Have you ever wondered how powerful referral marketing is for your business? It’s more than shooting two birds in one bullet. In fact, you can get three in the end. Just imagine, if one customer shares a good experience with a friend about a product or a perfect island retreat at Whitfield Six, the friend gets credible recommendation from a trusted person, and you get more sales from new customers too. In a simple world, this is how it works. However, it isn’t as simple and sure as it seems.
For business owners who do not rely on mere chances, they know what is the best referral marketing strategy for their company. You can’t simply wait for miracles to happen or for the rain to pour out one day.
Image taken from Whitfield Six website
To properly understand how referral marketing works, you need to ensure two or more things are done to get positive results organically. When we say the word ‘organic', it doesn’t mean you’ll leave things as it is. In this article, you will know how essential it is to come up with a referral marketing program for your business. Moreover, we will tackle the benefits of referral marketing to help increase your profit margin.
Strikingly has multiple users internationally. We have worked and teamed up with talented individuals, marketers, business owners, artists, and photographers who have developed effective strategies to make their brand become global. Let us discuss more about referral marketing strategy and how to do it in your own way.
Image taken from Two Little Bells website
What is Referral Marketing?
Referral marketing is when you get people, mostly your customers, to spread the word about your product or services to their friends. This referral marketing strategy is called ‘word-of-mouth marketing’ in most cases. The process happens naturally whether or not the marketing agent gets involved. But, people who want to achieve their goals in terms of increasing profit margin or brand awareness set up a business referral marketing program that can boost their customers' interest. Thus, sharing good experiences about the product to their friends, acquaintances, or colleagues.
Another good thing about referral marketing is that it can happen organically for free. There might be instances when you have to give incentives to the customers who spread your product, but the results are definitely worth the price. In fact, according to a study published in the AMA Journal of Marketing, referred customers are more loyal and bring higher profit margins as high as 25%. Meaning, you get higher chances of achieving your brand awareness goals and increasing income in the long run. Investing in a referral marketing program is a smart idea.
We’ll share some tips about how you can execute the best referral marketing strategy in this article, but let us explore first its benefits for the business.
Benefits of Referral Marketing
∙ Get More Loyal Customers
Since there is an element of trust when a certain product is recommended to you by someone you know, you are more likely to stick to it. The confidence level on a specific product is higher when you know that your friends have tried and tested it for themselves. This is one of the good benefits of referral marketing.
∙ Brand Awareness
This is one of the goals that many startup business owners aim for. Above all other things that make business well-known in public, brand awareness is something that you can achieve through referral marketing. Interestingly, you can even promote your brand for free. Collaborating with the right people will put your business in front of their audiences. These people can be your employees, friends, or influencers who have tried your product.
∙ Cost-effective or Even Free
The best thing about a referral marketing strategy is that it’s cost-effective. You can even give it a go for free, especially when you have delighted customers to share how they love your product. This may sound ideal, but it’s organic, too. The only thing you need to do is engage with your customers and get them talking among their friends about it. Yes, it’s how simple it is. Proper engagement is the key.
Image taken from Local Wander website
How to Do Referral Marketing?
Still wondering how referral marketing works? Here’s how we put it in the simplest way possible. Referral marketing gives you a sustainable and organic flow of getting more customers. Your mission is to get your message to the right people and in the right place. Here is how to do referral marketing in your way.
1. Go Live and Get Into Social Media
Having a solid online presence proves how stable and reliable your business is. First, you have to build a website for your business and establish a strong branding strategy. You can add blogs and publish quality content to promote on your social media page. With Strikingly, you can easily link your site to different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Social media is the most visited place online if people binge-watching movies or play mobile games. And it’s the place where you want your business to be talked about. People give recommendations or even positive comments about a particular place they visited, a product they tried, or a local resto serving good food. This is why you have to have an online proof of business presence as a website. It’s where people can find you.
This brilliant idea of one of the sites built with Strikingly, Local Wander, portrays the concept of recommendation and trust among locals who know the place so well. What they do is that they hire locals to become trendsetters. This is amazing for tourists who don’t know anyone in the place. If you’re looking for a credible source to get recommendations from, the locals are the most reliable.
Image taken from Local Wander website
2. Create the Best Referral Marketing Strategy
You might have participated in a referral program recently. And you know for sure that unless you are 100% interested in the product, you won’t refer it to people you know. Frankly, what’s in it for you? Are you getting some kind of free voucher when you hit a certain number of referrals? Believe it or not, this is how referral marketing usually works. You have to think of the best strategy to reap the fruit in the end. You can run a giveaway promo or give coupons for each referral from your customers. Remember that proper engagement is the key to success no matter how you do it.
3. Be Consistent
You have to sustain the efforts you’ve given at the beginning of the referral marketing program. Make sure you are consistent in dealing with your customers. Don’t make false hopes or cause them frustration for something that you’ve promised in return for their referral. The only way to your customer’s heart is consistency. You have to be consistent with the product quality or excellent customer care. Sustain what you have started so that people will trust your brand and spread good words about it. Remember this, people may forget about the first or second visit to a hotel. Still, if you’re consistent enough to give them a personalized approach and make them feel well-accommodated – they won’t forget how consistent you are in treating your customers special. That’s why being consistent matters.
Image taken from Strikingly website
Sometimes, all you need to do is push the buttons or say something to make things work. You know how important it is to have proper engagement with your customers in terms of referral marketing. Establishing a high-quality brand and excellent customer service can put your business on top of others. Making your customers feel special is another reason they rave about your product before their friends or colleagues. The power of referral marketing is undeniably great. This is why small business owners and even large corporations use this as part of their company development strategies. Having their customers talk about their product or share good experiences about high-level customer service is the best reward for hard work. It's like a cycle in which when you make your customers happy. They will do the same by referring your business to people they know. While most customers may not give it an effort, you can get others to spread the word about your brand with proper engagement.
Strikingly has all the web services and tools you need to engage with your customers properly. Reach out to them via email newsletter. Promote your business’ newest product on social media. Collaborate with influencers to write or talk about your product. All these and more exciting features await when you sign up for a free account with us today. You can also check out our users’ websites and see how they have built a strong brand.
