It’s not always easy for your customers to do. Given the busy workloads and the swathe of social and family responsibilities, your marketing tactic is probably not high on their list of priorities.
In order to have your established customers become your greatest public champions, you have to make the referral process as simple as you can, and you need to remain strongly visible through alluring referral rewards including complimentary items and sizable price reductions.
Rather than coming up with your own referral marketing concept from nothing, it can be useful to take ideas from top companies who have successful referral programs.
By the time we are done, you should have enough suggestions to create your own referral program and create another way of bringing in new customers for your business.
Let’s review some fundamental definitions of referral marketing so we all have the same understanding before proceeding.
What is a referral program?
A type of marketing tool that many successful ecommerce leaders make use of is a “refer-a-friend” strategy, also known as a referral program. The purpose of this endeavor is to motivate customers that already know the brand and their products to encourage their family and friends to try it out. A referral system is a set of procedures which is used purposely in order to encourage people to recommend your business to others. Referrals are regularly referred to as mouth-to-mouth promotion, since they compensate present customers for passing on information about your brand and inspire potential customers to give your company a try.
People who refer others to a service or product get rewards, such as money, big savings, or a complimentary month of membership. While there is an initial expense to the business, referral programs greatly enhance revenue in the long term by turning current customers into habitual patrons.
If you’re curious as to why having a referral program and how to execute one would be advantageous, let’s take a glance at how the best ecommerce businesses are executing their referral programs and the success they have achieved.
Let’s take a few moments to review the fundamentals of referral programs before we start.
Why do I need a referral program?
One of the major challenges in any business is to secure a dependable customer acquisition method, or in simpler terms, gain new clients. When you have a well-structured referral marketing strategy, your current customers can bring fresh purchasers to your business. This leads to considerable cost savings in acquiring new patrons to your business, while also boosting customer loyalty, which is extremely beneficial.
Why?
Since dedicated customers have a higher rate of changing into purchasers and spend more money per transaction, customer referral plans are the most beneficial and profitable publicizing technique your business can use.
How does a referral program work?
Folks don’t end up performing as many referrals as they planned on due to a number of factors. A referral program helps provide a concrete incentive for people to make their decision.
Today’s referral programs, or “refer-a-friend” schemes, rely on computer software to register and observe referrals created by content customers utilizing a referral code, a rewards card, or a referral hyperlink. If someone recommends a friend for a certain referral campaign, they typically reap a reward or incentive. Software that deals with referral marketing can be used to operate the disbursement of rewards related to referrals.
This practice of using referrals creates an organic talking-point surrounding your brand, thus leading to an amplification of both customer loyalty and your financial gain.
How do I create a referral program?
The most effective way to gain new patrons is to start by tending to the needs of existing contented customers. Rather than basing a referral system solely on giving out money or items as incentives, it takes some strategizing to construct a program that will be successful.
1. Get clear about your goals
Prior to putting together a comprehensive ambassador program or initiating multiple marketing initiatives (of any kind), it is essential to have clarity as to what objectives you have set for the program. This will provide you with assistance as you come up with concepts for referral marketing. Some questions to consider are:
- What are you hoping to get out of your rewards program?
- Do you want more customers? Or just bigger purchases by your existing customers?
- Are you trying to get a higher conversion rate and increase sales?
It is possible to accomplish all of these objectives, but it might necessitate constructing a different referral program for each one. It is vital to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish before you start.
2. Make a list of your existing customer referral sources
People who are satisfied with your services, as well as friends and family members, are potential sources of referrals. Your staunchest supporters will be the foundation of your referral marketing campaign. Compile a register of all these entities and the accessible means of reaching out to them.
3. Make an outreach plan
Make an outreach plan thoughtfully with your list of referral sources. Sending an email to many people with one uniform referral reward is not as basic as it appears. Investigate what the most successful methods are for getting in contact with each referral source.
Recent customers shouldn’t be sent emails offering your reward program immediately after buying for the first time. People who are very close to you such as family and friends might not need encouragement at all! The choices you make for recommendations will largely be decided by the list of contacts you have, so plan ahead.
4. Determine the referral incentives you’ll offer
Cash rewards may appear to be the most beneficial for bringing back existing customers, yet this does not always have to be the case. Investigating the effectiveness of different reward types, research showed that non-cash incentives had a 24% higher success rate in referral marketing than monetary rewards. It is advantageous to provide your customers with an outstanding benefit that will make them loyal to your business for many years.
Braxley Bands’ referral program reward structure:
- Advocate reward: 20% off and a chance for a $100 gift card
- Friend offer: 20% off
In addition to the standard 20% that both the referrer and the referee get, Braxley Bands brought in the possibility to win a $100 gift card, effectively giving the refee three more bands for free. That is a bonus with no cost to the supporter; all they have to do is tell others about it by talking.
5. Tell your customers about it
After settling on the ones who you’ve chosen to refer and the rewards, it’s time to get folks to let the world know about your product and the incentives you are offering! There are numerous techniques to achieve this, each of which can attract a diverse group of potential customers.
You could make your referral program more prominent by including details about it in your newsletters, allowing customers to opt in to your website, displaying a popup widget on your homepage, and sending referral emails to certain members of your loyal audience. Investigate the most effective approach for enlarging your lists and then experiment with it.
