Referral marketing is one of the most vital tools you can employ to grow your business. This marketing strategy uses recommendations and word of mouth to expand your customer base. It is done by tapping into the networks of your company’s current clients.
Referral marketing, when done correctly, can be cost-effective and trustworthy. They work as people place more trust in recommendations from friends and family than any other source of information.
Here are six steps that could help increase your referrals:
1. Provide Exceptional Customer Service
Your business exists first and foremost to serve your existing customers. Focus on consistently providing excellent service to help their business grow. Find ways to level up your business services through technological upgrading, new integrations, and other tools. When you make it your goal to help your clients succeed, they will feel your genuine care, and you will earn their trust.
Trust is an excellent foundation for customers to refer us to friends, family, and business contacts.
2. Be specific about who you’d like to work with
As great as it is to be referred by clients to new customers, you must be matched well with your new clients. For this to happen, your existing customers must thoroughly understand your line of business and target clients. Thus, you must be able to communicate these things to your current clients for your referral campaigns to reach the right people.
Concentrate on finding people who will benefit greatly from your service so that they will quickly convert from one-time customers to loyal clients.
3. Identify the proper referral channels
Not every client you have would or could send you business referrals. It is wise to identify which among them would most likely refer you to the type of client you are looking for. To do so, you must thoroughly understand your current customers.
Discover which channels your customers use and which channels bring you referrals. Incorporate those touchpoints into your referral marketing strategy to broaden your reach. Invest in finding the proper channels to maximize the impact of your efforts.
4. Make social sharing effortless for customers
Ensure that your business pages and referral links are set up to be easily reachable and shareable through social media. Make it effortless for your clients to share your business posts through the marketing channels you have previously identified. Also, remember to simplify your sign-up process for your referral programs.
Everyone is on social media. When your customer shares your post on these channels, it reaches their entire circle. Thus, integrating social sharing into your referral program helps your business have a more significant impact with less time and effort.
5. Choose a tempting incentive program
Even if you have earned the trust of your clients, it will not automatically mean they will refer you to others. Please get to know your clients and discover what could motivate them to help you. Then, review your resources to find out what incentive you could offer them for successful referrals before providing a referral program to clients whom you identified as the best possible source of new customers.
Some incentives you could offer are discounts on services or products, cash rewards, gifts, access to exclusive events or memberships, or charitable donations in their name for successful referrals. Referrals are valuable, so show your clients appreciation for sending business your way.
6. Analyze the effectiveness of your referral program
Once you have set up the referral program, analyze its effectiveness over time. This may be done using website analytics or a customer relationship management (CRM) system with a referral reporting system. These tools will help you determine if your program is adequate or if there are other opportunities you could tap.
Final Thoughts
Referral marketing is one of the most effective business strategies today when people rely more on recommendations than anything else. Having an efficient referral program can help drive your business forward. It is also cost-efficient, which is especially great for small businesses. If you don’t have a referral program set up for your business yet, Wise Marketing Professionals can help you build one now.