Referral Marketing Software – Everything you want to know

It is a proven fact that people tend to trust your brand if it is recommended by their friends. This is Referral marketing. There are various Referral Marketing Software available in the market to get you a referral program for your business. But first, let us know what referral Marketing is?

Every business person has a dream of building an empire so big with a family of happy customers. It takes a lot of patience and hard work to do so. Many of you must have heard that- marketing is and should be connected to every piece of the business.

Marketing team is the King and Strategy is the Queen, and the lady rules the house.

Many people think that Marketing is equal to Advertising. If you had asked me this question 10 years earlier, I would have answered the same. But now there are better and cost-effective methods to do advertisements.

That is Referral Program Marketing. Referral marketing is like doing advertising with better optimization.

Referral marketing is promoting and branding of product through word of mouth. The existing customers of a company recommend products or services to their peers, and then they subscribe to the company too.

Referral Marketing has proven to be one of the best methods to engage with the customers and promote your brand. Researchers have shown that- “4X people tend to buy a product or a service if their friends recommend it or have positive reviews online.”

Wait. Don’t just exit the article yet! I will give you complete detail on everything about referral program marketing, and how can it be a success for your business.

How does Referral Marketing Software work?

So that now you know what referral marketing is, you might be thinking, how does it work? Well, I will tell you everything. You have boarded the right flight to start your referral program.

The foremost thing you need to know is:

Word of Mouth Marketing

“Have you heard of that new burger outlet in the town? It serves amazing burgers. Also, the staff is really good”- you’ll have had this conversation sometime with your friends. This is how you do word of mouth marketing. 

You need to serve your customer right; a happy customer is everything you need because that is only when they will recommend you to their friends. 

By Word of Mouth Marketing, a business can earn 2 times more than the usual sales.

92% of the people will read the reviews before buying any product online. You need to work hard to gain the trust of your clients.

Read also: How to Word of Mouth Marketing.

Reward your Advocates

Advocates are the critics of yours. They are the existing customers of yours who are using your products or services for a long time. If they are satisfied enough from what you have been serving them, they will recommend you to their peers.

They should be rewarded for spreading the good word for you. You should keep your customers engaged by starting a referral program. Referral programs are exciting as they come with a reward. 

Words like- ‘Free’, ‘Discount’, and ‘Cashback’ are customers best friends. They will definitely share your links to their friends to gain rewards for their own.

Targeted Customers

Don’t sell anything to everyone. You need to know what the demand of your customers is. You are a clothing brand, and your referral program says: “Refer-a-Friend and gets 2 tees for Free!” Or, you could have tried using: “Refer-a-Friend and get a tee and denim free!” 

Invest in UAT Testing and do various surveys to know your customers’ behaviour better. Because they are only going to share the referral to their friends only if they see they are getting a benefit out of it.

There are various ways you can target a customer, such as:

There are various successful customer referral programs running in the market.

Keep your customers updated

Never let your customers miss out on any update. Send them emails and notifications on every referral program you start. Announce your referral program on a big scale.

Your existing customers are nurtured, customers. If they are referring you to their friends it means that they are pretty satisfied with your products or services.

Once they invest their time in your referral program, ensure that no customer will remain un-updated. If they have referred their friend, send them a thank you email. If they were rewarded send them an email or a notification again.

Make sure your customers don’t miss out on anything.

How to Make a Referral Program a success?

You have invested your heart and soul in the referral program. So you expect to turn in higher conversions. It is no rocket science to get a successful referral program of your own. All you need to do is, contacting a Referral Marketing Software provider and your work is half done.

Step 1:

The action to proceed with anything is research. Learn the behaviour of your customers. Learn if your customers are more into discounts, sales, free products, or cash backs.

For example, a telephone company can start a referral program for a month free service on refer.

All you need to do is brainstorm, make a list of possibilities, and then launch your referral program.

