In the industry of e-commerce, the main goal of all business owners is to grow their business and build a strong relationship with their customers. The best way to engage and build a relationship with your customers is to promote your business through social platforms. That is where referral marketing comes in.
What is Referral Marketing?
Referral Marketing is considered the best marketing approach used by local and international businesses. This type of marketing aims to increase and gain new customers through word of mouth and recommendations.
The main concept is to make it easy for your customers to refer your business to potential customers. This encourages them to talk about your brand and products and urge people to try it out.
Here are 6 benefits of referral marketing to your e-commerce business:
1. It is Easy to Implement
A lot of referral marketing software has surfaced in the past years making it easy for business owners to do. With the use of these software, a lot of e-commerce businesses have successfully added a referral program to their websites without having to use complicated codes or starting everything from scratch.
Since e-commerce businesses already have their customers’ information, it is easy to add the referral marketing software and process to their system.
2. Stronger Email Presence
It is a trend for e-commerce businesses to send email blasts to previous customers for special events and promotions. If your business already does this, it can be a perfect way to increase your referral marketing engagement.
The best way to use email to your advantage is to use email marketing to mention and promote the referral program to your customers. You can use email receipts or confirmation emails from previous customers to promote the program because there is a bigger chance for your email to be opened that way.
Another technique is to promote your referral program right after the customer has purchased a product or service. This is the best time to engage with them and ask for a referral because customers are usually more happy and approachable after a purchase.
3. It Provides a New Purpose for Coupons and Gift Cards
Referral marketing in e-commerce has been made easy through the use of coupons and gift cards. These incentives are always a good idea for people to notice your brand and take action. It can also be applied to your new referral process. In order to effectively motivate people to join your referral marketing program, you should provide incentives like coupons, promo cards, discounts, and many more. In using these as leverage, not only will you get the referrals you need, but you will also get more return customers.
There are a lot of ways to get creative, too. For every new customer they bring, you can offer discounts, store credits, or even a freebie the next time they buy from you. This will encourage them to bring you more new customers, and lets them purchase another set of products while they’re at it.
Learn to strategize and give them incentives that are worth it, something they wouldn’t get from your store any other way. Planning ahead is important so that you will know all the discounts you are going to offer without conflicting with other promotions.
4. It is Social Media Friendly
It is very likely that your business has already ventured to social media. Referral Marketing is perfect for this kind of platform. Most referral software offer sharing buttons for social media so it will be simple and easy for your business to be seen by potential customers and track referrals.
Social media is so powerful and can really build your brand’s reputation on its own. 84% of people are influenced through recommendation from families and friends. It’s really simple, when your customer’s audience sees them sharing and promoting your brand, there is already a big chance that they will check you out, as this adds credibility and trust to your business.
5. Cost Effective Marketing
A lot of people tend to show off their good results and good experiences from a product. This is an easy way to make your business known. Use referral marketing to reap all of these positive outcomes. It is more cost effective than promoting your business on your own and spending money on advertisements.
Finding new customers can be really tricky and is a lot of work for your business. In referral marketing, your current customers are the ones who will do that work for you. Typically, they will recommend your brand to their friends who they know will be interested in your company. With little to no effort, you can get the word out about your business, double your customers, and effectively boost your sales.
6. It’s the Best Way to Get Good Reviews
It is normal for people to leave reviews on every product and service they receive. Reviews help potential customers know what previous customers experienced with your business and will either make them want to try your products and services or not pay any attention to you at all.
When customers feel engaged and invested in your business, they will be more likely to leave good feedback. Referral marketing positively impacts your reviews because you will be engaged with your customers, and that makes them feel connected and invested in your company.
People who participate in your referral program become your brand advocates, which makes them an important part of your company. You should keep these relationships to retain your customers and gain new ones.
Referral marketing brings a lot of benefits to your company. It hits a lot of targets, such as more retained customers, stronger social media presence, and higher sales.
At Advanced Digital Media Services, we can help set you up with referral marketing for your e-commerce business. We offer quality services to bring you the best results and rapidly boost your sales. Schedule a call and level up your business now!
