Referral marketing: 4 easy ways to get more customers

How does your business acquire new customers? If you didn’t say referral marketing then there is something wrong with your marketing strategy.

You need to fix it now.

Don’t know where to start? Read our top picks for referral programs and implement what works best for your business.

Customer referrals are a key element of any business. If you deliver a truly memorable customer experience, people will want to share your great company with friends.

But don’t rely on your customers to do all the talking! Set up a referral program to make it easy for them to share their great experience.

Implement referrals to grow your promotion marketing, and you will reduce customer acquisition costs, increase ROI, and drive product sales and customer engagement.

If you still aren’t convinced, check out this infographic that proves why you need a referral program

In a recent survey, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association found that 64% of their survey respondents mostly or completely agree that word-of-mouth marketing is more effective than traditional marketing.

For a referral program to be successful, you need to have the right promotion solution in place to effectively verify the actions of the advocate and friend, but once you have the right tools and strategy, you just need to get started.

So here you go:

eCommerce Example: If a customer makes a referral, give them a free accessory for their first successful referral. Give the referred “friend” a 5% welcome discount.

Why: Both the advocate and the friend benefit in this campaign setup. The advocate is rewarded for their behaviour with a compelling incentive and the new customer gets a discount from day one, which will also influence the first purchase.

Remember: Choose the “free” product wisely - you don’t want to give away high-value items but the reward must be compelling for customers to participate (and feel rewarded). Consider giving away a branded item to increase brand awareness (e.g. headphones, t-shirt, beach bag, etc.).

Travel Example: If a customer refers 5 friends via social media (with a unique URL), give them 50€ credit to spend on a hotel, restaurant or transportation valid only in the destination of their next flight booking.

Why: The customer shares your service with their friends and increases campaign reach via social media channels. Cross-promote your other travel offerings and personalize the incentive with recommendations for their next travel destination.

Remember: Be sure to have the right promotion in place in place to carefully validate the successful referrals AND the promotion criteria so you can deliver the right incentive in real-time (e.g. location, partner location).

Telecommunications example: If a customer makes a successful referral, give both advocate and friend 10GB of free data or credit. Continue to give 5GB every time a successful referral is made.

Why: If your business struggles to attract new customers, this is a great way to reduce customer acquisition costs and increase revenue. Rewarding advocates with recurring incentives will encourage customers to continue promoting your service.

Remember: Ensure you collect and use the right customer data in your promotional campaigns. Your solution should allow you to trigger the correct rewards in real-time to adjust your customers' phone plans dynamically.

Gaming Example: If a customer invites friends to play with gift of 50 "starter" credits, reward the advocate with 150 game credits for every successful referral. Credits will expire in 24 hours.

Why: This structure asks more from the advocate up front, the time-sensitive incentive to start and continue playing is compelling for both parties. Additionally, you lower the barrier to start playing for new/referred customers.

Remember: Set up your referral campaign logic so you can deliver credits in real-time to incentivize playing time for both parties and increase in-game spending.

Now you have some campaign ideas to kick-start your referral marketing program.

First, you'll need the right solution to power your referral program. We recommend a customizable Promotion Engine to ensure your campaigns run efficiently, are validated securely and incentives are distributed precisely where you want them.