Referral Program
A referral program, also known as modern word-of-mouth marketing, is a powerful marketing technique that motivates customers to promote your brand.
Customers can now share their brand experience with their network using referral links or codes through modern referral programs, which are more convenient than traditional ones that utilize online reviews or customer survey forms. Additionally, customers are also rewarded for their referrals.
Referral programs involve more than just requesting your current customers to bring in random leads. This task can be accomplished by your marketing team consistently. Instead, referral programs encourage customers to consider individuals who can genuinely benefit from your product or services and bring in valuable leads.
Have you ever questioned why a stranger would be interested in interacting with your brand? It’s because they have faith in the person who introduced them to your product or service, and they are highly inclined to follow their suggestion, correct?
Referral programs are considered the most trusted form of marketing because even before becoming your customer, being referred by someone they know instills trust in your brand and inherently generates a favorable customer experience.
Data reveals stories.
Finance Online states that customers who have been referred are more loyal by 18%, have a higher lifetime value rate by 16%, and spend 13% more compared to customers who have not been referred. Additionally, peer recommendations are trusted by 9 out of 10 customers.
When their peers recommend them, customers are more inclined to engage with your brand. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and companies transitioning online to reach their intended markets, referral programs experienced a significant rise of 425%.
If you are interested in utilizing referral programs, it is important to understand the key elements that should be incorporated in order to effectively attract customers. This is especially relevant for popular international brands such as Dropbox, Slack, Uber, and others, which have successfully utilized referral marketing strategies.
Features an ideal referral program should have
1. User-friendly experience
The experience of your program will impact how willing users are to share it with others. Therefore, it is crucial to deliver a seamless customer experience.
Ensure that your referral program is designed without any obstacles that might deter users from participating, such as complicated navigation, an inefficient dashboard, or unnecessary extra steps. Failing to do so may result in disappointing your customers, therefore, strive to create a seamless referral program that encourages users to willingly share it with others.
2. Attractive incentives
If your referral incentives are not perceived as valuable by your customers, they will not be willing to share them, even if they are loyal to your brand. It is important to motivate all individuals involved to take part in the program. By offering better incentives, you can increase the willingness of your customers to participate and make them happier about it.
3. Customizations
Another important aspect of a referral program is its ability to be flexible and adaptable to meet the specific needs of your brand. It is crucial for your referral program to have enough customizability to align with your company’s branding and values.
When we refer to customizations, we are referring to various templates, widgets, add-ons, or third-party integrations that can influence the formation of your referral program.
4. Persuasive copywriting
Even though your brand is trusted by your customers and their peers trust them, this cycle alone does not guarantee that a stranger will click on your referral link. In order to encourage strangers to click on your referral link, your referral program needs to be based on persuasive writing and actionable texts.
Your copy should prioritize providing incentives and motivation for individuals to take action, starting from your landing pages through to your referral policy and rules.
5. Customer insights
In order to avoid inconsistent outcomes, it is crucial to analyze insights from your campaigns. At the very least, your referral program should have the capability to track:
- Participation rate
- Share rate
- Impressions and Reach
- Conversion Rate
To determine the obstacles that users are facing or what is deterring them from promoting your brand, it is necessary to think systematically.
Why a referral program is great for customer acquisition
It’s cost-effective
If you are investing money to attract customers, establishing a referral program is highly cost-efficient in achieving this goal.
You only pay per customer that signs up or makes a purchase
There is no need to spend money on impressions or clicks as you do with Google Ads or Facebook. With this, you only pay a fixed cost for each acquisition, and you have the flexibility to determine the cost for each acquisition as desired.
It’s easy
By empowering your customers, you enable them to act as advocates and salespeople for your business, thus transferring the responsibility of promoting your business to them. As a result, both you and your customers can benefit from this arrangement. Through your referral program, they have the opportunity to earn money by referring their friends, while you also generate revenue.
How to create your own referral program
To get started, follow these steps using referral program software tools that ensure a simple and intuitive setup for your referral program.
You can create a branded landing page for your referral program using top choices such as Referral Factory and Ambassador, which will include instructions explaining the functioning of your referral program.
When someone signs up, they will be given the choice to invite friends immediately either by email or by copying their unique link. If they choose the email option, they will be able to synchronize with all their email contacts and easily select the friends they want to send an invitation to.
Consider how you will compensate your referrers. Will you provide cash, gift cards, or credit for future purchases of your product? The majority of referral tools will automatically issue gift cards to referrers via email as payment.
To enable tracking of sign-ups, it is necessary to insert a tracking pixel on your website. This will allow tools such as Referral Factory or Ambassador to accurately monitor the occurrence of sign-ups and facilitate email communications and payouts accordingly.
By inserting a brief code into the header of your website, you can enable the tracking of referred signups and promptly notify all relevant parties, allowing them to take appropriate action. Majority of tools are compatible with popular website builders such as Shopify, WordPress, Wix, HubSpot, and others, making integration seamless.
- Write a “You’re Invited!” email: Write a canned response email template that will automatically be sent from the referrer to their friends.
- Write a “Your friend just signed up” email: Write a canned response email template that will be sent to a referrer every time one of their referrals signs up.