Nearly all ecommerce companies, including Ch?mpo, have a hyperlink to their referral program situated in the bottom of their webpages. It’s accessible and easy to spot.
6. Align with your customers’ values
What do your customers value? Do they value transparency? Sustainability?
It’s best for your brand to embrace the same values, and at the least, not be in direct opposition to them.
Once your narrative and image have been firmly set in place, people may anticipate that you will remain loyal to those same principles in all your words and actions. Continuously fulfilling what you have pledged guarantees that you are staying faithful to your personal convictions.
7. Stimulate customers’ emotions
Creating emotion is key in sharing your story. Consider firms that endured tribulation and eventually triumphed. A enterprise that began because someone had a longing or inspiration to help a particular goal (for example, TOMS was set up with the idea of presenting quality footwear to children in need).
These types of instances tug at people’s heartstrings. Individuals are likely to share information about a company with their companions if the brand has an interesting history. Individuals openly divulge what brings them joy or distress (any viral video you watch online will evoke some type of emotion in you).
8. Share behind the scenes
People value companies that are transparent with them. Truthfulness can help you to both strengthen belief in yourself and gain trust from your clients/customers. Customers will come to have a high regard for you due to your willingness to be honest with them.
Presenting information about what happens away from the public view, or even acknowledging an error, can actually help you gain trust. This also shows customers you respect them. Therefore, they will do what you did for them and remain supportive.
Shutterfly, the widely-used online photo printing service, often provides access to the internal workings of cameras. They have gone on the air a lot of times and traveled to various urban centers which include their storehouses.
Permitting individuals to enter their premises is helping to enhance their image among the public, in addition to giving patrons the opportunity to witness their processes. Lots of folks find Shutterfly products both stimulating and inviting, making customers pleased with their selection.
9. Provide unique content
Posting brief guides, special point of views, insider expertise, or any other useful info to your blog, vlog, or social networking profiles can be instrumental for your customers. It is possible that your customers will spread the word about your posts by showing them to the people in their social group. This can lead to your reputation being spread, which might attract more new clients to your business.
Generating material is a simple method to explore further into different networks. It is impossible to predict what someone may be looking into regarding your product or service. If you provide tips or information related to what you do, it will ensure that you are more easily discovered and that you can position yourself as an expert within your sector.
If your customers come from a shared sector, you can pencil down an informative industry pattern on a piece of paper, craft a blog post on strategies for grappling with recent regulatory modifications, schedule a Q&A meeting for new firms, or encourage referrals to a complementary webinar.
10. Create fun or informative visuals
People are widely known to circulate material that makes them appear intelligent, amusing, or impressive. Therefore, people like sharing videos and infographics. Generating visuals that are either useful or amusing to the customer will likely lead to the content being shared.
This is a customer indirectly referring you. They are in agreement with what you have said and are sharing it further, giving you credit for it.
11. Improve customer service and support
Gaining the approval of your clients can assist in creating a sizable and dependable customer base. This could also help to increase the number of customers who will likely do repeat business with you.
By giving customers a superb experience and fostering their loyalty, the potential to receive referrals will increase. This service furnishes customers with the means to spread information about themselves, constructing a narrative that can easily be spread by customers.
The evidence suggests that businesses that exceed customer expectations will typically be rewarded with a loyal customer base. When it comes to purchasing something, the customer experience is deemed to be a higher priority than the cost by 64% of people.
The best way to earn legitimate and ongoing referrals is to offer exceptional services that surpass those of your competition.
12. Track the referrals and rewards
Maintaining a record of each reference generated is essential for operating an effective reward scheme. It is essential to monitor who recommended who, the date of the referral, whether it was successful, and the most beneficial method for keeping in contact with both the referrer and the referee.
Using a referral program platform such as ReferralCandy is simple and effective for achieving goals. A system that not only makes it easy to give out rewards within your store but also offers precise information on the referrals can assist you in determining the exact level of effectiveness of your program. Certain referral networks take an additional measure to ensure that the referrals you receive are legitimate and not fraudulent.
13. Ask customers for referrals
Referrals are similar to customer reviews. If your services are of top-notch quality, you may not even have to request referrals. But requesting references in the proper manner can be beneficial in achieving your objectives. These are some fast hints to get your mentality set correctly.
- Ask at the right time. Timing really is key. Take advantage of opportunities when your client has been impressed by your work. This includes when they give you unprompted praise, leave a positive review or comment, or make a repeat purchase.
- Offer something before asking or taking. It’s a two-way street, and no one wants to be on the road with someone who is hogging the whole lane. So, be sure to present some sort of referral incentive.
- Don’t just ask for any referral. Request your customers to recommend high-potential customers who will be interested in what your business offers.
Wrapping up: How to get more referrals
How to get referrals? In the long run, businesses that merit them gain customer recommendations. When a person refers you to someone else, they are linking their own reputation to yours and using their social influence.
Developing an attitude of putting the customer first is the best way to get more customer referrals. Ultimately, all of our measures within this structure produce a more advantageous customer experience. If you put in extra effort to meet the needs and desires of your customers, it is almost impossible to make a mistake.
