by the obsession from some businesses on concrete, measurable ‘return on investment’ metrics, from brand awareness and sponsorship activities.

I’m afraid to say, there still isn’t an easy and straight forward way to measure the impact of word of mouth. But it’s not a reason to give up and stop putting your brand out there. It’s about being honest about your goals and expectations, especially when budgets are tight.

Unlike per-pay-click advertising, or email opens, you can’t neatly analyse and track what happens after someone sees your logo at an event or speaks to someone at a trade show, or attended a charity event that you supported. But - they may well remember your business more than that email you’ve recently sent out and they never opened?

Therefore, in my experience, such encounters may well be less measurable – but can actually be much more impactful. If your brand isn’t out there in a well-thought-out way, connecting with people via different mediums, and trying to have meaningful conversations with your customers: you run the risk of fading away.

And is that a risk that you can afford to take? Unfortunately, there is no whizzy app or expensive piece of marketing software (that I know of) that can measure that for you. It’s more of a ‘professional gut feeling’, backed up by an overall downturn in business performance or specific problem.

The hard truth is, PR, Marketing, Communications, Engagement (whatever you want to call it) is tough. And takes time. And a team of passionate and creative people who know your business, your target audience and your goals: to truly create magic! And an understanding that different approaches will have VERY different results.

All too often, I have seen businesses stop supporting certain events or campaigns because it simply ‘didn’t make any money’. But not everything does, in a black and white way. Some things money can’t buy or can’t fit onto a spreadsheet – like brand loyalty, quality time with your top customers, networking opportunities. And your overall reputation.

I am also, personally, a strong believer that you only get out of activities and partnerships what you put into them, and often you need to support something more than once to really test it and see if it works for you and your brand. Great results take time and it’s important to acknowledge and consider that before signing up to something with unrealistic expectations.

It’s also worth remembering that in such a digital-heavy world, it’s increasingly difficult to break through the online chatter, reach your target audience and gain their trust and/or inspire them to take action. Don’t get me wrong, digital marketing of course has its time and place. And I love the data-trap that you can so easily fall down when you get stuck into a juicy customer pathway or A/B split-testing! But the digital realm is also relentless and impersonal (and full of AI) - and consumers are getting more and more savvy and tired of it.

Sometimes, having a visual presence or partnership instead can work wonders for putting you in front of potential customers / influencers / local decision makers. And often opens up conversations and ideas that you never would have planned for!

Within my role at Thomas Ridley Foodservice, I have been fortunate to work for a local food and drink company that values putting time, money and energy into supporting a wide range of marketing projects. From sponsoring local Business, and Food and Drink Awards, to charity partnerships, we have considerably increased our local presence and network. And not just to potential new customers, but to potential employees, new suppliers, partnerships and new networking events. All slowly increasing word of mouth.

In a nutshell, my point is – if you’re only measuring things based on traditional return on investment (clicks, leads, sales etc) and a ‘but did it actually make money?’ attitude, then you are probably missing a trick!

Kat Lawson-Phillips is the Content Writer at Thomas Ridley Foodservice