Source for Generating Leads – If you’re asked about the best lead generation strategies today, you would probably say email campaigns, content marketing, paid ads and social media strategies. While these are definitely great tools for lead generation, you should also know that one of the best tools out there is word of mouth – referral marketing. Referrals are ideally one of the most valuable sources of leads, yet it remains relatively unnoticed by most businesses especially in the B2B world.
A study conducted by the Heinz Marketing stated that most companies with formal referral campaigns reported nearly 40% of their leads coming from referrals. Compare that to the companies without referral programs who only reported 22% of their leads to referrals.
What Is a Referral Program?
A referral program standardizes the way you invite and reward customers for sharing your brand with others. A strategic referral program can help any business get new customers at a very low price. By making use of your current customers to help spread the word, referral marketing has a lower customer acquisition cost (CAC) than most types of marketing.
Now that you know how referrals and referral programs help a business, it’s time to start building one of your own, but how? Read these pointers:
Devise a referral program that converts–Make sure your referral messaging is clear and easy to understand, with great elements such as the way it looks, feels, and sounds – and ensure that they are aligned with your business
Pick your referral program rewards – Figure out the type of referral program you will offer to your existing and potential customers
- A one-sided incentive rewards only your existing customers and not the person they referred to you
- A two-sided incentive rewards both your existing customers and the referred customers
State your rewards – While monetary rewards tend to be the most enticing and eye-catching, they aren’t the only way to incentivize your customers. Your rewards could be the following:
- Service upgrades or freebies
- Coupons
- Store credit or points
- Company swag
- Gift cards
- Donations to charity
Use referral marketing software – There are many software solutions that make it easy to set up a referral program. Remember that not all customer programs are alike. Starting a referral program with software has the added a great benefit of having a customer support team to help you along the way. For instance, Google Analytics can help businesses track key metrics of their referral program, as well as websites and social media sites that are being used to refer new customers to their business.
Utilize reviews to improve your referral marketing – Positive reviews are the best form of referrals. While word-of-mouth marketing is an excellent way to spread the word about your business, you still need positive reviews and a good reputation to turn referrals into customers. So, reviews can influence a potential customer’s path to purchase and they also boost your brand awareness visibility.
Furthermore, referral marketing programs can help businesses generate more leads and achieve business success. Whether you’re a business owner or a B2B marketer, learning how to start a referral program is well worth the effort.
Do you want to boost your lead generation strategies? Markable Solutions can help. We provide end-to-end demand generation, funnel management & lead generation services to clients worldwide.
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