Our #1 Tip: Maximize Awareness Of Your Referral Program

ReferralCandy

March 17, 2017

So you've started or you're thinking of starting a referral program for your online store.

(NOTE: You can create your own referral program using ReferralCandy here. It's free for the first 30 days!)

What's the most important thing that you need to know, to give your business the best odds of success?

The single most important success factor is...

Get as many people to know about your referral program as possible.

It's simple math: You can't get more referrals than the number of people who come into contact with your referral program.

So if you want to get more referrals, it makes sense to focus on increasing the total number of people you put in contact with your referral program. This "expands the pie" for your entire referral funnel.

Here are 3 simple ways to do just that.

1. Feature your referral program prominently on your website and in your marketing collateral (e.g. newsletters etc.)

Every visitor to your website and everybody who reads your marketing collateral should learn about your referral program if they don't know about it already. (And if they already know about it, it's always worth reminding them!)

Examples – Check out how GREATS and Kurgo do their referral program placement:

^ GREATS brand features prominent links to their referral program on their main site and even on their About page.

^ Kurgo has a strong, delightful hero image in their carousel alerting you to their referral program.

Remember, visitors can signup for your referral program directly and refer friends even if they haven't bought from you before. They might not be in the market for your product themselves, but they might know someone who would be!

For more examples, check out 10 Examples of Prominent Referral Program Calls-to-Action.

2. Invite past / existing customers to your referral program, too

Let people know about your referral program

Did you know that 83% of your satisfied customers are willing to refer products and services? Give them an opportunity to do so AND reward them for it.

Existing customers are your best source of initial referrals, because they already have experience with your product, and may have had friends asking them about it.

3. Post regularly about your referral program on social media to keep it top of mind for advocates and followers

You never know when a friend might ask an advocate for a recommendation for a similar product/service. You want to make sure that you're the first place that the advocate thinks of whenever that happens!

Advocates and followers might occasionally miss out on your messaging so make sure you post regularly.

For further reading, check out How To Keep Your Referral Program Top-of-Mind for Optimum Referral Sales.

In summary:

Feature your referral program prominently on your website and in your marketing collateral (e.g. newsletters etc.)
Invite past / existing customers to your referral program via the 'Email Past Customers' feature
Post regularly about your referral program on social media to keep it top-of-mind for advocates and followers

Doing this maximizes your customers' exposure to your referral program.

The more happy customers you have who know about your referral program, the more referrals you're going to get!