Referral marketing is one of the best eCommerce marketing practices that requires almost no financial investment but brings-in highly valuable customers. It is an organic form of marketing in which your existing customers tell others about your product or service to their friends and family. So, it’s good to make referral marketing an important part of your eCommerce marketing strategy, it will be valuable for your Shopify store’s growth.

Here are a few statistics:

  • 78% of marketers say that their B2B referral programs generate good or excellent leads.
  • 60% of marketers say that referral programs generate a high volume of leads.
  • 54% say that referral programs have a lower cost-per-lead than other channels.
  • Marketers rate referrals as the 2nd-highest source of quality leads.

In reality, referral marketing is not as easy as it looks. That’s because it’s easy for your customers to forget to tell their friends about your brand. If they are not receiving any motivation or perk to share the recommendation, they’ll most likely not think to do so. Rather than leaving customers on the table, put in place special strategies to encourage your customers to refer others. 

 

Who should opt for referral marketing?

The value of referral marketing in the eCommerce industry can’t be denied. Every business owner can opt for referral marketing. It’s simple to execute and requires less effort compared to other marketing practices. 

No matter whether you are a startup or a fortune five company, referral marketing will prove as a changer for your business in order to increase your brand awareness. 

 

How to make referral marketing a key part of your marketing strategy?

Make referral marketing a crucial part of your overall marketing strategy by incentivizing customers to make active referrals to their friends. With the help of a loyalty program, you can bring the most out of your referral program. 

These days having a referral program is not a big deal, but promoting it to your customers is. If no one knows it’s there then no one can harvest the benefits from it. It’s, therefore, necessary to promote your referral program effectively. You can do this by letting your existing customers know the benefits of the program through your email marketing. You could set up an automation email for customers who have left a positive review on your website and encourage them to refer a friend in return for loyalty points.

You can also display the announcement bar on-site that lists the perks of referring friends through your loyalty program. Make sure you provide an easy process for customers to copy and share their referral URLs to earn points. You could also try targeting customers after they’ve purchased by showing a pop-up on checkout that incites them to sign up for your referral program.

 

How referral marketing helps in increasing garner trust?

Referral marketing does not only help you in getting qualitative leads but also helps you win the loyalty of your present customers. By referring your products to others if they get points and incentives, they will more likely to come for more and stay as your loyal customers. Moreover, you won’t have to worry about the retention part as automation will do it automatically.

Based on market research “88% of people trust online reviews written by other customers as much as they trust recommendations from their friends and family”.  So if your existing customers become your brand advocates, it will be good for you to extend your brand reach and build trust among your customers. 

To prompt your customers to leave reviews, you can use post-purchase emails to follow up with customers who have just bought from your store. Notify them about how they can earn loyalty points for leaving feedback. After all, it’s the perfect time to ask as their purchase is fresh in their mind.

 

How AiTrillion can help you with referral marketing?

Acquiring new customers is hard and expensive. With a referral program, you can allow your best customers to refer like-minded people to your brand, which helps you grow your community without any added costs. AiTrillion has a complete suite of eCommerce marketing apps that will help you to successfully run and promote a referral program.  AiTrillion allows you to set up automated emails, popups, and web push notifications to encourage customers who already leave reviews to return and refer friends in return for loyalty points and discounts code. You can also award loyalty points for sharing the thankyou page on your Facebook profile. Other than this, AiTrillion offers various ways through which you can reward your customers in exchange for referrals. To make it even easier for your brand advocates, AiTrillion enables them to refer friends with unique URLs through Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, and Email. 

  • Use popups to promote your Refer-a-friend program.
  • Give points to customers if they refer your store to friends.
  • Give offers to friends to join through unique discount codes.
  • Create a refer a friend popup widget to promote it.

 

Summing Up

Referral marketing is helpful for your eCommerce marketing growth, but many Shopify store owners are missing out on its advantages by not making it a key part of their customer engagement strategy. If you implement a strategic approach to implementing a referral program, you’ll observe that you can swiftly build trust and create a buzz around your business.