- Write a “Your welcome gift is on the way!” email: Write a canned response email template that will be sent to a new referral after they’ve signed up.
- Write a “Your referral payment is on the way” email: Write a canned response email template that will be sent to the referrer when a payout is coming their way. Don’t forget to ask for more referrals in this email!
- Add a pop-up referral widget on your site: This way, customers can invite their friends without even leaving your website at all.
Using a referral program platform is one of the most amazing things because once it is set up, it operates on autopilot. Additionally, the best referral tools will assist you in navigating through all the mentioned steps, so don’t feel overwhelmed.
Best referral marketing software tools
1. NiceJob
NiceJob differentiates itself from the competition with certain subscription plans that offer guaranteed results or no charges. Additionally, NiceJob provides a forever free option for up to 2500 customers.
Features
Automated invitations are sent to your customers through personalized links (email or SMS), facilitating them to refer their contacts when they provide a positive rating for you.
Social media enables social sharing and includes a reporting feature that aids in tracking the referral tunnel as well as successful sales.
You can conveniently place the referral widget on your website, providing a simple method for your customers to distribute information about your services to others.
In addition to integrating with over 1000 applications, NiceJob also offers several other widgets, such as the referral widget, leave a review widget, and lead sign-up widget, making it easier to attract new customers.
With NiceJob, you have the opportunity to enhance the visibility of reviews on your website, engage in replies to them, and include photos to enhance their credibility. It is recommended to explore the multitude of additional features offered during their 14-day free trial to fully grasp why it stands out as exceptional referral program software.
2. GrowSurf
GrowSurf is a software program designed for B2C, Fintech, and SaaS companies which utilizes word-of-mouth marketing. It offers a marketing automation SaaS that aids tech startups in acquiring new customers through appealing referral programs while keeping costs at a minimum.
Features
- Automatic link generator: Allow customers to start sharing with a user-specific link without even forcing them to sign up
- Instant sharing: Easily embed snippets of code into your website, app, and emails to inspire instant sharing
- Easy-to-set up: Build your referral program from scratch hassle-free with a single-day setup process
- Automated rewards: Setup an automated rewarding system within a few clicks by using pre-integrated Zapier and webhooks
By offering a 14-day no-risk trial, you have the opportunity to give GrowSurf a try and experience the same benefits that its customers enjoy, such as a 300-1000% ROI and a minimum monthly growth of 30% in referral customers.
3. ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy, headquartered in Singapore, is a mobile application company that specializes in creating customized customer referral programs for eCommerce businesses. Their referral program is fully automated, allowing eCommerce store owners to effortlessly construct and oversee their own customer referral programs.
Features
- Easy-to-use: Present your customers with a smooth, user-friendly experience and allows them to start referring within 10 mins of joining your referral program
- Highly customizable: Easily customize every point of contact ranging from rewards to emails, as per your brand identity and values
- Seamless integrations: Quickly integrate your eCommerce store and other marketing tools with ReferralCandy in one-go
- Real-time tracking: Track your referral revenue and traffic in real-time; Also, get alerted to what people are talking about your brand on social media
ReferralCandy’s services are trusted by over 3,000+ eCommerce stores. Additionally, it is a certified app partner of Shopify Plus and has received over 1,700 positive reviews from store owners.
4. ReferralRock
ReferralRock is a top-tier referral program software built for businesses of all sizes. It enables the easy creation, tracking, and optimization of word-of-mouth marketing for your business. With ReferralRock’s user-friendly interface, you can effectively keep members engaged and interested through innovative incentives and timely alerts.
Features
- Real-time results: Smart analytics and referral tracking software allow you to analyze real-time customer insights and make data-driven decisions
- Automation and integration: Seamlessly automate your routine tasks and integrate multiple third-party marketing tools to see results faster
- Personalization: Customizable ready-made templates and ReferralRock’s landing page builder allows you to create a personalized user experience
- Expert customer support: Dedicated success manager at every step to boost your customer acquisition process
ReferralRock provides a comprehensive portal instead of just a widget to establish and oversee a robust referral marketing system. It has been beneficial to over 1000+ enterprises in enhancing brand recognition and gaining referrals without disrupting their current operations.
5. Friendbuy
Friendbuy, a technology-first company that was established in 2010, assists eCommerce businesses in fostering growth through robust referral programs. The company operates as a SaaS platform, providing referral program solutions to global fortune 100 companies, including Walmart, Disney, Nestle, and others.
Features
- Referral dashboards: Friendbuy’s referral dashboard allow customers to view their earnings and invites and even permits them to send friendly reminders with a click
- Fraud detection: Friendbuy’s powerful fraud detection program empowers you to confidently make compelling referral offers and prevent self-referrals
- Analytics and reporting: Optimize each step in your referral funnel with the help of comprehensive real-time analytics
- A/B testing: Easily launch experiments to test offers, landing pages, email subject lines, or any other step to figure out what’s working best for you
Using Friendbuy’s referral program software, top companies have experienced a 25x ROI. Additionally, by utilizing Friendbuy, you can anticipate a 15% increase in referral traffic, all while keeping the cost of acquiring new customers as low as $1.
