23 September 2018
People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend.
Due to the factor of the internet where more and more content is created, referral is becoming more valuable as it’s a way of cutting through the noise.
92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know
82% of employers rated employee referrals above all other sources of generating the best return on investment (ROI).
Considered to be one of the best cost/quality technique of hiring with highest retention.
You could miss 40% to 80% of your potential referrals.
A Digital tool will empower your user to promote your brand.
Expect your customers to rely on their memory.
In the example of employee referral program, after an interview you ask the interviewee if he knows someone who can be a good fit at this position.
A manual process using a tool like a spreadsheet.
It’s requires manual work and scale slowly.
Create digital brand ambassadors who are able to share their stories on social media, blogs and text.
Scale out the number of people they can reach.
Track the results of the referral program you are running.
Scale rapidly by removing the real-time in person conversations.
You will grow your business faster
Firms implement it increment referrals by up to 60% in the first 90 days.
Customer/promoter who will share your product with friends.
New lead of customer referred by a brand ambassador.
Invite brand ambassadors
Give brand ambassadors a unique link
Create a dashboard for ambassadors
Tell them how to share your program
Watch your sales from referrals grow
Identify your referral program goals
Review your competitors (and take a look at Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, and Airbnb, too)
Consider your NPS
Consider starting your referral program after making sure you have a positive NPS otherwise it might not work as people tend to promote brands they love.
Be realistic
Find a referral software partner or hire a development team.
Buy: Access a team of experts and millions of dollars worth of development for a monthly or annual fee
Build: Hire an awesome team of developers and expect 3 to 9 months of development
Get your message right (emphasize value adds)
Identify why people will refer (For Airbnb, it’s travel)
Create a list of customers/promoters
Write a referral email copy (be brief, friendly, and to the point)
Identify promotion locations in email, website, and social media
Place links/widgets on your site
Send emails to your customers
Test different messaging to identify what converts the best
Reach out to your promoters and ask for feedback on the program
Use text messaging: 8x response rates
Automate your referral outreach
Identify promoters and give extra love
Write like a third grader (proven to have best response rates)
Use a dual-sided referral program to increase sharing
Keep it simple
Get 100s of new landing pages generated by your customers
Gain awareness (and links) from brand ambassadors’ blogs and social shares
Grow traffic by 1,000s of page views organically
Drive sales without hiring more sales personnel
Delighted: Get your NPS and identify potential brand ambassadors
Hubspot: Promote your referral program
TextUs: Send text invites to brand ambassadors
Clickflow.io: Test your page titles to improve SEO
ReferralCandy: My favorite eCommerce referral program
Birdeye: Manage your online reputation and identify promoters
Staffing Referrals: My favorite referral platform
Q- Is Referral marketing the same as Influencer marketing?
A- It’s not exactly the same, some influencer might take advantage of your referral program
This article is a summary of David Folwell presentation
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