How To Build and Automate a Referral Program
Referral programs are a great way to incentivize your current customers to send their friends and family members over to your business. A referral program is an excellent opportunity for you to get more word-of-mouth advertising at no cost. You will need two things: the right software and a plan of action. This blog post will cover how you can build and automate a referral program that works for you!
You’ve probably heard of the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, in today’s digital world, it also requires teamwork for success! In this recipe, you’ll learn how to identify your highest value users and then automate referrals for your business.
Why should you automate your referral campaigns?
There is no better way than word-of-mouth marketing when building relationships with potential customers – but these days, most people are overloaded by information, so they might not know that you exist or be able to find out about what makes your company unique from all those other nearby businesses vying for their attention. As an entrepreneur who needs as many new clients as possible (and quickly!), I’ve found that implementing referral programs like we’re going to show here can help keep your brand top of mind and attract new customers.
Referral programs are a great way to build relationships with potential clients – and the right referral marketing software is key for automating your program. In this article, we’ll show you how to set up an automated system without technical expertise that will allow you to run any referral campaign.
The real value of a business referral.
The best way to develop a referral marketing strategy is by targeting your customers and peers. This gives you the upper hand in getting business because people trust what their friends, family members, or colleagues have suggested before deciding on any purchase decisions.
The word-of-mouth approach is one of the most powerful ways to get your business out there. When customers and peers recommend you, they’re putting their reputation on the line – which means that it’s important for them only to refer people who will be satisfied with what they buy from you. This can also help improve trust in your business.
1. Referrals are a trusted lead source.
Referral sources are the best way to find new customers. It’s a trusted lead source that ranks above anything else, and for a good reason! Referrals come from real-life paying customers who know all about your company because you have already given them what they were looking for. The numbers back this up with 14% of visitors on average taking action after visiting a referral page, showing how intrigued prospects can be by-products or services when referred through word-of-mouth marketing.
2. Referrals are less expensive.
You don’t have to do much work to be effective for this system, as long as you offer them something worthwhile: an extra 10% off their next purchase or free shipping with no minimum purchase required, for example. The great thing about referrals is that they’re cheaper than any other marketing strategy because all it requires of your business is the referral rewards you provide (nothing more!).
3. A method of thanking your customers.
This will help you build close relationships with your customers, which can be very beneficial in making the customer feel appreciated. The referral incentive is just another way of saying thank you for being a loyal customer and trying out our products or services; it’s also an opportunity to stay connected while providing other benefits such as discounts on future purchases or a new product or service.
This is another great way to build a relationship with your customers because you’re able to keep in touch even when they don’t need any service or product. This can be done through special offers and promotions exclusive only for them, just as one of many ways to thank them. In this case, it’s also a great way to continue a conversation because you’re on the same page about what your passion is.
4. Get qualified leads.
The benefits of referral programs can be compelling, and it’s important to consider them before starting one up. By doing so, you’ll have more leads from potential customers.
Your existing customers know other businesses like theirs that will be interested in your services or products, making this an easy and effective way for you to expand into new markets.
The main parts of automation.
Automating your referral program has many benefits that any business can enjoy. Three key points to start exploring are promotion, syncing with the sales process, and reminding participants of their opportunity for success and rewards.
1. Promoting your referral marketing program.
Are you looking to promote your referral program? If so, then happy customers must know about the opportunity. The best part is there are tons of ways for this to happen! Let’s explore some ideas and find one that works well with what you want out of a promotion campaign.
a. Ads on social media
If you have the resources, then ads may be a great option for your referral campaign promotion. Social media is an affordable and easy way to reach many people with little work involved on your part. People are always checking their Facebook or Twitter feed, so this could be a good place to start! Retargeting existing customers can do this through various social media channels.
b. Using emails
You can promote your referral program via newsletters, within your email signature, on confirmation emails, and thank you emails. The best way to get new customers is by word-of-mouth referrals from current clients who are satisfied with the services they receive. Attaching a referral link to your customer referral program along with a coupon code can be very beneficial.
Utilizing email campaigns will allow potential prospective customer’s know that there exists an incentive for them if they recommend someone else take advantage of what you have available!
c. Text messaging software
You’ll want to utilize text message marketing software to create an automated process for sending thank you or congratulatory messages. This will allow your new customers/clients who are not on social media the chance to feel appreciated as well! This is the perfect time to let them know about your referral program.
2. Promote the right referral program.
A fundamental reason businesses want to automate their referral program is because if they don’t, it becomes difficult for management and your sales team to keep all the information in one place.
With an automated system that can be set up with a CRM or customer database like Lead Convert Pro, you’ll have access to leads, and other valuable data such as goals and deals closed. This helps since marketing campaigns are often designed based on this behavior, so accurate metrics make sense!
3. Remind your customers of your program.
Ensure that your customers are up to date on all of the benefits they can earn by referring their friends and family members. If you find that a certain customer hasn’t been active for some time, don’t hesitate to send them an email or notification reminding them about how easy it is! Remember, people get busy – stay professional!
You can set up an automation trigger in your referral campaign that will send an email to customers who have not been active in the program for a set amount of time. You can also include your referral content and an offer to refer their friends when sending out these reminders.
4. Offer some reward in exchange for a referral.
Successful referral programs will offer some reward that can be as simple and delightful as a free coffee at your favorite cafe. But to make it really worth the time, you have to track these rewards with care on an excel sheet that is becoming more cumbersome by the day! We offer great features like rewarding employees for their dedication when they refer new business or giving back referral bonuses in kind of money-saving coupons after someone takes advantage of those referrals!
Adding things like “free coffee” as rewards will incentivize people to share their referrals with others. You can also offer discounts or good, money-saving coupons for their next visit. With our automated referral program software, we automate this referral process. We offer great features like asking potential customers whether they were referred to set a trigger that will remind your team of the referral.
Final thoughts on how to build and automate your referral program.
You won’t believe how much time and effort you can save by automating your referral program. For example, what if you could automate sending a notification to another app based on certain events that happen? Well, now it’s possible! So instead of having to do these processes yourself manually every day for them to work together seamlessly as one big workflow-saving both time and energy-, all this is done automatically when using our service. That means more free days at the office (and less stress).
Referral marketing is the easiest way for your business to grow. This strategy allows you to rely on customers and staffing referrals as a source of new prospects at no extra cost! Setting up incentives does not take much work either: all that’s needed are an attractive offer, clear policies about how it can be used by clients and colleagues alike, minimum requirements like having already been a client or employee before promoting someone else’s service- whether through word-of course social media will do just fine too.
Our Sales and Marketing Software can help you build and automate a referral program for your business, amongst many other things. By automating your referral program, review generation, conversations, bookings, etc., your business will begin to grow while you focus on what really matters to you. Please take a look at our software features for more information.
