There is an old adage, “if you have a good experience as a customer you might not mention it to anyone but if you have a bad experience, you will tell everyone who will listen about that experience”.

Word-of-mouth recommendations have always been the backbone of marketing. People trust friends, loved ones and colleagues for recommendations on brands, books, restaurants, services and products. While word-of-mouth marketing was considered a great perk in the past, it has now become vital to any brand, product or service that needs to differentiate itself in order to grow our world evolves into one global economy and competition increases in every facet of every industry.

Brands used to have less of an interest in mitigating disastrous customer support issues because the damage done was so minor that it wasn’t worth time and money to invest in appeasing a few upset customers. Fast forward to 2008, and the massive explosion of social media into every facet of life. The world knows where you are, what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you feel about it thanks to Facebook, et al. While some consumers will spend time writing the occasional positive review, most use the advent of social media to vent about bad experiences and to “warn” their friends, family and acquaintances. Consumers leave product reviews on websites for all to see, companies respond to customer service complaints via Twitter and Yelp has increased the service industries ability to converse with their customers. Many small businesses that may have shuttered under the weight of mismanaged mistakes can now create a dialogue with consumers and manage their reputations therefore controlling their brand story. Now more than ever, brands are even trying to control word-of-mouth marketing by becoming the friend that you’ll listen to for a recommendation. They are achieving this trust by creating live brand experiences where consumers can interact with the business and develop enough trust to become an evangelist.

Brands have realized they need to capitalize on the “good experience” feeling by providing that experience themselves through a live brand experience. In fact, 93% of people say that they talk to others about live brand experiences, with 27% of those people telling 20 other people. Additionally, live brand experiences increase the exposure and reach of the brand. 68% of people search the brand or product for more information 59% will buy the product at retail locations and at the very least, 63% will like it on Facebook, which increases reach, engagement and the most significant factor, trust exponentially for a business or brand. Read more this great study conducted by Momentum Worldwide about how vital live brand experiences are to creating a strong consumer base.