Put Your Customers First and Let them Do the Talking. Get Your Guide on How to Build an Advocacy Growth Engine.
A referral marketing program can be much more than just a passive acquisition channel. Get more more referrals, stronger engagement with current customers, and higher quality referred customers with our 5-point checklist.
A referral marketing program can be much more than just a passive acquisition channel. Get more more referrals, stronger engagement with current customers, and higher quality referred customers with our 5-point checklist.
Build customer segments to target your referral messaging.
Customer Referral Segment Examples:
Build customer segments to target your referral messaging.
Customer Referral
Segment Examples:
Frequent Buyers and Referrers
Your frequent buyers are the ones who are probably paying more attention to your emails, regularly visiting your website, and generally keeping up with your brand. Getting their attention will be pretty easy and they won’t need a big incentive to be motivated. But, don’t neglect them, make sure you’re showing them as much appreciation as they show you by offering them small rewards for referrals such as coupons and even just a thank you for their effort will go a long way. Surprise and delight referral offers are a great option for your frequent buyers.
Customers with Potential
Some customers may love your brand but are either unaware or unmotivated in making referrals. For them, making sure you get your calls to action in front of them is the first step. Combining a communication calendar to keep you in their mind without annoying them and testing various referral incentives will help you learn what will motivate them.
Lapsed or In Danger of Lapsing Customers
Customers who were at one point frequent purchasers of your products and have either stopped or significantly decreased the number of times they buy need a bit more attention to get them to refer friends. But, they aren’t a lost cause. Offering them a significantly higher value one-time reward and creating some urgency with a deadline can bring them back to your brand.
Take into account your product type and
customers when defining your reward strategy.
Focusing on the types of rewards your customers like vs. what you want to give away is fundamental to a successful referral program. As different rewards have different aspirational value for different people, it’s important to keep a variety of rewards available to execute all kinds of campaigns. But, the big question is what kind of rewards should you offer? Your product type, customer segments, and campaign goals should help inform your reward strategy.
Cash back or 3rd party-gift cards are a great option for low purchase frequency goods.
Discounts are ideal for high priced products.
Stackable coupons help motivate the customers who only refer occasionally to make more referrals and earn bigger rewards.
Unique branded products help build your brand image and get customers even more invested.
Offering immediate discounts to customers who are referred increases the likelihood they will buy and helps you offer more immediate gratification to your referring customers.
Take into account your product type and customers when defining your reward strategy.
Focusing on the types of rewards your customers like vs. what you want to give away is fundamental to a successful referral program. As different rewards have different aspirational value for different people, it’s important to keep a variety of rewards available to execute all kinds of campaigns. But, the big question is what kind of rewards should you offer? Your product type, customer segments, and campaign goals should help inform your reward strategy.
Cash back or 3rd party-gift cards are a great option for low purchase frequency goods.
Discounts are ideal for high priced products.
Stackable coupons help motivate the customers who only refer occasionally to make more referrals and earn bigger rewards.
Unique branded products help build your brand image and get customers even more invested.
Offering immediate discounts to customers who are referred increases the likelihood they will buy and helps you offer more immediate gratification to your referring customers.
Don’t just rely on your website to market your referral program.
The harder your program is to find, the less likely you’ll see participation. That’s why it’s a mistake to keep your referral program on the down low. Considering that referral program promotion is ongoing, you have to use touch points that are in sync with customer’s behavior. It’s a mistake to just promote it once and expect it to take off. Apart from your own website, some of the most common referral call to action channels are:
Emails: As transactional emails see more clicks, you can insert a call to action (CTA) into your referral program inside customer emails.
Social Media Profiles: Put a link to your referral program in the bios sections to make customer navigation much simpler.
Retargeting Ads: A phase may come where referral sign-ups start to get dry up. Retargeting ads can act as reminders to get customers engaged with your program again.
Don’t just rely on your website to market your referral program.
The harder your program is to find, the less likely you’ll see participation. That’s why it’s a mistake to keep your referral program on the down low. Considering that referral program promotion is ongoing, you have to use touch points that are in sync with customer’s behavior. It’s a mistake to just promote it once and expect it to take off. Apart from your own website, some of the most common referral call to action channels are:
Emails: As transactional emails see more clicks, you can insert a call to action (CTA) into your referral program inside customer emails.
Social Media Profiles: Put a link to your referral program in the bios sections to make customer navigation much simpler.
Retargeting Ads: A phase may come where referral sign-ups start to get dry up. Retargeting ads can act as reminders to get customers engaged with your program again.
Referring friends should never be complicated or hard.
The key to digital platform’s success is shareability and virality. Create easy and better ways to share links. The point to note here is that a customer’s urge to refer your products is spontaneous and transitory. The time window in which they’re likely to respond to a referral CTA is relatively narrow. But there are certain ways to overcome this challenge.
- Add referral calls to action to your post purchase emails and send them directly to your referral page.
- Incorporate deep-app linking into your referral program so customers can refer their friends directly from your branded app.
- For in-store referrals make sure your receipt referral codes are easy to find and your sales associates are well versed in how your program works.
- If you have stackable rewards or integration with your loyalty program make sure you add a referral program guide to your website so you customers can easily find out how and what they can earn.
Referring friends should never be complicated or hard.
The key to digital platform’s success is shareability and virality. Create easy and better ways to share links. The point to note here is that a customer’s urge to refer your products is spontaneous and transitory. The time window in which they’re likely to respond to a referral CTA is relatively narrow. But there are certain ways to overcome this challenge.
- Add referral calls to action to your post purchase emails and send them directly to your referral page.
- Incorporate deep-app linking into your referral program so customers can refer their friends directly from your branded app.
- For in-store referrals make sure your receipt referral codes are easy to find and your sales associates are well versed in how your program works.
- If you have stackable rewards or integration with your loyalty program make sure you add a referral program guide to your website so you customers can easily find out how and what they can earn.
Continuously A/B test and optimize your
program.
When you first launch your referral program A/B testing your marketing strategy, calls to action, and rewards are crucial to figuring out what will work best for your brand. But, the testing and strategy optimization shouldn’t end there. Keeping your referral program fresh with new offers and calls to action helps ensure it sustains its success. Regularly reviewing data points such as enrollment numbers, referrals made, rewards redeemed, referral conversions, and overall revenue generated helps you identify areas where you can make improvements and opportunities you may not have seen before.
Continuously A/B test and optimize your program.
When you first launch your referral program A/B testing your marketing strategy, calls to action, and rewards are crucial to figuring out what will work best for your brand. But, the testing and strategy optimization shouldn’t end there. Keeping your referral program fresh with new offers and calls to action helps ensure it sustains its success. Regularly reviewing data points such as enrollment numbers, referrals made, rewards redeemed, referral conversions, and overall revenue generated helps you identify areas where you can make improvements and opportunities you may not have seen before.
Download the PDF for free.
Download the PDF
for free.