Step 2:

Now that you have decided on what program to launch and what rewards you need to give your customers. Now you need a referral program software. There are plenty of referral program software providers in the market. Choose one of them and create your referral program.

Step 3:

Now that you know the consumers need, also you have decided on the software provider. Next step is to launch the referral program. Once you launch it, advertise about it all over the internet. Send your subscribers the emails and the notifications to let them know. You have a reward in there for them.

Step 4:

Make your referral program for every device and screen sizes. Many people are still more comfortable using desktops and not phones. Think of all the possibilities.

Also, there are two ways you can reward referral participants. Either the gratification can be one way or two.

Two-way Gratification

When you start a referral program which is benefiting both the referrer and the referee, it is called the two-way gratification.

By this way, you can make both the existing customer and the incoming customers happy.

One-way Gratification

As the name suggests, the one-way gratification provides the incentives to only the referrers. The referrer would get incentified by sharing the link to their friends.

Also, read the successful referral programs in the market: Referral Program Templates.

How to create a Referral Program?

Implementing a referral program can sometimes get tricky. It needs a lot of brainstorming and a group of developers to get you a referral program.

But all thanks to the SaaS providers, creating and implementing a referral program is a cakewalk.

There are several referral marketing software providers available in the market. Going for such software providers save you a lot of money and extra work. There are many perks of going for SaaS providers:

1. No developer team required. The referral marketing software providers give you a JavaScript Snippet code that you can easily place on your webpage.

2. They provide you with interactive referral program templates which make your work much more manageable. 

3. Many referral marketing software providers bestow with the analytics tools within the software.

4. The analytical tools are beneficial as they keep track of the customer’s activity during the ongoing referral program.

5. Launching a referral program via the software providers is the easiest and the most hassle-free way.

6. There is no need for integrating a referral program of all types of devices (Mobile, Desktops, and Tablets). As the software providers make such programs that automatically adapt it to all screen sizes.

7. They keep your customers updated with all the activity by sending them automated texts or emails.

8. To know more amazing features and benefits of referral marketing visit: InviteReferrals

Who needs a Referral Program?

‘Everyone’ is the word. Anyone who has a business can start their referral program. There are billions of industries in the world, some work as B2C and some as B2B. Some are the large scale business and some can be the new entrepreneurs. All need a successful growth, and to reach that goal referral marketing is the easiest and cost-effective method.

Many businesses offer products and services that can implement referral programs.

Ecommerce stores

Jaypore is an e-commerce store offering a two-way gratification program. they are handing out an awesome cash prize. On every successful referral, they are offering Rs. 500 for the referrers and Rs. 7500 to the referees.

Restaurants & Food sectors

This is an exciting way of engaging your customers the way Chimcard did. They are letting their customer keep track of their referral shares. The number of links they shared or the conversions they got. This way, a customer stays interested in the program.

Read also: How ChimpCard increased its sales from referral marketing

Banks & Finance Sectors

Simplicity wins the race. Edelweiss has an elementary yet very interactive referral program. All one need to do is fill in the details and share the referral link.
Also, one should never forget to put in the social media shareable links on a referral program. It brings in twice the benefit.

Fitness clubs & Health Sectors

Sharing health benefits is the biggest karma. This health supplements provider company has started a referral program by which both the referrer and their friends can earn a discount on their purchase.

Tour & Travel Agencies

Everyone loves to travel and everyone desires to travel when someone sees their friends travelling. Thus, Thomas Cook started their referral program that both the friends would benefit a traveling voucher worth Rs. 12,000. Pretty exciting right?

Hospitals & Clinics

Conclusion:

So, now you know all about referral marketing and referral software. Now, go implement these into your business and don’t be afraid to try out new things and get your hands dirty.

I wish you will find yourself an amazing referral marketing software provider that can increase your conversions.

Hope, I was able to present a clear image of referral marketing to you. If you have any doubts or I missed out on anything feel free to comment down below. I’ll be happy to help.