Everybody wants to grow their business, but not everyone is willing to spend a ton of money on advertising, especially if you can do it for free, or at a much lower cost. The most important thing to remember when conducting a referral program is its ability to be a win-win situation for you and your clients. So, today we are going to discuss referral programs FAQs and how these can help boost your business.
Can you honestly expect anyone to refer customers to you if they have nothing to gain from it? Take Dropbox, for instance. Growth hacking is one of its most effective techniques. The more people you refer to the service, the more storage space you get. So, if you are a frequent app user, you have every reason to participate in the referral program. But this is just one example of those app referral programs.
In this post, we are not only going to discuss referral programs FAQs but the ideal referral programs for small businesses that will suit your needs.
You may be wondering, what are the 4 types of referrals? Today is your lucky day because we’re not just giving 4, but 10 referral strategies you could use. After going through all of them, it’s up to you to determine what is the best referral program strategy for your business. Here is how you go about it.
When Is The Right Timing?
This is the first thing to remember when conducting the best referral programs 2022. You need to know when to pick the right time to ask for a referral. Whenever your client says your product or service is amazing, or that they are super happy, that’s your go-signal to do it. Anytime they give out positive praise to you, go ahead and dive in.
Not every single customer will suddenly blurt out comments such as those mentioned. However, there are questions you can ask to prompt them to say something. Like asking them if your product or service meets their expectations. If they give out a yes, then by all means, ask for that referral.
Never ask them these questions when giving out an invoice. That’s lousy timing because at this time they will be thinking that they will have to pay for it.
What Do You Do During An Exit Interview?
This is another strategy, scheduling an exit interview with clients. During this time you will ask for their feedback. What are the things that worked, or did not work for them?
One of the best questions you can ask during this interview that will help you generate more referrals is this. “Based on your experience with our company, would you recommend us to your friends? If yes, can you tell us who you have in mind?”
You may also rephrase this question by asking them who they know would be a good fit for your product or services. It’s a very simple yet very effective strategy that may pay off big time for you. Just remember, you have to ask the right questions at the right time.
How Do You Make The Referral Offer As Clear and Simple As Possible?
Have you experienced stepping out of a retail store and being handed a coupon or receipt? They give instructions for you to go to a website, register, then enter a 16-digit number. After which they will email you a $10 check you will receive via mail in the next six weeks. If you were the customer, will this feel like a reward or a sentence? It’s so cumbersome I bet you won’t want any part of it!
The offer should sound super clear and simple. Like, refer a client, and get $300 cash. Of course, for you to know the right amount for referrals, you have to know your act of acquisition. It can be 100, 200, or 300 bucks. Regardless of the amount, it needs to be based on how much it cost your company to acquire a new client.
Should You Have a Separate Webpage For Your Referral Program?
Yes, yes, yes! This is probably one of the most important answers to the referral programs FAQs you ought to know. You need to have a solely dedicated page for your referral program on your site. This should be highly visible, with a big button telling people to refer their friends for cash. Anything to that effect that visitors don’t need to dig into or have to go to multiple pages to find it. This should be evident on your home page.
This page must clearly state all the important terms and conditions of your program. Don’t try to make it too complicated. What you want to do is explain to them the user mechanics. The most important part is, when they will get paid, and how they will get paid.
You should also provide a simple form for referring their friend. This may include their name, email address, and phone number. As well as a box where they could jot down notes about the client being referred to you. Just make sure this page is strictly dedicated to referrals.
What Is The Goal Of A Referral Program?
Believe it or not, it’s not all about you or your brand. You also need referral plans with other businesses (non-competing) in your area. These businesses should be targeting the same type of customers as you. You need to have a referral program set up for them.
Again, keep it short and simple. For instance, “for every customer you send my way, I’ll make sure you get a 10% discount.” Or, “you will receive 50 bucks straight up.” This is a no-brainer since it’s very easy to do.
How Can You Turn Your Clients Into VIPs?
You can also give the referrer a VIP status for passing a customer to you. Turn one into a VIP by giving him/her better seats, or offering hours that are more convenient. You may also give them reserved parking or preferred parking. They will also enjoy special discounts or offers that may be available only to them. Having this kind of upgrade serves as a great motivation for many people. So don’t miss out on this kind of opportunity.
Should You Offer Certification?
Some of you may be familiar with TubeBuddy, a tool that effectively helps YouTubers grow their channel. Whenever you reach a milestone, they give you a graphic that certifies this milestone, with their logo on it.
