Advertising Referral Programs

1. Internet Marketing Advertising Strategy

When it comes to marketing, there are a wide range of strategies that you can rely upon. One of the oldest and also, most effective, methods to be used is “word of mouth” of marketing. However, this happens to be an area that most businesses ignore because they feel that they have no control over it.

Of course, it is true to a certain extent that control is limited, but, research has proven that, with enough incentive, customers can be motivated to promote your brand or product. If you have the right strategy, you can always convince your customers to market your product or convince others to subscribe to your service.

This is where an advertising referral program can work out for you. Referral programs, as you might already know, follow a simple principle – you reward the customer for talking about your product/service/brand to his/her peers.

This principle can even be applied to B2B organizations, where your clients can suggest your services to clients of their own.

Here are a few more reasons why you need to have an advertising referral program in place.

It leverages trust. Customers trust other customers, especially if those other customers happen to be friends or family. This trust can be leveraged by your business to draw in traffic. By rewarding customers for their referrals, you’re sure to convince them into doing some convincing of their own.
Your customers earn the rewards. Unlike a coupon or general discount that is just handed to the customer, referral programs make the customer work for the reward. This greatly increases the likelihood of a customer actually promoting your brand or product. In turn, it boosts their sense of satisfaction as well.
Implementation is cost effective. Referral programs are not too expensive to start. Printing out coupons can actually end up costing you more. Referral programs on the other hand just require you to tell your customer, which can be done through e-newsletters or e-mails.

3 reasons for Internet Marketing Referral Programs

You could argue that focusing on leads offers more benefits. But, the trust is the key principle that drives referral programs and that’s a component that cannot be relied upon in other marketing strategies. In fact, you are actually generating leads by getting your own customers to do it for you.

To make things even better, these aren’t your average leads. These are specific, high-quality leads that are highly likely to convert into customers. There’s even research to prove this. A study conducted by experts from the Harvard Business Review observed 10,000 bank accounts operated by a German bank for a period of 3 years. They noted that customers that opened accounts at the bank through referrals were also the most valuable and loyal customers.

It was also found that referred customers exhibited an 18% higher chance of remaining loyal to the bank, which could result in a 16% boost in profits. All this was achieved with just a referral program.

To put it simply, leads obtained through referrals are more trusting of your product/service/brand. They also exhibit a higher likeliness to buy from your business and even stick to your brand as loyal customers.

The bank in question had earned a 60% profit from their first investment towards the referral program.

Now that you’re convinced about the effectiveness of referral programs, all you need to do is develop one and develop. But, being the busy bee that you are, it can be hard to find the resources and time to do so. Fortunately, Globibo Media possesses enough experience in the arena of developing and implementing referral programs.

We can turn your customers into effective marketing assets in no time.

2. Internet Marketing Platform Vs. Demographics

The foundation for successful referral programs is made of customers who share a certain sense of enthusiasm and passion with your brand. This is the one component that can be found in all great referral programs. But, passionate customers don’t just pop up out of nowhere.

It takes effort to find them and make them aware of your referral program. This doesn’t have to be said, but, no customer is willingly looking to talk about your brand with his/her peers. It simply does not happen. That’s exactly why referral programs exist in the first place. Customers need to be motivated into promoting your brand/product/service.

One of the key aspects of developing the ideal referral program is to create awareness of its existence. In order to create awareness, it is necessary to identify the right demographic. To put it simply, you must identify which of your customers is going to turn out to be your best advocate.

For example, a survey by Harris Interactive Poll showed that customers in the age group of 18 to 44 were most likely to recommend their favorite brand through social media.

Now, this brings us to another issue – identifying the right platform. Social media may not be the ideal platform for your chosen demographic. For example, e-mail or word of mouth is still the preferred option for the older generation.

Or, in the case of the financial sector, strong family roots play a key role in the success of referral programs. That’s why finance companies discuss their referral programs with Credit Union Members, leveraging their sense of community to promote the brand/product/service. So, what happens is that even simple dinner table conversations end up providing leads. One member of the family refers his/her spouse or children, which continues further down the line.

The point being made here is that in order for your referral program to succeed, you need to identify the right platform and also, the right demographics.

At Globibo Media, we’ve worked with a wide range of businesses and helped them develop effective referral programs. Needless to say, we’ve succeeded with almost all of them. It’s because we know what we’re doing. We have the experts, the tools, and every other resource possible to help you reap the benefits of a well-devised referral program. We’ll help you find the right platform and the right demographic, ensuring the kind of lead generation you’ve never seen before.

