Loyalty Blogs

“88 percent of Americans say that they would prefer to be incentivized or rewarded for sharing their product recommendations on their social media as well as to their family and friends”. Customers are always willing to share a positive word if they get great experience on their purchase or services offered. You might have not thought about having a loyalty program setup, it’s perhaps the most imperative aspect a brand should think of adding for business growth.

Ever heard about loyalty referral programs? These are just the regular loyalty programs with exclusive rewards for the customers who’re sharing their brand’s experience with family and friends. These programs are an excellent source of generating business growth an accelerating revenue as well. In this article we will study what exactly is a referral program and what’s the benefit of integrating a referral program in a marketing strategy.

Understanding the Concept of a Referral Loyalty Program

Referral programs are classified as one of the most effective marketing strategies focusing on rewarding customers on referring other in their friends and family. It is basically a dynamic marketing strategy for encouraging customers to talk about a brand and recommending the same simultaneously. Referrals can be shared either through a referral link provided by the brand or simply making use of word-of-mouth marketing to bring more customers onboarded. So, what’s the benefit for the already associated customer? It’s the incentives earned based on the terms and conditions of the referral program. The reason why referral programs are being added is that they generate three to five times higher conversation rates than rest of the marketing channels or mediums. It brings a thought to life that purchases can be one on people’s recommendation and trust and not just throwing around varied marketing mediums to lure customers.

Different sorts of Referrals Programs to consider

Every business may differ in its functioning and that’s the reason there’s no one fit for all! Everything depends on the kind of business one is having, here’s a list of different sorts of referral programs a brand could consider-

• Customer Referral

This is one of the most talked about referral types. Being considered as the most trusted form of referral, customer referral is all about word of mouth recommendations and generating heaps of sales on traditional paid advertising. So, the process works like you as a customer likes a service/ product of a brand and get onboarded a new customer with the same brand, and the best part being the referral having better services and you getting a discount on next purchases on each signup! Well, that’s quite an interesting thing! Okay so what kinds of rewards works best for this? Yeah cashbacks, reward points and perks like these works well but it is more important to keep you loyalty program more unique. Get the customers thinking on how effective the strategy may look and that could be the right way to start a referral program.

• Affiliate Referrals

Instead of going on a personal approach, affiliate referrals completely rely on other affiliated businesses for recommendations, they can drive immense traffic to the website and the affiliate is specially provided but a cut of the profit in the purchase made.

• Influencer Referrals

Influencer Referrals is somewhat similar to customer referrals, but it works on a social media approach rather than sharing personal links. This sort of program is quite an interesting way to cater millennials who’re always sharing their thoughts on social media and largely influenced with bloggers and vloggers. A positive word from this generation can actually work wonders for your marketing strategy and send in the amount of sales you have been wishing for. According to a survey by Bloglovin’, it is revealed that 54 percent of female customers purchased a product after seeing it being recommended by an influencer and 45 percent have followed a brand directly from an influencer’s post. Do we need more reason to choose influencer referrals?

Having a Referral Program is all Benefits

Referral program solutions can prove to be the right choice, here’s why-

• Improved Engagement

Loyalty referral programs can have a high impact on customer engagement rate. The customers who’re participating in the program should be following the brand closely and have more chances of receiving communication from the brand. Both the factors here can increase customer engagement.

• Customer Retention

There’s no brand who says customer retention is not a vital business goal. Therefore, adapting a referral reward program can improve customer retention rates through various strategies followed. The customers who are long associated with the brand through referral programs are probably to carry forward their relationship for the future. Also, as a fact, customers are four times more likely to purchase from a brand which is referred by their trusted family or friend.

• Improved Brand Credibility

Brands require to be known enough to increase its credibility amongst a group of people. 28 percent of millennials say that they do not approve buying a product if their friends don’t recommend or approve. Using the similar theory, if a reliable friend sends in some positive words about a particular brand, it comes highly effective, and the chances of increasing purchases rises.

• It’s the best Marketing Strategy

As discussed in the above points, you may be having a lot of strategies to swear by but, referral rewards program can prove as one of the most effective of all. It’s an excellent way to attract not only the new customers but an appealing way to keep the associated ones stick around for a longer period of time.

Final Thoughts

Initiating, managing and keeping a track of a loyalty program can often seem a tedious task but, the right loyalty solution provider can help you come out of the monotony and lets you have the focus only on generating sales and boosting revenue in the longer run. Have a smart and appealing referral loyalty program for your customers and their contacts so that you can be a part of a larger game! What’s the wait for? Get your referral program integrated right away!