Referral marketing strategies today have the potential to beat all the traditional as well as digital and modern marketing methods. Even with the huge potential that this marketing strategy has to offer, there are still a few business owners who shy away from this program altogether. The others incorporate a referral program only to find it a struggle and ultimately forget it completely.
Every business has the potential to attract a number of new customers through word of mouth. If you can have a proper referral marketing program in place then it will let you dig a gold mine where you will see a huge surge in sales as well as revenue for your business.
When a new client comes in as a referral then most of the work is already done for you. The user already trusts your brand. This saves you from the toughest task of marketing which is to approach a prospective client and make him or her believe in your product. Probably a happy client of yours has already told tons of good things about you and instilled a sense of trust and credibility about your business in the new clients’ minds. This is what the first step to generate sales is.
In this age of cut-throat competition where there are businesses selling competitive products, trust has a big role to play in letting a prospective client decide which brand to choose. Referral marketing strategies are what you need to instill that faith in your potential customers and to have an edge over your peers.
People are not shy to talk about their experiences with companies. Whether good or bad, people like to talk. As a business owner, you need to find out ways to make the most of this chatter and learn to leverage it. It is about saying your customers to believe in you and to be ready to talk about you. It should be done in a professional manner so that it can generate huge leads and conversions for your business.
If in the past you have struggled to attract the right audience to your website then the referral marketing strategies could be a big boon for your business. With a referral strategy, you can get out your message to people who are of the same mindset as your already existing customers. Your customers can help you to target the right buyer by referring you to their friends and acquaintances in the right location and in the correct stage of buying your product or service.
Customers today have access to the internet which means more choices for the user. This could get difficult for consumers at times to decide which brand to choose. Customers are also very choosy about the brand that they get associated with. Trust is a major factor before users decide which brand to purchase and where to spend their money. Through referrals, a customer would not look elsewhere but at your website only. When their peers let them know about which brand to purchase there is no second thought in the minds of the customer. They are comfortable betting on a company that their friend has already purchased from and is happy with.
Referrals have been there but the internet, it makes it easy for people to make their voices heard far and wide. Because of the huge reach, it is easy for companies to acquire clients from far and wide through a proper referral program.
Keeping the huge advantages of referral marketing in mind, here are the strategies that can be applied by a business.
Your product should be able to solve the needs of clients. This will gain you an advantage when you will be referred to by others by your happy clients. However, without offering any solution you would soon be turned down. Understand that good words reach fast, but a bad word reaches faster.
The secret is to know your clients and remember their purchasing habits. Your customer services team has a key role to play here. If your team greets the customers in a friendly tone where the client feels welcomed and respected then this is a feeling that they will take forward and share with their acquaintances. In turn, it converts to more business for you.
This is what will let you achieve stellar business performance. Just fulfilling what your clients’ needs are is not going to suffice anymore. The market is flooded with brands and thus the one that goes the extra mile wins. Be creative and add something that can make your client feel special. This is something that they will remember and also make you win more hearts. Have a process that lets you manage your unhappy clients and their concerns. This will help you to improve your products and it also saves you from negative testimonials.
Do not wait for your clients to refer you to others. Take the initiative and ask your clients to refer you to others. Until you ask most of the time you may not get it. If you think that you did a good job and feel that your client is happy with you then request him to spread the word about your business.
Offer bonuses and freebies to encourage your consumers to spread the word about your business. There are many companies that offer referral codes to their existing customers which lets them earn money when a referral through them makes a purchase on the company site. This is a great way to lure your existing customers to speak about you to others and refer you to their friends and relatives.
Incentives have worked great for attracting a huge customer base for some of the major brands so you may want to try it too. Your referral program should be showcased. If it is not public-facing then it will be difficult for your clients to click or share it. This will limit its use. The best is to place your referral link on your website where it can be seen easily. This makes it seamless for your consumers to share it with others.
Once your referral program is up and running it may make you fall into the trap to think that it will work itself. However, that is a major mistake. Your team should be evaluating and measuring the conversion metric and fine-tuning its strategy in order to optimize the results.
When you are able to place a proper referral program it will help you to scale your business. Through word of mouth, you will be able to generate more clients who will refer your business to others. With time it will make your marketing and sales strategy more efficient, profitable, effective, and predictable.
