How Word-of-Mouth Really Works in 2026 (With the Part Nobody Talks About: The Psychology Behind It)
Let’s clear something up: “word-of-mouth marketing” isn’t a hashtag, a tactic, or a growth hack.
It’s not “post three times a week” and it’s definitely not “hope this goes viral.”
Most marketers think they’re building word-of-mouth when really they’re building noise. And noise doesn’t spread. Noise gets ignored.
Real word-of-mouth, the kind that travels across group chats, dinner tables, Slack channels, and bar stools, starts with people, not platforms.
And people only talk when you give them something worth talking about.
The Myth of “Viral”
Every brand wants to “go viral.” Very few brands deserve to.
Virality is a flash flood, fast, chaotic, and gone by morning. Word-of-mouth is a river, steady, predictable, shaping landscapes over time.
The biggest mistake companies make is thinking WOM = awareness. No. WOM = emotion. Specifically, an emotion strong enough that someone feels compelled to repeat it to another human being.
Why Talk Triggers Matter
When I helped grow FreshBooks , we didn’t have big budgets. We didn’t have a lot of paid ads. We had stories. And we built them one deliberate moment at a time: meetups, dinners, events with personality, ideas that made people feel like insiders.
We didn’t ask people to share. We made it impossible for them not to.
That’s the difference. Asking doesn’t create WOM. Engineering talk triggers does.
The Psychology of WOM: Why People Actually Share
Here’s the part most marketers skip (because it requires actual thinking instead of posting):
People share things for one reason, because sharing makes them look good.
Word-of-mouth is self-expression disguised as generosity.
Every share says something about the sharer:
“I found something cool.”
“I’m smart.”
“I’m early.”
“I’m funny.”
“I’m in the know.”
“I’m helpful.”
“I discovered something before the rest of you slowpokes.”
If your idea doesn’t give someone a little boost of social currency, they won’t talk about it.
That’s why WOW moments matter. That’s why surprise matters. That’s why experiences matter.
People don’t tell stories about your brand. They tell stories about themselves that happen to include your brand.
WOW = WOM
If you want people to talk, you have to move them. Not with perfection, with emotion.
A WOW moment does three things automatically:
It disrupts expectations. (The brain wakes up.)
It delivers a hit of emotional dopamine. (This feels good.)
It creates a “you gotta hear this” impulse.
Congratulations, you just engineered word-of-mouth.
This is why your product can be flawless and still get ignored: perfection doesn’t create stories. Moments do.
Real Talk Happens Offline
The biggest lie social media ever told marketers is that WOM = posting.
But the most powerful WOM is invisible: It’s the recommendation someone makes while waiting for coffee. It’s the DM someone sends to a coworker. It’s the text someone fires off to a friend saying, “You’ve GOT to check this out.”
It’s not the public conversation that grows your brand, it’s the private one.
And guess what sparks those private conversations?
A story worth retelling.
How You Engineer It (Without Faking It)
The paradox of WOM: you can’t force it, but you can architect the conditions for it. That’s where my WoMBAT framework comes in, not as a cute acronym, but as a creative operating system.
If you want people to talk, start with questions like:
What might be all the ways this idea could be retold?
What might be all the ways someone would brag about being involved?
What might be all the ways this story could spread without us?
Marketing isn’t about broadcasting. It’s about seeding. Light emotional sparks, and people will carry the flames for you.
Hashtags Don’t Build Communities, People Do
Momentum comes from people, not pixels. Communities don’t form because you post; they form because people feel proud to be part of something.
That’s why brands like Liquid Death, Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream, and, yes, Voitures Extravert get talked about constantly. They don’t sell products. They sell identity. They create moments that people feel good about repeating.
If You Want WOM, Give People Something to Share
It’s not complicated. If people aren’t talking, it’s because you haven’t given them a reason to. WOM isn’t magic; it’s the reward for creating something worth repeating.
And if you want to learn how to build those story-worthy moments on purpose, that’s exactly what my book teaches.
👉 Learn how to design ideas that people can’t shut up about in “The Only Creative Process That Matters.”