For instance, when creators pass their 100,000 subscribers on their channel, TubeBuddy gives them their certification. These YouTubers will then post it on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. This posting can be done in a jiffy, find out how in this Postify review. They are extremely proud of their accomplishment. And in the process, they made a lot of publicity for TubeBuddy.
Here’s another example. Say you own a video production company. What you can do here is make 60-second blooper reels for your clients after you’re through with your video shoot. Those scenes where you make a lot of funny mistakes while filming.
So you can give them that 60-second reel with your company name on it. Of course, your brand should be placed discreetly. Still, plenty of people would love to share those blooper reels on their socials. But at the same time, they will give you so much publicity and referrals while on it. This is one of the easiest referral marketing strategies to win a following.
How To Donate To Charities In Behalf Of Your Clients
Another notable strategy is making charitable donations in your client’s name. Some allow you to make micro-donations depending on your company size. They let you make one, two, five, or ten-dollar donations on behalf of your clients. These charities are super diverse and you will have the capability of tying the business with a charity that suits them best.
For instance, make a donation to Nepal’s orphan shelter on behalf of your client. Send them a certificate as proof that you did this for them. There is a big chance your clients will share this certificate of gratitude on their social media channels. And in the end, earn plenty of referral leads for your brand.
Should You Utilize A Referral Program Software?
Another one of the referral programs FAQs and the answer to this question is, of course! If you don’t want to make a referral program from the ground up, all you need to do is use referral program software.
If you’re an eCommerce site, you can use awesome referral software solutions such as Talkable. There are lots out them you can choose from. You can even Google referral programs and you will be presented with an entire list of them.
These type of software makes things simple, it’s plug and play. In this way there’s no need to give a leg or an arm for development.
Is It Advisable To Do It During Onboarding?
Yes, you can do referral programs during onboarding. What does this mean? Get someone to do something the moment they sign up for your product/service. You may notice this when you create an account on Facebook. It invites you to immediately invite more friends, or connect with your friends.
So get in there when they’re signing up because that’s the best time to start testing your referral program. Just make sure this flows seamlessly with your service. It simply needs to be integrated within.
In his bestselling book Contagious, author and marketing professor Jonah Berger stated six principles of sharing, also of word-of-mouth. Proving how powerful influence can be as a marketing strategy. These are:
- Social Currency: If it makes us look good, we share it.
- Triggers: If it’s in our minds all the time, we share it.
- Emotion: If we care about it, we share it.
- Public: What we see people doing around us, we easily imitate.
- Practical Value: If others value it, we share it.
- Stories: We love sharing stories, not mere information.
Is Referral A Pyramid Scheme?
This is another reason why people are reluctant to create and join a referral program. But if you know the difference between a pyramid scheme and an affiliate marketing strategy, there’s no need to worry.
Here’s how a legitimate referral program works. There is “Person A,” which is the program itself, then “Person B.” This refers to you, me, and everybody else who has the referral link, for instance. There is no “Person C,” much more a “Person F.”
The referrals you bring will consistently pay the same amount. You will never profit from any of these referrals that your referrals have brought in. Everyone receives the same say, 20%. Amazon is one of the global merchants using this method as an effective way to generate traffic to its site.
Learning From Referral Programs FAQs
Taking all the things discussed into consideration, what should be our main takeaway? The thing is, you’re not expected to make a 10-page complicated document. All you need to do is abide by a simple yet effective set of rules for creating consistency with word of mouth as well as referral marketing.
Truth be told, word of mouth or referral marketing is very effective in boosting your business, regardless of the industry you’re in. According to a study made by WordStream, 50% of Americans will pick referrals as the only source of information if they can only choose one.
Average businesses spend 5x more money attempting to acquire new clients than they do on their current customers. Despite this, referral marketing generates 5x more sales compared to paid ad impressions. Leads coming in from referrals convert so much faster and easier compared to cold leads. This makes a lot of sense because someone told them about your brand and your business. In short, they already established trust and credibility for you.
So what do you do? Just like anything, don’t get into something ill-prepared. Do your research, read and absorb relevant information as much as you can. Talk to people who have vast experience with these referral programs. And lastly, don’t be afraid to use tools, apps, and software to automate your work and make your job easier. If you don’t want the tension headache caused by this daily grind, you need reputation management software to take care of your brand’s internal workflows as well as external communications. Know more about this in our Mention review. Find out why you need it in your life.
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