Are referrals to your business a necessary part of your business plan? Is repeat business a key to your success?
Referral marketing is a personable method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually by word of mouth or social media. Many times these referrals are spontaneous but businesses can influence their customers to “pass it on”. Being “top of mind” when your customers’ friends, family or acquaintances have a need for your products or services provided is key to gaining more referrals.
How to begin a referral marketing campaign:
Give your customers the tools they need to promote your business.
For referral marketing to work, keep it simple for your customers to refer others. This may mean creating a simple form on your website to fill out and send, or maybe a hashtag that customers can share on Twitter, or developing a Facebook ad or post they can share. Decreasing the effort required to deliver a referral is critical in a successful referral marketing campaign.
Realize it’s your job to help your customers to want to share.
You can’t assume your customers always have your brand on the top of their minds. Look for opportunities to engage your most loyal customers. Send special incentives for them to engage on social media about your products or services. Use drip email content to ask them to review your services or products online in more than one place like your website and Facebook and Google. Be sure to ask they NOT copy and paste to each one, but give an honest review each time.
Think about who (and how) you ask for referrals.
It’s nice to ask every customer to refer business to you, but consider who your target market might be. Do a little research, maybe by asking your current clients, where they are most active, and which incentives they like the best (to influence specific actions). You can also test this theory by offering percentages off your products and services for a limited time. Then, make a different offer for a certain dollar amount off. Sometimes it’s the prestige of being the first to discover or experience a new product. Keep trying until you find what works best for your target market. Finding the right one can sometimes be hard to measure because you may not see a return initially, but keeping your brand in front of potential clients is a must. You never know when the need for your products or services may appear!
Refresh and reset.
Once you get a referral marketing program up and running, it’s easy to think it will run itself. Set it and forget it, should never be part of any marketing plan. Be sure to adjust your plan according to the market or seasonal business. It’s a good idea to take a look at your referral marketing campaign at least once a quarter to make adjustments and improvements. Referral marketing can and should be tracked like any other marketing effort. Gaining insights from analytics created can provide clear trends into the activities, channels and customer base that is driving the best results. Then, it will be much easier to successfully scale your referral marketing campaign.
What can kill your referral marketing program:
Lack of follow-up
Not following up in a timely manner is one of the worst mistakes businesses can make. We know business can get crazy, but not making contact with potential or returning customers can kill your business. It’s important! Make it a priority! If you don’t have time to invest in following up with referrals, it’s best to not ask for them. Make it a priority by putting a system in place where you form a habit to check for referrals. You check email and social media often, maybe include reminders to yourself to follow up.
Unclear selling point
Not presenting your business and its value to your potential clients is extremely detrimental. People want to understand what makes you different from all the rest. What do you do best? Why should I buy from you? They don’t want a sales pitch. They want the truth. Be honest. Give an honest assessment of your business in a way where they may ask more questions. For example, “I help busy people have cleaner, better environments in their own home, safe, efficient, and affordable”. The next question might be, “How?”, or “What do you mean by safe?”
Don’t mislead or abuse the relationship
Trust is everything in building referral relationships. Inviting people to a social event that turns out to be a sales pitch for a business opportunity isn’t being honest. It leaves a bad impression when people feel they have been tricked. Be careful of the wording you use when creating invitations and marketing tools. Pass it by several people to make sure the intent you have in mind is actual portrayed in your materials.
Incorporating a referral marketing campaign or program into your overall marketing strategy is essential to most any business success.
There is nothing better (or worse) than someone passing on a personal experience to others concerning an interaction with your business. Include referral calls-to-action in newsletters, blogs, and email signatures to help create a structured, automated process of including others in your marketing strategy. Turn referrals into a predictable and scalable channel of revenue for your business! If you need help planning or implementing a successful referral marketing plan, be sure to fill out our form for a short consultation and we’ll be in touch shortly!