Referral Marketing is the oldest form of advertising: You sell it, they like it, they tell their friends about it, your customer base grows. It’s no surprise then, that with the recent rise in ecommerce opportunities, referral marketing has returned as the superstar of sustainable growth online as well as offline.
The recent Covid restrictions have seen businesses scrambling to access their audience remotely by creating and pushing their online offerings. This has been great for customer choice but proves challenging for brands who are trying to make themselves heard above the noise of the overwhelming competition.
With branded advertising and incentivised content flooding our feeds, as a customer, it’s hard to know what to trust. I mean, of course you’re going to tell me your product is the best, and so is that fashion blogger you just paid to wear your stuff, but how do I really know if your product is right for me?
Friends Don’t Let Friends Make Bad Shopping Decisions
Referral marketing essentially turns your customers into your brand ambassadors. Ecommerce customers can generate an average of 11.5 site visits when they refer a friend, with 83% of your potential customers saying that they trust the recommendations of their friends and family. As a business, growth relies on the development of trust through the availability of independent recommendations, so it’s essential to provide an easy way for consumers to communicate their favourite products to their network.
Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping that your satisfied customers will spread the word about you, Harviist’s referral marketing software actively encourages customer chatter through a simple plug-in dashboard that delivers visible, measurable results.
You can create and track fun, engaging referral campaigns then watch as your brand awareness grows with real-time results at a glance. Harviist technology is fully automated, low maintenance and customisable, so it will instantly adapt to your branding and tone of voice.
Baby Come Back
Getting the traffic is only half the battle, however. In order to develop a strong customer base that will provide the foundation for healthy, sustainable growth, it’s important to attract the right traffic. Customers who come to you as a result of recommendations have a 37% higher retention rate, so we’re talking about loyal, well-matched shoppers who are looking for a serious relationship, not just a meaningless fling.
By adopting referral marketing in your ecommerce strategy, you are actually targeting a lookalike audience without having to pay through the nose for the privilege. Referral marketing is highly targeted by its very nature. A parent is only going to recommend baby products to their friends who have babies, for example. Voila. There’s your target audience, ready to buy and willing to listen to someone they know and trust – and you didn’t have to creep on their social data to find them.
Simply put, if your product is good enough, people will talk about it. Harviist provides a simple marketing solution, freeing up your time so you can focus on that all-important product. Your customer is your hardest working ambassador, together we can get them talking. Get in touch with us at [email protected] or visit us at Harviist.com to find out more.