Marketers today consider referral programs to be the most important part of their marketing strategy. Referral programs are more influential than you may give it credit to be. Majority of people purchasing products online seek recommendations from family and friends when considering a purchase online. Social media is a major driver of this trend. Prospects are more likely to purchase your product if something regarding it has been shared on social media by their connections- for example, through a referral program.
Industry stalwarts have recognized the importance of referral programs. Experts believe that empowering customers who love your products to help you with your marketing efforts is a strong growth driver.
While all this is very compelling, companies are still struggling with how they can quantitatively measure the impact of their referral marketing efforts.
This is the issue with one of the existing clients that approached us. It’s a B2B software products company which struggled the same challenge.
They had a large base of loyal customers. These customers were spreading a lot of positive reviews about their services.
They wanted to get a system in place which can actually measure and track all these referrals and enable them to reward and incentivize these customers so that they remain loyal and give positive reviews further on.
InviteReferrals made a customized product specific to their needs. Our product gave them analytical insights which they employed in their marketing efforts to gain manifold benefits. Their conversion rate from referrals increased and became higher than all other channels combined.
Referral marketing is going to channel for growth across a variety of industries. The secret to making it successful is to treat these campaigns just as any high-value customer acquisition channel. You need to invest in the process, expertise, and technology while you incorporate in every aspect of your marketing strategy.
1: Visibility
You should host the referral link on a high traffic page on your website. It should be designed in such a way that it is noticeable and easy to access. You can add a pop up in the middle of the page which will lead customers to take actions and sign up
2: Understand your audience
Knowing the motivations and preferences of your customer before reaching out to your customers is critical to your success. Offer the right incentive to the right audience will help your referral program to generate positive results.
3: Customize and Automate
You should automate many parts of your referral program to provide a seamless experience. From triggering an email when a new member signs up to sending an email when a commission is approved, having an automated referral program workflow in place can cut down the time and resources your marketing team has to spend on sending out emails.
If you have to take full advantage of referral technologies, it has to be incorporated in each and every aspect of who you are. For it to consistently deliver bottom-line results, it has to be woven into every aspect of how you operate. Referral CTAs should be added to the home page and other pages of your website. Weekly newsletters, social ads, and blog post should also include them. And the referral program is fully integrated with other critical applications and systems used by the entire company. InviteReferrals helps you implement your referral strategy.
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If a company has a promotion on FREE $300 credit when joining their power company as an example, do you think its best to reward BOTH the referrer and the referee the same amount or just focus on the referrer (the one who referred their friend)
There are two ways of looking at this.
1. The person who receives the invite is told to join and get this amazing offer (which is available to anyone who sees it online) and if they join they can refer friends and earn money... this way we can pay the referred say $100.
2. Pay the referred and referee $50 each and still give the referred person the $300 credit.
What's your thoughts?