3. Relationship Building with Program Participants

It’s common knowledge by now that referral programs have a significant impact on expanding a brand’s customer base. It’s cheaper to acquire fresh customers through a referral based system and it’s also been established that such customers stay loyal as well.

However, in order to make the most of your referral program, there are certain things that you need to do. One of them is relationship building. The whole point of a referral program is to leverage the trust that people have for one another. So, if your customer can’t trust you, don’t expect them to promote your brand even when there are significant rewards on offer.

To build a fruitful relationship, you must establish credibility. This may be hard for businesses that are starting out fresh. In order to establish credibility, a business must focus on awareness and standards. High standards must be implemented and followed with regard to product quality and customer service.

A customer’s experience can determine his/her willingness to be an advocate for your brand.

Then, you will also need to monitor your reputation to actually know what your customers think of you. Interact with your customers when you have to and gain an understanding of your position in the market. Discuss issues with your client and respond to them within context.

Relationship isn’t an easy task. It’s more of an ongoing process and most businesses lack the ability or the resources to focus on this aspect of a referral program. At Globibo Media, we have the tools and the time to work on relationship building.

We’ll talk to your customers, while you focus on improving what really matters to them – your product and service.

4. Internet Advertising Management & Coordination of Programs

When customers sign up for a referral program, there is a very high chance that they’re actually talking about your brand with their friends, family, and even other customers. They’re using different mediums to carry out their conversations including the online kind such as social media.

Unfortunately, you’re probably missing out on all of it because you don’t have the tools to monitor these conversations.

This is where Globibo Media comes in. We offer automated solutions that make it easy for brands to monitor what’s really going on. They can easily track, monitor and manage the various referral sources. Our solutions offer tools that can be applied for a wide range of referral campaigns. This results in a simplified and clearer process.

5. Internet Advertising Referral Program Budgets

Once your referral program needs are assessed and identified, the next step involves making a commitment, but, commitments cannot be made without focusing on a budget. Determining the value of your referral program will help you justify the investment, identify the kind and quantity of resources needed, and finally, measure your returns.

There are many aspects to calculating a referral program budget. First, you need to look at the cost of software. Referral program software can cost a fair bit, especially if your organization is a large one. You will need to spend your time assessing the various options and features, while also devising a specific plan on how you intend to use the referral software.

The second aspect to focus on is the cost of your program rewards or incentives. The accepted figure is 10% of the average deal. In order to arrive at a cumulative figure, you need to multiply 10% of your average deal by the exact number of referrals you’re expecting to receive and the average rate of conversion.

Then, you have the cost of administration. Software usually improves efficiency, in which case, you’re likely to save money. In general, it takes only 30% of an employee’s time to manage the referral program.

Other than all of this, you must also consider factors such as Cost Per Lead and Average Sale Price. A boost in referrals will make up for the average Cost Per Lead, while a high priority referral will cover your entire investment for the program, but, this may depend on the Average Sale Price.

As you can see, deciding a budget for a referral program does take effort and time, which a busy company does not have in plenty. That’s why signing up with Globibo Media’s referral program services would be a good idea. We can take over the entire budgeting process and save your company some money, wherever and whenever possible.

6. Internet Advertising Referral Tracking & Conversion Tracking

In order to get a clear picture of the impact that your referral program is having, it is necessary to actually track it. There are several benefits to this.

For instance, tracking helps you determine if your referral program is effective enough. Once you start seeing a rise in inbound traffic, it is a clear sign that something’s working. Even if it doesn’t end in a sale, the good news is that you’re getting noticed.

Then, you have the advantage of comparing the results of your referral program with other channels. For instance, you can look at how many customers have actually come in through referrals and how many have come in through any of your other marketing campaigns. This can help you fine tune you overall marketing strategy and help you allocate more resources to the most effective channels.

With a referral tracking software, you can have access to real time reports on the effect of your referral campaign.

Globibo Media has the perfect tracking and conversion tracking solutions for your referral programs. Our solutions can help you record the conversions associated with your referral campaigns. You can measure exactly how many customers converted after being referred through your program members.

Our solutions can also help you obtain a clear picture of your referral campaign’s ROI. This includes cost per conversion and the rate of conversion. Our solutions use analytics to provide you with detailed measurements.

You can also determine which of your referral program members are generating the maximum number of leads. This will allow you to optimize your referral program and incentivize the members that contribute the most, while motivating the rest.

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